Lunar Eclipse 2020: Date, timing in India, where to watch Chandra Grahan

Lunar eclipse 2020: The first eclipse of 2020, a lunar eclipse, will start at 10:37 pm on January 10. The lunar eclipse, also known as Chandra Grahan, will be penumbral, which means, the Earth will block some of the sunlight from reaching the Moon and only the outer shadow (the penumbra) will fall on the moon.

On this particular celestial event, the moon is also known as "Wolf Moon". It is because the January 10 lunar eclipse will coincide with the full Moon. A full moon occurs once every 29.5 days, appearing halfway through the lunar cycle.

On January 10, various European, African and Asian countries will witness a penumbral lunar eclipse. The Chandra Grahan will last for almost 4 hours. The lunar eclipse will end around 2.42 am on January 11.

Penumbral lunar eclipse in India:

In India, the penumbral lunar eclipse will start from 10:37 pm on January 10 night. The full visual impact of the Chandra Grahan could be seen at around 12:41 am. During this time almost 90 per cent of the moon will be covered by the partial shadow region of the Earth.

Also read: Lunar eclipse 2020: Check timings in india, when and where to watch Chandra Grahan

Where can you see the penumbral lunar eclipse:

In Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and other northern states of India the penumbral lunar eclipse will not be visible much due to clouds, cold weather rain and snowfall. However, people living in southern India will be able to view it better. However, through the naked eye, the impact of the eclipse on the Moon will be difficult to see.

Also, as only the outer shadow (the penumbra) will fall on the Moon during the Chandra Grahan, whereas the inner, more intense shadow (the umbra) will not. Therefore, the peak of the eclipse will be harder to discern.

What is a lunar eclipse or Chandra Grahan:

During a lunar eclipse, the Earth blocks the light of Sun from reaching Moon. The celestial event happens when the Moon is passing behind Earth. Scientifically, when a lunar eclipse happens, the Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon.

In the year 2020, six eclipses will occur--four lunar eclipses--on January 10, June 5, July 5 and November 30 and two solar eclipses--June 21 and December 14.