Community Corner
Lunar Eclipse 'Lite' Over Bowie Friday
Assuming the fog or clouds don't blanket the sky, the Bowie area should be able to witness this year's last lunar eclipse Friday night.
By Charles Buress and Jenni Pompi
The next performance of light and shadow by the Earth-Moon-Sun trio takes place Friday evening when the Earth passes between the Sun and Moon creating a "penumbral lunar eclipse," which will be visible over Bowie, weather permitting.
In a penumbral lunar eclipse, the moon falls under the dim edge, or penumbra, of the Earth's shadow, instead of the main part of the shadow called the umbra. As a result, the moon's face grows a bit dimmer instead of showing a clearly defined disc moving across it as can be seen in a regular lunar eclipse.
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During Friday's eclipse, "At mid-eclipse, 76 percent of the moon's diameter will be immersed in the penumbra, probably deep enough to cause a faint, yet discernible darkening of the moon's lower limb," according to Space.com.
The eclipse will peak around 7:50 p.m. Eastern Time and will end at around 9:48 p.m., according to timeanddate.com. The eclipse begins at around 5:53 p.m., but the moon will still be below the horizon in the DC area and therefore not visible, according to the website.
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The National Weather Service is predicting partly cloudy skies over Bowie Friday evening, which may obscure the view of the eclipse locally.
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