Friday, June 5, Lunar Eclipse Is Second of Four 2020 Penumbral Eclipses

Summary: The Friday, June 5, lunar eclipse is the second of four 2020 penumbral eclipses and the shares the month with the year’s first of two solar eclipses.

penumbral lunar eclipse Friday, June 5, details: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA GSFC Emeritus," via NASA Eclipse Web Site

The Friday, June 5, lunar eclipse is the second of four 2020 penumbral eclipses and precedes the mid-month solar eclipse of Sunday, June 21.

June’s penumbra lunar eclipse has an expected duration of 3 hours 18 minutes 13 seconds, according to NASA’s Eclipse Web Site. The year’s second eclipse begins Friday, June 5, at 17:45:50 Universal Time (1:45 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time). June’s penumbral lunar eclipse ends Friday, June 5, at 21:04:03 UT (5:04 p.m. EDT).

Six of Earth’s seven continents have all or some visibility of June’s penumbral lunar eclipse. North America is the only continent excluded from viewing the event.

Four of Earth’s five oceans have all or some visibility of the year’s second eclipse. Only the Arctic Ocean misses the event.

The event’s greatest eclipse occurs at 19:25:02.0 UT (3:25 p.m. EDT), according to NASA’s Eclipse Web Site. Greatest eclipse takes place over the southern Indian Ocean, according to retired NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak’s website, EclipseWise. The terrestrial coordinates for greatest eclipse are 21 degrees 27.1 minutes south latitude, 68 degrees 39.4 minutes east longitude. Greatest eclipse indicates the instant of the moon’s closest passage to the axis of Earth’s shadow.

The June 5, 2020, penumbral lunar eclipse follows lunar perigee (Ancient Greek: περί, perí, “near” + γῆ, gê, “Earth”) by 2.7 days, according to Fred Espenak’s EclipseWise website. Perigee designates the closest center-to-center distance between moon and Earth. June’s lunar perigee happens Wednesday, June 3, at 03:36 Greenwich Mean Time/Coordinated Universal Time (Tuesday, June 2, at 11:36 p.m. EDT), according to Fred Espenak’s AstroPixels website. June’s perigee measures 364,366 kilometers (226,406.53 miles).

June’s penumbral lunar eclipse numbers as the second of the year’s four penumbral lunar eclipses. The year’s first eclipse occurred as a penumbral lunar eclipse Friday, Jan. 10, 2020, between 17:07:45 UT (12:07 p.m. EST) and 21:12:19 UT (4:12 p.m. EST). January’s penumbral lunar eclipse lasted for 4 hours 4 minutes 34 seconds.

The year’s third penumbral lunar eclipse begins Sunday, July 5, 2020, at 03:07:23 UT (Saturday, July 4, at 11:07 p.m. EDT) and ends 2 hours 45 minutes later, at 05:52:23 UT (1:52 a.m. EDT, Sunday, July 5). July’s eclipse is the shortest of the year’s four penumbral lunar eclipses.

The year’s fourth penumbral lunar eclipse begins Monday, Nov. 30, at 07:32:21 UT (2:32 a.m. EST) and ends at 11:53:20 UT (6:53 a.m. EST). November’s eclipse claims the longest duration of the year’s four penumbral lunar eclipses, with a time span of 4 hours 20 minutes 59 seconds.

The moon’s passage through Earth’s penumbra occasions a penumbral lunar eclipse. The penumbra is the light outer portion of Earth’s shadow. A subtle dimming of the lunar surface occurs during a penumbral lunar eclipse.

During June’s penumbral lunar eclipse, approximately half of the lunar disk passes through Earth’s penumbra. The moon’s southern hemisphere moves through Earth’s northern penumbral edge.

June’s penumbral lunar eclipse occurs as the second of six eclipses in 2020. The year’s eclipse lineup comprises four penumbral lunar eclipses and two solar eclipses.

June’s penumbral lunar eclipse shares the month with the year’s first solar eclipse, which occurs Sunday, June 21. June’s solar eclipse happens as an annular solar eclipse. June’s solar eclipse sandwiches between the year’s second and third penumbral lunar eclipses.

The second solar eclipse in 2020 closes the year’s lineup of four penumbral lunar eclipses and two solar eclipses. The year’s final eclipse occurs Monday, Dec. 14, as a total solar eclipse.

The takeaways for the Friday, June 5, lunar eclipse are that the event is the second of four 2020 penumbral eclipses and that the year’s second lunar eclipse shares the month of June with the year’s first solar eclipse.

penumbral lunar eclipse Friday, June 5, as viewed from center of moon during the greatest eclipse: Tom Ruen (SockPuppetForTomruen), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

penumbral lunar eclipse Friday, June 5, details: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA GSFC Emeritus," via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2020Jun05N.pdf

penumbral lunar eclipse Friday, June 5, as viewed from center of moon during the greatest eclipse: Tom Ruen (SockPuppetForTomruen), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lunar_eclipse_from_moon-2020Jun05.png

For further information:

Espenak, Fred. “Moon at Perigee and Apogee: 2001 to 2020 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).” AstroPixels > Planetary Ephemeris Data > Moon > Perigee and Apogee: 2001-2100.
Available via AstroPixels @ http://astropixels.com/ephemeris/moon/moonperap2001.html

Espenak, Fred. “Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of 2020 Jan 10.” EclipseWise > Lunar Eclipses > Recent and Upcoming Lunar Eclipses > Decade Tables of Lunar Eclipses > 2011-2020.
Available via EclipseWise @ http://eclipsewise.com/lunar/LEprime/2001-2100/LE2020Jan10Nprime.html

Espenak, Fred. “Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of 2020 Jul 05.” EclipseWise > Lunar Eclipses > Recent and Upcoming Lunar Eclipses > Decade Tables of Lunar Eclipses > 2011-2020.
Available via EclipseWise @ http://eclipsewise.com/lunar/LEprime/2001-2100/LE2020Jul05Nprime.html

Espenak, Fred. “Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of 2020 Jun 05.” EclipseWise > Lunar Eclipses > Recent and Upcoming Lunar Eclipses > Decade Tables of Lunar Eclipses > 2011-2020.
Available via EclipseWise @ http://eclipsewise.com/lunar/LEprime/2001-2100/LE2020Jun05Nprime.html

Espenak, Fred. “Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of 2020 Nov 30.” EclipseWise > Lunar Eclipses > Recent and Upcoming Lunar Eclipses > Decade Tables of Lunar Eclipses > 2011-2020.
Available via EclipseWise @ http://eclipsewise.com/lunar/LEprime/2001-2100/LE2020Nov30Nprime.html

Espenak, Fred. “Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of 2020 Jun 05.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Lunar Eclipses > Lunar Eclipses: 2011-2020 > 2020 Jun 05.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2020Jun05N.pdf

Marriner, Derdriu. “Friday, Jan. 10, Lunar Eclipse Is First of Four 2020 Penumbral Eclipses.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/01/friday-jan-10-lunar-eclipse-is-first-of.html