Eclipse Of The Moon April 2013

Partial Lunar Eclipse – December 2009 Credit: @Jochta

On the April 25th 2013 there will be a partial eclipse of the Moon, the first of three lunar eclipses in 2013. It will be seen from The UK and Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia and will look similar to the above image taken by @Jochta of @ReadingAS. The darkening will be at the top of the Moon not the bottom as seen in the image.

When to view

The eclipse will start at roughly 18:00 UT (Universal Time), reach the greatest part of eclipse at roughly 20:07 UT and end at roughly 22:10 UT (Universal Time is 1 hour behind British Summer Time) this means it will be seen in the evening twilight for the UK and Western Europe.

What to expect

The eclipse on the 25th of April is only a partial lunar eclipse and the second shortest of the century. Only a tiny sliver will be in umbral shadow. A lunar eclipse is caused by the moon entering the Earths shadow, also known as umbra, this ocurrs when the Sun, Earth and Moon are almost or exactly aligned, making a lunar eclipse only possible on a full Moon.

A lunar eclipse lasts for a few hours, whereas a solar eclipse lasts only a few minutes. Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are safe to view without any eye protection, as they are no brighter and are dimmer than the full moon itself.

Watch the Moon on the 25th of April at the times specified above and watch it change and get darker, its quite a sight.

Credit: Sky and Telescope/ Source: F. Espenak / NASA-GSFC