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Full Harvest Moon/Penumbral Lunar Eclipse - Sep 16/17, 2016 .

Sep 16, 2016

According to timeanddate.com, the penumbral lunar eclipse will be at 7.06 PM GMT (Full Moon / Lunar Eclipse) at 24 degrees 20 minutes Pisces. visible from Europe, parts of Asia, Australia, and eastern Africa. 
 
A penumbral lunar eclipse takes place when the Moon moves through the faint, outer part of the Earth's shadow. This type of eclipse is often mistaken for a normal full Moon.  The Moon shines because its surface reflects the Sun's rays. A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon and blocks sunlight from directly reaching the Moon.
 
Imperfect Alignment - A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align in an almost straight line. When this happens, the Earth blocks some of the Sun's light from directly reaching the Moon's surface, and covers a part of the Moon with the outer part of its shadow, also known as the penumbra. The rest receives the same amount of sunlight as usual and is as bright as a full Moon. Because of this, it is often hard to differentiate between a normal full Moon and a penumbral eclipse of the Moon.
 
How to See a Penumbral Lunar Eclipse - Unlike solar eclipses, which can only be seen along a narrow path on Earth, eclipses of the Moon can be observed all across the night-side of Earth when the eclipse happens.
 
About one-third of all lunar eclipses are penumbral. They are, however, easy to miss because when they happen, the eclipsed Moon tends to look very similar to a full Moon. In fact, it is impossible to observe the start and end of a penumbral lunar eclipse, even with telescopes.
 
Only penumbral eclipses where a large portion of the Moon is in the Earth's penumbral shadow may be detectable to observers on Earth. Trained eyes can usually see penumbral eclipses with a penumbral magnitude that is more than 0.60.
 
Two Conditions - Two celestial events must happen at the same time for a penumbral lunar eclipse to occur:
 
the Moon should be a full Moon, and the Sun, Earth and Moon must be imperfectly aligned in a straight line.
 
Where to See the Eclipse - Regions seeing, at least, some parts of the eclipse: Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, West in South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Arctic, Antarctica.
 



Note that since it is a penumbral eclipse, it can be hard to see, as the Moon will only be a bit fainter.
Eclipse is visible.
Eclipse not visible at all.
Note: Areas with lighter shadings left (West) of the center will experience the eclipse after moonrise/sunset. Areas with lighter shadings right (East) of the center will experience the eclipse until moonset/sunrise. Actual eclipse visibility depends on weather conditions and line of sight to the Moon.

 
When the Eclipse Happens Worldwide - Lunar eclipses look approximately the same all over the world and happen at the same time.
 
The times displayed are accurate to around 2-3 seconds.
Event UTC Time Time in New York* Visible in New York
Penumbral eclipse begins Sep 16 at 16:54:42 Sep 16 at 12:54:42 PM No, below the horizon
Maximum eclipse Sep 16 at 18:54:20 Sep 16 at 2:54:20 PM No, below the horizon
Penumbral eclipse ends Sep 16 at 20:53:59 Sep 16 at 4:53:59 PM No, below the horizon
* The Moon is below the horizon during this eclipse, so it is not possible to view it in New York.
The magnitude of the eclipse is -0.064.
The penumbral magnitude of the eclipse is 0.908
The total duration of the eclipse is 3 hours, 59 minutes.
 
The Farmer's Almanac tells us that the Full Moon nearest the autumnal equinox is named the Harvest Moon since, during this month, the Moon helps the harvest by providing more light at the right time than other Full Moons do.
 
In years when the Harvest Moon falls in October, the September full Moon is usually known as the Full Corn Moon because it traditionally corresponds with the time of harvesting corn. It is also called the Barley Moon because this is the time to harvest and thresh the ripened barley.
 
