KUWAIT: A penumbral lunar was visible in Kuwait Friday evening, said a Kuwaiti astronomer. The eclipse took place at 8:05 pm local time and ran until 12:15 am yesterday morning, Adel Al-Saadoun said. The penumbral lunar eclipse could only be seen with a microscope, he said, adding that no part of the moon entered the Earth's much darker umbra and the lower portion of the moon tracks deep into the Earth's outer shadow.

Six lunar and solar eclipses are predicted to occur in 2020 worldwide, the Kuwaiti astronomer noted. Kuwait recently witnessed a partial solar eclipse with 80 percent of the sun's disk covered by the moon, a phenomenon that may occur from two to five times a year whether the eclipse is partial, total or annular. Kuwait witnessed several partial solar eclipses in 1914, 1922, 1976 and 1999. - KUNA