Penumbral lunar eclipse March 24-25, 2024

Penumbral lunar eclipse

If the moon is above the horizon, you can see the March 24-25, 2024, penumbral lunar eclipse. People from parts of Antarctica, western half of Africa, western Europe, Atlantic Ocean, Americas, Pacific Ocean, Japan, and eastern half of Australia will see a deep penumbral lunar eclipse on March 24-25, 2024.

Penumbral eclipse begins at 4:53 UTC on March 25, 2024. That is 12:53 a.m. EDT in North America.
Greatest eclipse is at 7:12 UTC on March 25 (3:12 a.m. EDT) with a penumbral magnitude of 0.9577. In other words, at greatest eclipse, nearly all of the moon will be inside the Earth’s outer penumbral shadow. The moon will never go into Earth’s darker umbral shadow. So it will never seem as if a dark bite has been taken out of the moon. Instead, it’ll be a subtle darkened shading on the moon, and, at mid-eclipse, only a small sliver of the moon will fall outside this dark shading.
Penumbral eclipse ends at 9:33 UTC on March 25 (5:33 a.m. EDT).
Duration of eclipse: This is a deep penumbral lunar eclipse with a duration of 279.9 minutes.
Note: A penumbral lunar eclipse is the most subtle kind of lunar eclipse, one that most people won’t even notice. The moon’s shadow won’t be detected until the disk of the moon is immersed in about 2/3 of the penumbral shadow. Of course, this depends on the atmospheric conditions and a person’s visual acuity.

The full moon and eclipses

If this full moon were truly opposite the sun, there’d be a total umbral eclipse of the moon. That is, the darkest part of Earth’s shadow – the umbra – would cover the moon at mid-eclipse. But this full moon in March sweeps to the north of the Earth’s umbra. So no total or partial lunar eclipse in the Earth’s dark shadow can take place.

Instead, the full moon almost fully passes through the Earth’s penumbral shadow. So it’s a very deep penumbral eclipse. At no time will Earth’s dark shadow take a “bite” out of the moon. Instead, penumbral eclipses are all about subtle shadings.

The March 25 penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when the moon is in the constellation of Virgo the Maiden.

Find the moon’s path with respect to Earth’s penumbral shadows below.

Visit Timeanddate.com to get an exact timing of the eclipse from your location.

Eclipses in 2024

The March 24-25, 2024, penumbral lunar eclipse is followed two weeks later by a total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. The fact is, these two eclipses take place within a single eclipse season.

An eclipse season is an approximate 35-day period during which it’s inevitable for at least two (and possibly three) eclipses to take place.

Then later this year, the September-October 2024 eclipse season will feature a very shallow partial lunar eclipse on September 17-18, 2024, and an annular solar eclipse on October 2, 2024.

Maps and data for the total lunar eclipse

• Visual Appearance of Lunar Eclipses
• Danjon Scale of Lunar Eclipse Brightness
• March 24-25, 2024, eclipse map and animation

Visit Timeanddate.com to get an exact timing of the eclipse from your location.

Penumbral lunar eclipse photos from our EarthSky community

Submit your photo to EarthSky here.

More resources

Bottom line: A penumbral lunar eclipse – lasting over four hours – happens overnight on March 24-25, 2024. It’s visible from parts of Antarctica, western half of Africa, western Europe, Atlantic Ocean, Americas, Pacific Ocean, Japan, and eastern half of Australia.

Visit Timeanddate.com to get an exact timing of the eclipse from your location.

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