A look at what happens during different types of lunar eclipses
The longest partial lunar eclipse of the century will take place between November 18 and 19. Take a look at what happens during different types of lunar eclipses.
A lunar eclipse is what happens when the moon passes into the Earth’s shadow. But how do you tell the difference between different types of lunar eclipses? (Image: News18 Creative)
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Partial Lunar Eclipse | Earth moves between the sun and the moon but the three are not precisely aligned i.e. only part of the moon’s visible surface moves into the dark part of the Earth’s shadow. (Image: News18 Creative)
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Total Lunar Eclipse | The entire moon passes through the umbra i.e. the central, or darker, shadow of the Earth. (Image: News18 Creative)
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Prenumbral Lunar Eclipse | The complete moon passes through the penumbra i.e. partial shadow. This eclipse is difficult to notice as the only change is in moon’s brightness – you may find it darker than usual. There’s no other change. (Image: News18 Creative)
During a full eclipse, the moon is fully in Earth’s shadow. At the same time, a little bit of light reaches the moon through parts of Earth’s atmosphere. As sunlight passes through Earth’s atmosphere, the green to violet portion of the light spectrum is filtered out; the reddish portion of the spectrum is least affected. (Image: News18 Creative)
