Sunday, July 5, Lunar Eclipse Is Third of Four 2020 Penumbral Eclipses

Summary: The Sunday, July 5, lunar eclipse is the third of four 2020 penumbral eclipses and follows the year’s first solar eclipse.

penumbral lunar eclipse Sunday, July 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 Sunday, July 5, lunar eclipse is the third of four 2020 penumbral eclipses, numbers as fourth in the year’s lineup of six eclipses and follows the year’s first solar eclipse.

July’s penumbra lunar eclipse is expected to last for 2 hours 45 minutes, according to NASA’s Eclipse Web Site. The year’s third penumbral lunar eclipse begins Sunday, July 5, at 03:07:23 Universal Time (Saturday, July 4, at 11:07 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time) and ends at 05:52:23 UT (Sunday, July 5, at 1:52 a.m. EDT).

Five of Earth’s seven continents experience all or some visibility of July’s penumbral lunar eclipse. Asia and Australia are the only two continents excluded from the eclipse’s viewing path.

Four of Earth’s five oceans lie within the path of all or some visibility of July’s penumbral lunar eclipse. Only the Arctic Ocean falls outside of the eclipse’s visibility path.

July’s penumbral lunar eclipse stages its greatest eclipse at 04:30:00.1 UT (12:30 a.m. EDT), according to NASA’s Eclipse Web Site. Greatest eclipse happens over South America, according to retired NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak’s website, EclipseWise. Greatest eclipse’s zenith latitude and longitude of 24 degrees 03.3 minutes south and 66 degrees 20.6 minutes west place the point’s occurrence in northwestern Argentina’s Salta province. Greatest eclipse indicates the instant of the moon’s closest passage to the axis of Earth’s shadow.

July’s penumbral lunar eclipse appears as the third of four penumbral lunar eclipses in 2020. The year’s first two penumbral lunar eclipses took place Friday, Jan. 10, and Friday, June 5. The year’s fourth penumbral lunar eclipse happens Monday, Nov. 30.

A penumbral lunar eclipse concerns Earth’s penumbra, the light outer portion of Earth’s shadow. The moon passes through the penumbra, which produces a subtle dimming of the lunar surface.

During a penumbral lunar eclipse, the moon moves through the northern or southern edges of Earth’s penumbra. Two penumbral lunar eclipses in 2020 associate with the northern edge, and two journey through the southern edge.

July’s and November’s penumbral lunar eclipses involve Earth’s southern penumbral edge. Only the high latitudes of the lunar northern hemisphere interact with Earth’s penumbra during July’s lunar eclipse. November’s penumbral lunar eclipse dims all except the high latitudes of the moon’s southern hemisphere.

January’s and June’s penumbral lunar eclipses involve Earth’s northern penumbral edge. January’s lunar eclipse immerses all except the highest latitudes of the moon’s northern hemisphere in Earth’s penumbra. The lunar southern hemisphere passes through Earth’s penumbra during June’s lunar eclipse.

The Southern Hemisphere claims two of the four penumbral lunar eclipses’ greatest eclipses. July’s greatest eclipse in northwestern Argentina joins June’s greatest eclipse in the southern Indian Ocean as a Southern Hemisphere event.

The Northern Hemisphere is the setting for the greatest eclipses of the year’s first and fourth penumbral lunar eclipses. January’s greatest eclipse happened in central India’s Madhya Pradesh state. November’s greatest eclipse will link with the northern Pacific Ocean.

July’s penumbral lunar eclipse numbers as fourth in the year’s lineup of six eclipses. The year’s first solar eclipse intervenes between June’s and July’s penumbral lunar eclipses. Numbering as third in the year’s eclipse lineup, the first solar eclipse of 2020 takes place Sunday, June 21, as an annular solar eclipse.

The year’s second solar eclipse succeeds the year’s fourth penumbral lunar eclipse. Numbering as sixth in the year’s sextet of eclipses, the second solar eclipse of 2020 takes place Monday, Dec. 14.

The takeaways for the Sunday, July 5, lunar eclipse are that the event is the third of four 2020 penumbral eclipses and that, as successor to the first solar eclipse of 2020, the year’s third lunar eclipse numbers as fourth in the year’s lineup of eclipses.

penumbral lunar eclipse Sunday, July 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 Sunday, July 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/LE2020Jul05N.pdf

penumbral lunar eclipse Sunday, July 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-2020Jul05.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 Jul 05.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Lunar Eclipses > Lunar Eclipses: 2011-2020.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2020Jul05N.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

Marriner, Derdriu. “Friday, June 5, Lunar Eclipse Is Second of Four 2020 Penumbral Eclipses.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 27, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/05/friday-june-5-lunar-eclipse-is-second.html