Early risers woke up to partial lunar eclipse

PHOENIX - Early risers were treated to a partial lunar eclipse to help alleviate a “case of the Mondays.”

It started around 3 a.m. Arizona time, and the viewing peeked around 4:04 a.m.

According to information from NASA , this month's full moon—dubbed Strawberry Moon for the fruit's short harvest season—skimmed through the edge of Earth's shadow and create a partial lunar eclipse.

This special lunar event comes right on the heels of last month's solar eclipse, and there's a good reason for that. NASA astronomers assert that both lunar and solar eclipses always come in groups.

That means an eclipse of the sun is escorted by an eclipse of the moon either two weeks prior or afterward.

In those two weeks, the moon as time to travel halfway around its usual orbit and again line up with the sun and Earth.

This time, the lunar eclipse comes two weeks behind the solar eclipse seen May 20 and 21.

This lunar eclipse comes just a day before this year's most anticipated astronomical event. The Transit of Venus is will be on Tuesday, June 5.

This will be the last chance Earth-bound viewers will have a chance to see Venus pass before the sun in their lifetimes, Space.com reported.

Records show that only six Transits of Venus have been observed by humans.

These events took place in 1639, 1761, 1768, 1874, 1882 and 2004.

The next transit is expected to occur in 2117. For more information about the transit, click over to NASA's Transit of Venus page .