Lunar eclipse to greet sky watchers on Saturday

A penumbral lunar eclipse will greet sky watchers in the wee hours of Saturday, the last of three lunar eclipses this year.

The penumbral eclipse will begin at 03:20:38 am and end at 07:19:49 am.

The deepest phase or greatest eclipse will occur at 05:20:17 am.

The beginning and end of a penumbral eclipse are not visible. In fact, no shading can be detected until about two-thirds of the Moon's disk is immersed in the penumbra, SPACE president C B Devgun said.

The eclipse will be seen all over the country, he said.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is in a direct line between the Sun and the Moon. A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through penumbra, the lighter part of the shadow.

This is the last of the three lunar eclipses this year.

A partial lunar eclipse occurred on April 25 and a penumbral lunar eclipse occurred on May 25. Both of them were not visible in the country.