Spring Lantern Festival brings rare lunar eclipse to Hong Kong, but set your alarm or you’ll miss it
Astronomical event will start at 6.32am on Saturday, only 22 minutes before moon sets
A penumbral lunar eclipse will occur on the morning of the Spring Lantern Festival on Saturday, but an unusually small viewing window means local moon gazers will have to rise early if they want to catch a glimpse of it.
The event will start at 6.32am – only 22 minutes before the moon sets and 25 minutes before sunrise.
This means spectators in the city will have just those 22 minutes to view the eclipse, according to the Hong Kong Observatory. And they will be able to catch only the start of the astronomical event, which will last about four hours and 20 minutes.
A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes through the penumbra, or partial shadow, of the Earth without entering the umbra, or total shadow.
It can be difficult to observe, as the moon merely appears to become slightly dimmer, rather than having the eclipse extend across its entire face, as in a total eclipse, or appearing to have a dark “bite” taken out of it, as in a partial one.