July 4th update – Eclipse guru, Fred Espenak, says we may not see anything, because the Moon will dip only one-third into the penumbra. However, it doesn’t hurt to take a peak at maximum, anyway!
We will finally get to see a lunar eclipse on the night of July 4th. A rather minor one, at that! I will be interested in seeing if anyone notices it or not. Most of the lower 48 will see it, but if you are on the west coast, the eclipse begins before moonrise. I show the particulars for San Francisco in this video. Even at maximum, the top half of the Moon will look only faintly darker. The fourth and last penumbral eclipse, this year, will occur on November 30th for the states. The next total eclipse of the Moon for us will be on May 26, 2021.
Venus fell back into the morning sky soon after reaching inferior conjunction on June 3rd, 2020. This animation covers from June 10th, 2020, until February 5th, 2021. Venus will be at greatest elongation west on August 13th. As you can see, Venus will be at its highest or farthest from the horizon in the first week of September. Afterward, it will slowly go back down until it disappears during the first week in February. Venus will reach superior conjunction on March 25th, 2021.
Oh yes, don’t forget to watch Mercury loop twice above the horizon this year. Also, I left the Moon out of the video. Moves by too quickly in this scene!
I am sending you a small clip which we shot of the Annular Solar Eclipse of 21 June, 2020. It shows the 2nd and 3rd contacts. If possible please put it on your website.
Thank you,
Regards, Jatin Rathod
Nehru Planetarium,
Mumbai