First penumbral lunar eclipse of the year 2020

New Delhi: A celestial spectacle, the first lunar eclipse of the year will be visible as a penumbral lunar eclipse tonight.

It will be the first of the four penumbral lunar eclipses that will appear this year.

The celestial event set off at 10:37 pm IST and is set to last for 4 hours and 5 minutes, according to the timeanddate website.

This eclipse is not a total but a penumbral lunar eclipse.

The moon passes through Earth's dark central shadow during a total lunar eclipse, leading to a considerable dimming of the Lunar disc.

In this case, the moon passes through the outer penumbral shadow that the Earth casts on it. In such a situation, the perceivable darkening of the moon is minimal, thus it is rather difficult to visually differentiate a penumbral eclipse from a full moon.

It will be visible over a vast span of our planet covering Eurasia, Africa, Australia and parts of North America.