Community Corner

Moon Shots: Tonight's the Night for Hunter's Moon, Penumbral Lunar Eclipse 2013

Penumbral lunar eclipse 2013: Earth's shadow to fall on moon.

The 2013 date for the penumbral lunar eclipse and the Hunter's moon is here, and it's a good night for them: Ashburn's weather forecast calls for clear skies all night.

These are actually two events that happen to coincide tonight, Oct. 18, starting early.

The Hunter's Moon is the full moon after the Harvest Moon, which is the full moon nearest the September 22 autumnal equinox. Follow that? Well,  the Harvest Moon came on September 19. That’s why tonight’s moon bears the name Hunter’s Moon.

Find out what's happening in Ashburnwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Easy enough.

The moon won't only be full but also it'll shine early, bright and high in the sky. For us, the full moon will rise in the east as the sun goes down. Earthsky.org tells us it'll soar highest in the sky around midnight and will set in the west around sunrise.

Find out what's happening in Ashburnwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Not so obvious tonight will be the eclipse. 

penumbral lunar eclipse isn't one of those events in which the moon goes dark. Rather, only part of the Earth's shadow falls across the moon, shading it ever so slightly.

In our part of the world, you'll see it at its deepest point tonight at 7:50 p.m. 


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