Total lunar eclipse 2010/12/21 | |
---|---|
Saros (member) | 125 (48) |
Recent | <S <T < > T> S> |
Near Greatest eclipse (8:11 UTC) Viewed from San Jose, California | |
The Moon passes right to left through the Earth's northern shadow | |
Gamma [1] | 0.3213 |
Duration (hr:mn:sc) | |
Totality | 1:12:21 |
Partial | 3:28:41 |
Penumbral | 5:35:07 |
Contacts | |
P1 | 5:29:21 UTC |
U1 | 6:32:38 UTC |
U2 | 7:40:48 UTC |
Greatest | 8:16:57 UTC |
U3 | 8:53:09 UTC |
U4 | 10:01:19 UTC |
P4 | 11:04:28 UTC |
At descending node in Taurus |
A total lunar eclipse occurred from 5:27 to 11:06 UTC on 21 December 2010, coinciding with the date of the Winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and Summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. It was visible in its entirety as a total lunar eclipse in North and South America, Iceland, Ireland, Britain and northern Scandinavia.
The eclipse of December 2010 was the first total lunar eclipse in almost three years, since the February 2008 lunar eclipse. [2]
It is the second of two lunar eclipses in 2010. The first was a partial lunar eclipse on June 26, 2010. [3]
The eclipse was the first total lunar eclipse to occur on the day of the Northern Winter Solstice (Southern Summer Solstice) since 1638, and only the second in the Common Era. [4] [5]
This eclipse occurred at the descending node of the Moon's orbit. Lunar eclipses are always paired with a solar eclipse either 2 weeks before or after at new moon in the opposite node. In this case, it was followed by a partial solar eclipse at the ascending node on January 4, 2011, visible from Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia.
The following two lunar eclipses were also total, occurring on June 15, 2011, and December 10, 2011.
The next December solstice total lunar eclipse, as a Metonic twin eclipse, will be December 20, 2029 (19 years later), one day before solstice.
A saros series lasts for many centuries and has a similar event every 18 years and 11 days. This eclipse is the 18th of 26 total lunar eclipses in lunar saros series 125. The previous occurrence was on December 9, 1992, and the next will occur on December 31, 2028.
These simulated views of the Earth from the center of the Moon during the lunar eclipse show where the eclipse is visible on Earth. |
In North America, the eclipse was visible in its entirety on 21 December 2010, from 12:27 a.m. to 6:06 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. [6] In the Central Standard Time zone and west, the eclipse began the night of 20 December. [7] Observers along South America's east coast missed the late stages of the eclipse because they occurred after moon-set. [8]
Likewise much of Europe and Africa experienced moon-set while the eclipse was in progress. In Europe, only those observers in northern Scandinavia (including Iceland), Ireland and Britain could observe the entire event. For observers in eastern Asia the moon rose in eclipse. The eclipse was not visible from southern and eastern Africa, the Middle East or South Asia. In Japan and northeastern Asia, the eclipse's end was visible, with the moon rising at sunset. In the Philippines it was observable as a partial lunar eclipse just after sunset. [8]
Predictions suggested that the total eclipse may appear unusually orange or red, as a result of the eruption of Mount Merapi in Indonesia on 26 October. [9]
Event | HAST (UTC-10) | AKST (UTC−9) | PST (UTC−8) | MST (UTC−7) | CST (UTC−6) | EST (UTC−5) | AST (UTC−4) | UTC (UTC) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Start penumbral (P1) | 7:29 pm(*) | 8:29 pm(*) | 9:29 pm(*) | 10:29 pm(*) | 11:29 pm(*) | 12:29 am | 1:29 am | 5:29 am |
Start umbral (U1) | 8:33 pm(*) | 9:33 pm(*) | 10:33 pm(*) | 11:33 pm(*) | 12:33 am | 1:33 am | 2:33 am | 6:33 am |
Start total (U2) | 9:41 pm(*) | 10:41 pm(*) | 11:41 pm(*) | 12:41 am | 1:41 am | 2:41 am | 3:41 am | 7:41 am |
Greatest eclipse | 10:17 pm(*) | 11:17 pm(*) | 12:17 am | 1:17 am | 2:17 am | 3:17 am | 4:17 am | 8:17 am |
End total (U3) | 10:53 pm(*) | 11:53 pm(*) | 12:53 am | 1:53 am | 2:53 am | 3:53 am | 4:53 am | 8:53 am |
End umbral (U4) | 12:01 am | 1:01 am | 2:01 am | 3:01 am | 4:01 am | 5:01 am | 6:01 am | 10:01 am |
End penumbral (P4) | 1:04 am | 2:04 am | 3:04 am | 4:04 am | 5:04 am | 6:04 am | 7:04 am | 11:04 am |
(*) before midnight on Monday night, 20 December |
Progression from São Paulo, Brazil | |
Progression from Anchorage, Alaska | |
Panorama showing the view from the site of the VLT | |
Sequence from Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Sequence is in 15-minute increments, with 5-minute increments up until totality at 8:17 am UTC) | Progression from Toronto, Canada |
From Jacksonville, Florida, 8:29 UTC - 10:06 UTC | From Easton, Pennsylvania |
Individual shots, sorted by time:
Animations:
The lunar year series repeats after 12 lunations or 354 days (Shifting back about 10 days in sequential years). Because of the date shift, the Earth's shadow will be about 11 degrees west in sequential events.
