Bandar Seri Begawan – A penumbral eclipse of the moon will take place on Saturday, January 11, 2020, at pre-dawn hours, from 1.09 a.m. until 5.11 a.m in Brunei Darussalam.Β The first eclipse of 2020 is also visible from the geographic regions of Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.
There are three categories of lunar eclipse: total, partial and penumbral. In a penumbral lunar eclipse, only the faint or diffuse outer shadow of Earth (known as penumbra) falls on the moonβs face. This kind of lunar eclipse is much more subtle, and much more difficult to observe, than either a total or partial eclipse of the moon. There is never a dramatic darkening of the moon, as in when the Earth’s darkest shadow (umbra) moves over the Moon during a partial lunar eclipse.
At best, at mid-eclipse (3.10 am), very observant people or by taking photo of the full moon using a digital camera will notice a slight dark shading (90% dimmed) on the upper left side of moonβs face. Other skywatchers will view and notice nothing at all.
There will be another 3 penumbral lunar eclipses in 2020 on June 6, July 5 and November 30.Β Only 6th June 2020 penumbral lunar eclipse will be visible next from Brunei Darussalam this year.