December 2010 lunar eclipse

Last updated

Total lunar eclipse
2010/12/21
Saros (member) 125 (48)
Recent <S <T < > T> S>
Near Greatest Eclipse 20101221 0011-crop.jpg
Near Greatest eclipse (8:11 UTC)
Viewed from San Jose, California
Lunar eclipse chart close-10dec21.png
The Moon passes right to left through the Earth's northern shadow
Gamma [1] 0.3213
Duration (hr:mn:sc)
Totality1:12:21
Partial3:28:41
Penumbral5:35:07
Contacts
P15:29:21 UTC
U16:32:38 UTC
U27:40:48 UTC
Greatest8:16:57 UTC
U38:53:09 UTC
U410:01:19 UTC
P411:04:28 UTC
Lunar eclipse chart-10dec21.png
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.

Contents

Occurrence

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.

See This lunar year cycle

The next December solstice total lunar eclipse, as a Metonic twin eclipse, will be December 20, 2029 (19 years later), one day before solstice.

See This 19 year Metonic cycle

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.

See This saros

Visibility

NASA chart of the eclipse 2010-12-21 Lunar Eclipse Sketch.png
NASA chart of the eclipse
Lunar eclipse from moon-10dec21.png
These simulated views of the earth from the center of the moon during the lunar eclipse show where the eclipse is visible on earth.

Visibility Lunar Eclipse 2010-12-21.png

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]

Local times

Local times of eclipse over North America
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 am1:29 am5:29 am
Start umbral (U1)8:33 pm(*)9:33 pm(*)10:33 pm(*)11:33 pm(*)12:33 am1:33 am2:33 am6:33 am
Start total (U2)9:41 pm(*)10:41 pm(*)11:41 pm(*)12:41 am1:41 am2:41 am3:41 am7:41 am
Greatest eclipse10:17 pm(*)11:17 pm(*)12:17 am1:17 am2:17 am3:17 am4:17 am8:17 am
End total (U3)10:53 pm(*)11:53 pm(*)12:53 am1:53 am2:53 am3:53 am4:53 am8:53 am
End umbral (U4)12:01 am1:01 am2:01 am3:01 am4:01 am5:01 am6:01 am10:01 am
End penumbral (P4)1:04 am2:04 am3:04 am4:04 am5:04 am6:04 am7:04 am11:04 am
(*) before midnight on Monday night, 20 December
Progressions
Lunar eclipse.jpg
Progression from São Paulo, Brazil
Lunar Eclipse from Achhorage Alaska.jpg
Progression from Anchorage, Alaska
VLT Cerro Paranal Total Lunar Eclipse 21 December 2010.jpg
Panorama showing the view from the site of the VLT
LunarEclipseSequence-December21-10-rectangle.jpg
Sequence from Toronto, Ontario, Canada
(Sequence is in 15-minute increments, with 5-minute increments up until totality at 8:17 am UTC)
LunarEclipseSequence-December21-10.jpg
Progression from Toronto, Canada
Lunar Eclipse Sequence on Winter Solstice Dec 21 2010.jpg
From Jacksonville, Florida, 8:29 UTC - 10:06 UTC
12-2010 Lunar-Eclipse.jpg
From Easton, Pennsylvania

Individual shots, sorted by time:

Animations:

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Lunar Saros 125

Inex

Triad

Eclipses of 2010

Lunar year series

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
GammaSaros #
Photo
Date
Viewing
Type
chart
Gamma
110 2009 Jul 07
Lunar eclipse from moon-2009Jul07.png
penumbral
Lunar eclipse chart close-2009jul07.png
−1.4916115
December 2009 partial lunar eclipse-cropped.jpg
2009 Dec 31
Lunar eclipse from moon-2009Dec31.png
partial
Lunar eclipse chart close-2009Dec31.png
0.9766
120
Lunar eclipse june 2010 northup.jpg
2010 Jun 26
Lunar eclipse from moon-2010Jun26.png
partial
Lunar eclipse chart close-2010jun26.png
−0.7091125
Near Greatest Eclipse 20101221 0011-crop.jpg
2010 Dec 21
Lunar eclipse from moon-2010Dec21.png
total
Lunar eclipse chart close-10dec21.png
0.3214
130
Lunar eclipse June 2011 Total.jpg
2011 Jun 15
Lunar eclipse from moon-2011Jun15.png
total
Lunar eclipse chart close-2011jun15.png
0.0897135
Lunar eclipse by Shiny Things cropped.jpg
2011 Dec 10
Lunar eclipse from moon-2011Dec10.png
total
Lunar eclipse chart close-2011Dec10.png
−0.3882
140
Partial Eclipse of Moon 4th June 2012 Australia cropped.jpg
2012 Jun 04
Lunar eclipse from moon-2012Jun04.png
partial
Lunar eclipse chart close-2012Jun04.png
0.8248145 2012 Nov 28
Lunar eclipse from moon-2012Nov28.png
penumbral
Lunar eclipse chart close-2012Nov28.png
−1.0869
150 2013 May 25
Lunar eclipse from moon-2013May25.png
penumbral
Lunar eclipse chart close-2013May25.png
1.5351
Last set 2009 Aug 06 Last set 2009 Feb 9
Next set 2013 Apr 25 Next set 2013 Oct 18

