Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Image Source: National Geographic
BY ROBERT ABEL ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN
On Monday, June 4, the moon will cross the Earth’s shadow to produce the year’s first
partial lunar eclipse. NASA has the details.
“At 3 am Pacific daylight time not long before sunrise, Monday June 4th, the moon
passes directly behind our planet.”
NASA calls this a partial eclipse because only a fraction of the moon is shadowed. If
it seems like we just had an eclipse not too long ago -- it is because we did. Space.com
says...
“Solar eclipses are always accompanied by lunar eclipses, either two weeks before or
two weeks after. The moon travels halfway in its orbit around the Earth in that time,
forming another straight line with our planet and the sun.”
Sadly, not everyone will get a chance to see the lunar eclipse. According to Discovery
News:
“Observers in Europe will miss out on Monday's lunar eclipse, as will part of the United
States East Coast, where the moon will set before it enters the dark umbra. Most viewers
in the Pacific Time Zone, however, should be able to see a considerable portion of the
two-hour eclipse.”
The Pacific Coast is getting a lot of astronomical attention as the recent Ring of Fire eclipse
was only visible in that region as well.
According National Geographic, there will also be a Supermoon during the eclipse -- meaning
the moon will appear to be larger.
"It won't be a very noticeable effect … The full moon will look only about 5 percent larger
than it does on average, appearing perhaps just a little bigger than it usually does."
The June full moon is also known as the Strawberry moon named by the Algonquin tribe because
they believed that this was the best time to harvest strawberries.