To divide
During a penumbral lunar eclipse, the moon is covered only by a gray veil – the phenomenon is easy to miss. (archive image) © imago/McPHOTO
Today the penumbra of the earth passes over the full moon. The penumbral lunar eclipse can also be observed in Germany – if you look closely. With live streaming.
MUNICH – An eclipse doesn’t come alone – following the rare hybrid solar eclipse over the Pacific on April 20, a lunar eclipse is now taking place which will also be partially visible from large parts of Europe. On May 5th, the earth slides between the sun and the full moon, with the sun illuminating the earth, whose shadow falls into space. During the lunar eclipse on May 5, 2023, the moon will be 99% eclipsed – but only by Earth’s penumbra. A so-called penumbral eclipse can be seen.
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This is important to know for observation, because such a lunar eclipse is much more difficult to recognize than an eclipse in which the earth’s shadow moves across the moon. During a penumbral eclipse, it looks like a light gray veil would cover the moon – if you don’t look carefully, you might even miss the phenomenon.
The lunar eclipse of May 5, 2023 live stream:
Lunar eclipse today: Earth’s penumbra passes over full moon
The lunar eclipse can be seen in almost all of Europe, at least in parts. The penumbra begins to cover the moon at 17:14 (CEST). In Germany, the moon is still below the horizon at this time – it only rises around 8:30 pm, depending on the location at a slightly different time.
In Munich, the time has come at 8:33 pm: the moon rises and is partially eclipsed by the earth’s penumbra. However, the maximum dimming is already in the past: more than an hour earlier, at 19:22, the moon is about 99% covered by penumbra. When the moon rises in Munich, you can watch for just under an hour how the penumbra moves away from the Earth’s satellite. At 9:31 pm, the penumbral eclipse phenomenon ended.
| Penumbral eclipse begins (not visible in Munich) |
| Maximum 99 percent blackout (not visible in Munich) |
| Moonrise in Munich |
| The penumbral eclipse ended |
| Source: timeanddate.de |
Penumbral eclipse visible after moonrise in Germany
The eclipse of the full moon through the terrestrial penumbra can be observed in large parts of the world. A part of the penumbral lunar eclipse can be seen in most regions of the continents of Europe and Africa. Australia and Asia will also benefit from the lunar eclipse. The total eclipse can be seen in Australia, China, India, Mongolia, Indonesia and the Philippines, among others.
The next lunar eclipse visible from Germany will occur on October 28, 2023. Here the earth’s umbra at least touches the moon – but only very slightly. The partial lunar eclipse can be seen across Germany and large parts of Europe. In Germany, you should wait even longer for the next total lunar eclipse with a blood moon: it will not occur until September 7, 2025, the moon will rise in Germany during the total eclipse. (tab)