Beaver Moon darkened by penumbral lunar eclipse

Logan Dailey
Posted 12/2/20

Earth’s moon reached the point of apogee, or it’s farthest travel in its orbit away from Earth on Nov. 28.

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Beaver Moon darkened by penumbral lunar eclipse

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GOSHEN COUNTY – Earth’s moon reached the point of apogee, or it’s farthest travel in its orbit away from Earth on Nov. 28. Then, on Nov. 30, the full moon was temporarily darkened during a penumbral lunar eclipse. 

During this eclipse, the Sun, Earth and moon were slightly misaligned causing the surface of the moon to be darkened while the Earth obscured the Sun’s light from reaching the Moon’s surface. 

According to timeanddate.com, the full moon rose in the eastern sky at 4:47 p.m. and didn’t set until 7:17 a.m. in the western sky. The penumbral eclipse began at 12:21 a.m. with the maximum eclipse occurring at 2:42 a.m. The eclipse ended at 4:53 a.m. 

November’s full moon was dubbed the Beaver Moon years ago by a number of Native Americans and colonial Americans but has also been known as the Frost Moon or Freezing Moon, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

The next full moon will be the Cold Moon occurring Dec. 29. 

There’s more going on with the moon than just an eclipse. China’s Chang’e 5 spacecraft entered orbit around the moon on Nov. 28. The Chang’e 5 spacecraft is embarking on a scientific endeavor to collect samples from the moon.

According to the North American Space Administration’s (NASA) Space and Science Data Coordinated Archive (NSSDCA), Chang’e 5 is a Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) lunar sample return mission that launched on Nov. 23 from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on Hainan Island, China.

The spacecraft is expected to land on the lunar surface, collect samples from the moon and return to the Siziwang Banner grassland in northern China on Dec. 16 or 17.