PARTIAL ECLIPSE OF MOON

Taranaki Daily News, 27 July 1934, Page 4

PARTIAL ECLIPSE OF MOON

VIEW SPOILT BY CONDITIONS. EFFECT SCARCELY VISIBLE. A partial eclipse of the moon occurred last evening, but on account of overcast conditions which developed later in the evening was scarcely visible at New Plymouth. The first slight darkening of the lunar disc occurred at 9.20, when the moon entered the penumbral shadow of the earth. At 10.24 the eclipse first become an established fact for the naked eye observer under normal clear conditions when the moon made its contact with the umbra or complete shadow. The amount of disc obscured by this shadow slowly increased until 1.45, when mid-eclipse occurred. The shadow at that time covered nearly seven-tenths of the moon’s diameter. From then on, the shadow gradually moved off the lunar disc, until at 1.6 a.m. to-day the moon left the umbral shadow. The almost imperceptible darkening of the penumbral eclipse continued, however, until 2.10 a.m. Of the four eclipses set down in the almanacs for this year, two had occurred —a partial eclipse of the moon on January 30 and a total eclipse of the sun on February 14. The fourth eclipse, an annular solar eclipse, will occur on August 10.