Subtle Penumbral Lunar Eclipse Can Be Seen on Wednesday Morning

Eagle eyed sky watchers should be prepared early this Wednesday as "penumbral" lunar eclipse will show across the sky.

People who watch the moon carefully this Wednesday morning can notice the shadow.

"Penumbral" lunar is different from lunar eclipse. A total penumbral eclipse is a lunar eclipse that occurs when the moon becomes completely immersed in the penumbral cone of the Earth without touching the umbra.

It is a narrow path for the moon to pass within the penumbra and outside the umbra. It can happen on the Earth's northern or southern penumbral edges.

This eclipse is much more subtle, and much harder to recognize than either a total or partial eclipse of the moon.

This eclipse will be most visible between 2am and 5am on Wednesday. People will have to see towards southwest direction, preferably high up and away from city lights.

"They'll start to notice over a two-hour period there's a larger object that the moon is sort of passing behind, as if it's being darkened by something - of course that something is the Earth," Michael Unger, programs co-ordinator at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre said.

The lunar eclipse on Wednesday will be the first lunar eclipse this year.