More September Moon Names
  • “Moon When the Plums Are Scarlet” by the Lakota Sioux Native Americans.
  • “Moon When the Deer Paw the Earth” by the Omaha Native Americans.
  • “Moon When the Calves Grow Hair” by the Sioux Native Americans
Astronomers define the Harvest Moon as the full Moon nearest the autumnal equinox, which often makes it the September full Moon. The Harvest Moon can also fall in early October, coming anywhere from two weeks before to two weeks after the equinox. Why does it have special importance?
 
The usual behavior of the Moon is to rise distinctly later each night—an average of about 50 minutes later each day.
 
If interested, here is the scientific explanation: The Moon’s orbital motion (combined with the larger orbit of the Earth around the Sun) carries it farther eastward among the constellations of the zodiac from night to night. At any one moonrise, the Moon occupies a particular place on the celestial sphere (the great dome of the heavens), but when the Earth turns toward that point 24 hours later, the Moon has moved off to the east about 12 degrees, and it takes an average of 50 minutes longer for the Earth to rotate toward the Moon and for the Moon thus to “rise.” Think of it as a giant Slinky in which each loop, representing one lunar orbit of the Earth, advances the orbit a bit farther along the spiral path.
 
But around the date of the Harvest Moon, the Moon rises about the same time. It may almost seem as if there are full Moons multiple nights in a row!
 
Why? Remember that the zodiac is the band of constellations through which the Moon travels from night to night. The section of the zodiac band in which the full Moon travels around the start of autumn is the section that forms the most shallow angle with the eastern horizon. Because the Moon’s orbit on successive nights is more nearly parallel to the horizon at that time, its relationship to the eastern horizon does not change appreciably, and the Earth does not have to turn as far to bring up the Moon.
 
Harvest Moon Facts - The Moon may rise as little as 23 minutes later on several nights before and after the full Harvest Moon (at about 42 degrees north latitude), and there is an abundance of bright moonlight early in the evening, a traditional aid to harvest crews. By the time the Moon has reached last quarter, however, the typical 50-minute delay has returned.
 
At the start of spring, the opposite applies. The full Moon is in the section of the zodiac that has the steepest angle with respect to the eastern horizon. For several days bracketing the full Moon nearest the vernal equinox, the delay in moonrise is as much as 75 minutes (at 42 degrees north latitude).
 
Here is another way of expressing what happens with the Harvest Moon: It is in this part of the zodiac that the Moon’s eastward (orbital) motion has its largest northward component. For observers in Earth’s Northern Hemisphere, the farther north an object is in the heavens, the longer an arc it makes across the sky, and the longer a time it is visible above the horizon. Thus, to say that the Moon is getting rapidly farther north each night around the time of the Harvest Moon is to say that, for northern latitudes on Earth, it will keep rising distinctly earlier than would otherwise be expected—nearly the same time as the night before.
 
How nearly the same is “almost the same time” each night? This varies with latitude, for the farther north you are, the shallower the angle of the zodiac is with respect to your horizon. In most of the United States and southern Canada, the Harvest Moon rises 25 to 30 minutes later each night. The effect is less noticeable the farther south you go. But going north makes the Harvest Moon more extreme.
 
According to astronomy author Guy Ottewell, the idea of the Harvest Moon originated in Europe (average latitude about 50 degrees north), where the Harvest Moon rises only ten to 20 minutes later each night. It must have seemed a boon that just when days were getting rapidly shorter and the Sun seemed to go down all too soon, the Harvest Moon arrived to extend the hours that harvesting could be done.
 
Chinese Harvest Moon Traditions - As a final note, it is not just Western civilization that has given special importance to the Harvest Moon. For Chinese people everywhere, this full Moon is the occasion for the Festival of the August Moon (the “August” is through a calendar discrepancy) or Mid-Autumn Festival (in some cultures, the equinoxes and solstices have been considered the middle of the seasons). This festival is celebrated with joyful games and the eating of “Mooncakes.”
 


Sun, Earth, and Moon are not perfectly aligned during a penumbral eclipse. (Not to scale)
 
Image:  timeanddate.com



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