January 1999 lunar eclipse
Encyclopedia
Lunar eclipse
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes behind the Earth so that the Earth blocks the Sun's rays from striking the Moon. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, a lunar eclipse can only occur the night of a...
took place on January 31, 1999, the first of two lunar eclipses in 1999.
This was a relatively rare total penumbral lunar eclipse
Total penumbral lunar eclipse
A total penumbral eclipse is a lunar eclipse occurs when the moon becomes completely immersed in the penumbral cone of the Earth without touching the umbra....
with the moon passing entirely within the penumbral shadow without entering the darker umbral shadow.
Images
This simulated view compares this penumbral eclipse (left) to the full moon (right) as it appeared an hour before the eclipse.