Lunar eclipse series sets from 2009–2013 | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ascending node | Descending node | |||||||
Saros # Photo | Date Viewing | Type chart | Gamma | Saros # Photo | Date Viewing | Type chart | Gamma | |
110 | 2009 Jul 07 | penumbral | −1.4916 | 115 | 2009 Dec 31 | partial | 0.9766 | |
120 | 2010 Jun 26 | partial | −0.7091 | 125 | 2010 Dec 21 | total | 0.3214 | |
130 | 2011 Jun 15 | total | 0.0897 | 135 | 2011 Dec 10 | total | −0.3882 | |
140 | 2012 Jun 04 | partial | 0.8248 | 145 | 2012 Nov 28 | penumbral | −1.0869 | |
150 | 2013 May 25 | penumbral | 1.5351 | |||||
Last set | 2009 Aug 06 | Last set | 2009 Feb 9 | |||||
Next set | 2013 Apr 25 | Next set | 2013 Oct 18 |
The Metonic cycle repeats nearly exactly every 19 years and represents a Saros cycle plus one lunar year. Because it occurs on the same calendar date, the Earth's shadow will be in nearly the same location relative to the background stars.
Ascending node | Descending node |
---|---|
|
|
The tritos series repeats 31 days short of 11 years at alternating nodes. Sequential events have incremental Saros cycle indices.
This series produces 20 total eclipses between April 24, 1967 and August 11, 2185, only being partial on November 19, 2021.
Tritos eclipse series (subset 1901–2087) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Descending node | Ascending node | |||||
Saros | Date Viewing | Type chart | Saros | Date Viewing | Type chart | |
115 | 1901 Oct 27 | Partial | 116 | 1912 Sep 26 | Partial | |
117 | 1923 Aug 26 | Partial | 118 | 1934 Jul 26 | Partial | |
119 | 1945 Jun 25 | Partial | 120 | 1956 May 24 | Partial | |
121 | 1967 Apr 24 | Total | 122 | 1978 Mar 24 | Total | |
123 | 1989 Feb 20 | Total | 124 | 2000 Jan 21 | Total | |
125 | 2010 Dec 21 | Total | 126 | 2021 Nov 19 | Partial | |
127 | 2032 Oct 18 | Total | 128 | 2043 Sep 19 | Total | |
129 | 2054 Aug 18 | Total | 130 | 2065 Jul 17 | Total | |
131 | 2076 Jun 17 | Total | 132 | 2087 May 17 | Total | |
133 | 2098 Apr 15 | Total |
Lunar saros series 125, repeating every 18 years and 11 days, has 26 total lunar eclipses. The first was on June 17, 1704 and the last will be on March 19, 2155 . The longest totality occurrence of this series (7th) was on August 22, 1812 when totality lasted one hour and 42 minutes. [11]
A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros). [12] This lunar eclipse is related to two annular solar eclipses of Solar Saros 132.
14 December 2001 | 26 December 2019 |
---|---|
A total solar eclipse occurred on March 29, 2006. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. It was visible from a narrow corridor which traversed half the Earth. The magnitude, that is, the ratio between the apparent sizes of the Moon and that of the Sun, was 1.052, and it was part of Saros 139.
A total solar eclipse took place on December 4, 2002, with a magnitude of 1.0244. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. It was visible from a narrow corridor in southern Africa, the Indian Ocean and southern Australia. A partial eclipse was seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including most of Africa and Australia. During the sunset after the eclipse many observers in Australia saw numerous and unusual forms of a green flash.
A total solar eclipse took place on June 21, 2001, with a magnitude of 1.0495. It was the first solar eclipse of the 21st century. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring 2.2 days before perigee, the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
A total lunar eclipse occurred on February 20 and February 21, 2008. It was visible in the eastern evening sky on February 20 for all of North and South America, and on February 21 in the predawn western sky from most of Africa and Europe. Greatest Eclipse occurring on Thursday, February 21, 2008, at 03:26:03 UTC, totality lasting 49 minutes and 45.6 seconds.
A partial lunar eclipse occurred on 26 June 2010, the first of two lunar eclipses in 2010. At maximum eclipse, 53.68% of the Moon was covered by the Earth's shadow.
A total lunar eclipse took place on Monday, February 20, 1989, the first of two total lunar eclipses in 1989.
