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a total eclipse of the moon. A penumbral eclipse is more subtle than either of these. At the central part of the eclipse, you'll see a dusky shading covering about 90% of the moon's face. By the way, that brilliant planet near tonight's moon is the king planet Jupiter. The moon and Jupiter will be even closer together tomorrow night.
• So, before you set your alarm clocks, consider yourself forewarned. A penumbral lunar eclipse is not nearly as stark and obvious as an umbral eclipse of the moon. During an umbral lunar eclipse, the moon passes through the umbra - the Earth's dark, cone-shaped shadow. During a penumbral eclipse, the moon passes through the light penumbral shadow surrounding the umbra. (See feature diagram at top.) Your best chance of noticing any penumbral shadow on the moon's surface is at mid-eclipse (greatest eclipse) in a dark sky not obscured by dusk or dawn.

• People in Alaska, Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, and most of Asia will be on the correct side of Earth to see the eclipse. The western U.S. and Canada will also catch part of it.
• So Alaska, Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, and east Asia will see the entire eclipse on November 28. For western Canada and the western U.S. moonset will happen sometime after mid-eclipse. For eastern Canada and the eastern U.S., the eclipse will begin after moonset. No eclipse on November 28 for you in the east … sorry.
• Actually, the eclipse would be much more exciting to watch if you could view it from the moon. At or near the moon's north pole, you'd see our planet Earth covering about 90% of the sun's diameter. As you go farther south on the moon, the Earth would cover less of the sun. At the southernmost regions of the moon, you'd see no eclipse at all.
• Bottom line: The full moon of November 28, 2012 is the smallest full moon of the year and will be darkened by the very subtle penumbral shadow of Earth during the night tonight (night of November 27-28), or before dawn for North America. Cloudy where you are? Just can't get up that early? Don't worry. You can still see the moon boldly lighting up the night sky from dusk until dawn for the next couple of nights! By the way, in North America, we often call the November full moon the Frosty Moon or Beaver Moon.