Lunar Eclipse 2020 today: Timings in India, all you need to know about 'Strawberry Moon'

Earlier in the year, the country had witnessed its first lunar eclipse in the month of January. The next lunar eclipse or Chandra Grahan,  is scheduled to occur on the night of June 5. Similar to the lunar eclipse which happened in January, this one would also be a penumbral lunar eclipse.

A lunar eclipse occurs when Earth comes in between Moon and Sun. This rare phenomenon causes the moon to be covered by the earth shadow. The intensity and extent to which the earth's shadow covers the moon divides lunar eclipses into three different types.

Three types of lunar eclipses are:

• Total
• Partial
• Penumbral

A penumbral lunar eclipse is hard to distinguish from a normal full moon as the satellite only moves through the faint outer part of the Earth's shadow thus only causing a slight darkening of the moon.

Timings in India

According to reports, the penumbral lunar eclipse scheduled for the night June 5 will be visible from Asia, Australia, Europe and Africa. In India, the eclipse will start from 11:15 pm on June 5 and will be most prominent at 12:54 am on June 6 when the faint shadow completely engulfs the Moon. The eclipse will end at 2:34 am on June 6, 2020.

What is 'The Strawberry Moon'

The June full moon is nicknamed as the strawberry moon. The name is an old reference of the strawberry harvesting season. According to the farmers' almanac, 'the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries comes each year during the month of June.'

This won't be the last penumbral lunar eclipse of the year, another eclipse is expected to happen in July of this year according to predictions.

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