Lunar Eclipse Thursday Will Be Warm-Up for Solar Show July 11

The moon will be in partial eclipse on Thursday night, but don’t expect a celestial show.

John Mosley, an astronomer at Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, said the moon will move only through the outer, or penumbral, part of the earth’s shadow and will not darken noticeably.

“Even with photographic or photometric equipment, it will be hard, if not impossible, to notice that an eclipse is happening,” Mosley said.

The partial eclipse will begin at 6:46 p.m. Thursday and will be at its maximum at 8:14 p.m. Mosley noted that the maximum part of the eclipse will be when Southern California is still in twilight.

“There will be too much light in the sky for people to see it,” he said.

While Thursday’s partial lunar eclipse will pass with little fanfare, astronomers said the public will witness a great spectacle in just two more weeks. An eclipse of the sun--much rarer than a shadowing of the moon--will take place on July 11, beginning at 10:12 a.m.

Mosley said that residents of Southern California will see about 70% of the sun being temporarily shadowed. A total eclipse of the sun can be viewed from the big island of Hawaii, he noted. Parts of Mexico will also experience a total eclipse.

Gary Chanan, professor of physics at UC Irvine, added, “On the big island of Hawaii, the sun will be completely blacked out (on July 11), and there is considerable excitement and anticipation of that event there.”