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A partial eclipse of the moon will occur on Monday (October 17). If weather permits, the event will be visible in Hong Kong.
The partial eclipse will occur from 7.34pm to 8.33pm and the middle of the eclipse will occur at 8.03pm. This partial eclipse is rather shallow with an umbral magnitude of only 0.068, meaning 6.8% of the moon's diameter will enter into the umbra (total shadow) of the earth at the middle of eclipse. However, as the entire moon will cross the penumbra (partial shadow) of the earth, it will appear significantly dimmer around the time of partial eclipse. Please refer to the attached diagram for the path of the moon during the eclipse.
Details of the eclipse are as follows.
HK Timeˇ@ˇ@Azimuthˇ@ˇ@Elevation
Direction ˇ@(Degrees)
Moonrise 5.47pm East 0
Moon enters penumbra 5.51pm East 1
Sunset 5.57pm
Moon enters umbra 7.34pm East 23
Middle of eclipse 8.03pm East 30
Moon leaves umbra 8.32pm East 37
Moon leaves penumbra 10.15pm East-southeast 60
The best places to observe the event will be those with unobstructed views to the east such as Shek O and Sai Kung.
The next lunar eclipse observable in Hong Kong will occur on March 15, 2006. It will be a penumbral eclipse.
Please refer to the Hong Kong Observatory website for detailed explanations of the technical terms used for different stages of the eclipse:
http.//www.weather.gov.hk/gts/astron2005/lunar_eclipse_e.htm.
Ends/Thursday, October 13, 2005
Issued at HKT 11:45
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