A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of the orbit on August 1, 2008. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. It had a magnitude of 1.0394 that was visible from a narrow corridor through northern Canada (Nunavut), Greenland, central Russia, eastern Kazakhstan, western Mongolia and China. Visible north of the Arctic Circle, it belonged to the so-called midnight sun eclipses. The largest city in its path was Novosibirsk in Russia. The eclipse happened only 2+1⁄2 days after the perigee that occurred on July 29, 2008, and the Moon's apparent diameter was larger than average.
An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of the orbit on Monday, January 26, 2009. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide. It had a magnitude of 0.9282 and was visible from a narrow corridor beginning in the south Atlantic Ocean and sweeping eastward 900 km south of Africa, slowly curving northeast through the Indian Ocean. Its first landfall was in the Cocos Islands followed by southern Sumatra and western Java. It continued somewhat more easterly across central Borneo, across the northwestern edge of Celebes, then ending just before Mindanao, Philippines. The duration of annularity at greatest eclipse lasted 7 minutes, 53.58 seconds, but at greatest duration lasted 7 minutes, 56.05 seconds.
A total lunar eclipse took place on 4 April 2015. It is the former of two total lunar eclipses in 2015, and the third in a tetrad. Other eclipses in the tetrad are those of 15 April 2014, 8 October 2014, and 28 September 2015.
A total lunar eclipse occurred on 15–16 May 2022, the first of two total lunar eclipses in 2022. The event occurred near lunar perigee; as a result, this event was referred to some in media coverage as a "super flower blood moon" and elsewhere as a "super blood moon", a supermoon that coincides with a total lunar eclipse. This was the longest total lunar eclipse visible from nearly all of North America since August 17, 1989 until the next eclipse on November 8.
A partial lunar eclipse occurred on 19 November 2021. The eclipse occurred towards a micromoon. This was the longest partial lunar eclipse since 18 February 1440, and the longest until 8 February, 2669; however, many eclipses, including the November 2022 lunar eclipse, have a longer period of umbral contact at next to 3 hours 40 minutes. It was often referred to as a "Beaver Blood Moon" although not technically fulfilling the criteria for a true blood moon (totality).
A total lunar eclipse took place on Monday, April 24, 1967, the first of two total lunar eclipses in 1967, the second being on October 18, 1967.
A total solar eclipse took place at the Moon's descending node of the orbit on March 8–9, 2016. If viewed from east of the International Date Line, the eclipse took place on March 8 (Tuesday) and elsewhere on March 9 (Wednesday). A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's and the apparent path of the Sun and Moon intersect, blocking all direct sunlight and turning daylight into darkness; the Sun appears to be black with a halo around it. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. The eclipse of March 8–9, 2016 had a magnitude of 1.0450 visible across an area of Pacific Ocean, which started in the Indian Ocean, and ended in the northern Pacific Ocean.
A total solar eclipse occurred at the ascending node of the Moon's orbit on Tuesday, July 2, 2019, with an eclipse magnitude of 1.0459. Totality was visible from the southern Pacific Ocean east of New Zealand to the Coquimbo Region in Chile and Central Argentina at sunset, with the maximum of 4 minutes 33 seconds visible from the Pacific Ocean. The Moon was only 2.4 days before perigee, making it fairly large.
An annular solar eclipse took place on February 26, 2017. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring only 4.7 days before perigee, the Moon's apparent diameter was larger. The moon's apparent diameter was just over 0.7% smaller than the Sun's.
An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of the orbit on Thursday, December 26, 2019. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the Sun for a viewer on Earth. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide.
An annular solar eclipse occurred on Sunday, June 21, 2020. An annular solar eclipse is a solar eclipse whose presentation looks like a ring, or annulus; it occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most, but not all, of the Sun's light. In this instance, the Moon's apparent diameter was 0.6% smaller than the Sun's.
A total solar eclipse took place on Monday, December 14, 2020, when the Moon passed between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. Totality occurred in a narrow path across Earth's surface across parts of the South Pacific Ocean, southern South America, and the South Atlantic Ocean, when the Moon's apparent diameter was larger than the Sun's so all direct sunlight was blocked. The partial solar eclipse was visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide, including parts of the Pacific Ocean, South America, southwestern Africa, and the Atlantic Ocean. The Moon's apparent diameter was larger than average because the eclipse occurred only 1.8 days after perigee.
A total solar eclipse will occur on Saturday, December 5, 2048. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide.
A hybrid solar eclipse occurred on Thursday, April 20, 2023. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun thereby totally or partly obscuring the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A hybrid solar eclipse is a rare type of solar eclipse that changes its appearance from annular to total and back as the Moon's shadow moves across the Earth's surface. Totality occurs in a narrow path across the surface of the Earth, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometers wide. Hybrid solar eclipses are extremely rare, occurring in only 3.1% of solar eclipses in the 21st century.