The first lunar eclipse for the year 2009 happens on February 9th, exactly after 11 days of first solar eclipse of this year.This is the deepest eclipse of the year with the magnitude of 0.899. It will be easily visible to the naked eye as a dusky shading in the northern half of the Moon.
CC Photo Credit: mugley
The times of the major phases in India are listed below
- Eclipse begin time: 18:08:46 IST
- Greatest eclipse time: 20:08:15 IST
- Eclipse end time: 22:07:40 IST
The eclipse is visible to the naked eye apart from few minutes of beginning and ending. The word penumbra is derived from two Latin words namely paenes meaning “almost, nearly" umbra meaning "shadow", the region in which only a portion of the occulting body is blurring the light source. This eclipse is a partial eclipse. In fact, no shading can be detected until about 2/3 of the Moon’s disk is immersed. This would put the period of eclipse visibility from approximately 19:30 IST to 20:50 IST. This is only an estimate. However atmospheric conditions and the observer’s visual acuity are important factors to be considered for the visibility of the eclipse.
Few part of Eastern Canada and USA will miss the eclipse entirely since the eclipse begins after moonset. Observers in western Canada and the USA will have the best views with moonset occurring sometime after mid-eclipse. To catch the entire event, one must be in Alaska, Hawaii, Australia, or East Asia.
Photo Credit: Nasa
The above picture depicts the countries where the lunar eclipse would be visible. The light shaded portions are the places where the eclipse is visible during moon rise and moon set. The dark shaded portions are the places where the eclipse is completely not visible. The white region is the place where the eclipse is completely visible.
In Alaska, the eclipse begins at 03:38:46 and ends at 07:37:40. The greatest eclipse is felt at 05:38:15(local time)
In Hawaii the eclipse begins at 02:38:46 and ends at 06:37:40. The greatest eclipse is felt during 04:38:15 (local time)
In Sydney, Australia the eclipse begins at 23:38:46 and ends at 03:37:40. The greatest eclipse is felt during 01:38:15 (local time)