Metonic cycles (19 years)

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 nodeDescending node
  1. 1991 Jun 27 - penumbral (110)
  2. 2010 Jun 26 - partial (120)
  3. 2029 Jun 26 - total (130)
  4. 2048 Jun 26 - partial (140)
  5. 2067 Jun 27 - penumbral (150)
  1. 1991 Dec 21 - partial (115)
  2. 2010 Dec 21 - total (125)
  3. 2029 Dec 20 - total (135)
  4. 2048 Dec 20 - partial (145)
Metonic lunar eclipse 1991-2067A.png Metonic lunar eclipse 1991-2048D.png

Tritos series

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
SarosDate
Viewing
Type
chart
115 1901 Oct 27
Lunar eclipse from moon-1901Oct27.png
Partial
Lunar eclipse chart close-1901Oct27.png
116 1912 Sep 26
Lunar eclipse from moon-1912Sep26.png
Partial
Lunar eclipse chart close-1912Sep26.png
117 1923 Aug 26
Lunar eclipse from moon-1923Aug26.png
Partial
Lunar eclipse chart close-1923Aug26.png
118 1934 Jul 26
Lunar eclipse from moon-1934Jul26.png
Partial
Lunar eclipse chart close-1934Jul26.png
119 1945 Jun 25
Lunar eclipse from moon-1945Jun25.png
Partial
Lunar eclipse chart close-1945Jun25.png
120 1956 May 24
Lunar eclipse from moon-1956May24.png
Partial
Lunar eclipse chart close-1956May24.png
121 1967 Apr 24
Lunar eclipse from moon-1967Apr24.png
Total
Lunar eclipse chart close-1967Apr24.png
122 1978 Mar 24
Lunar eclipse from moon-1978Mar24.png
Total
Lunar eclipse chart close-1978Mar24.png
123 1989 Feb 20
Lunar eclipse from moon-1989Feb20.png
Total
Lunar eclipse chart close-1989Feb20.png
124 2000 Jan 21
Lunar eclipse from moon-2000Jan21.png
Total
Lunar eclipse chart close-2000Jan21.png
125 2010 Dec 21
Lunar eclipse from moon-2010Dec21.png
Total
Lunar eclipse chart close-10dec21.png
126 2021 Nov 19
Lunar eclipse from moon-2021Nov19.png
Partial
Lunar eclipse chart close-2021Nov19.png
127 2032 Oct 18
Lunar eclipse from moon-2032Oct18.png
Total
Lunar eclipse chart close-2032Oct18.png
128 2043 Sep 19
Lunar eclipse from moon-2043Sep19.png
Total
Lunar eclipse chart close-2043Sep19.png
129 2054 Aug 18
Lunar eclipse from moon-2054Aug18.png
Total
Lunar eclipse chart close-2054Aug18.png
130 2065 Jul 17
Lunar eclipse from moon-2065Jul17.png
Total
Lunar eclipse chart close-2065Jul17.png
131 2076 Jun 17
Lunar eclipse from moon-2076Jun17.png
Total
Lunar eclipse chart close-2076Jun17.png
132 2087 May 17
Lunar eclipse from moon-2087May17.png
Total
Lunar eclipse chart close-2087May17.png
133 2098 Apr 15
Lunar eclipse from moon-2098Apr15.png
Total
Lunar eclipse chart close-2098Apr15.png

Saros series

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]

Half-Saros cycle

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
SE2001Dec14A.png SE2019Dec26A.png

See also

Notes

  1. Gamma is the minimum distance of the Moon's shadow axis from Earth's centre in Earth radii at greatest eclipse.
  2. Beatty, J. Kelly (30 December 2009). "Eclipses in 2010". Sky & Telescope. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  3. "Partial Lunar Eclipse on June 26, 2010". Timeanddate.com. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  4. "NASA Science News: Solstice Lunar Eclipse". Science.nasa.gov. 17 December 2010. Archived from the original on 5 November 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  5. "Lunar eclipse, winter solstice to coincide". Cbc.ca. 17 December 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  6. Greg (11 December 2010). "Total Lunar Eclipse of December 21, 2010". Outer Space Universe. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  7. 2010 Dec 21 chart: Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak , NASA / GSFC
  8. 1 2 "What Time is the Lunar Eclipse 2010 Tonight?". City State Times. Archived from the original on 22 December 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  9. A historic eclipse: Volcano will tint the moon in rare Dec. 21 celestial danceby Chris Roberts, El Paso Times Archived 29 July 2012 at archive.today
  10. Gupta, Yatharth (21 December 2010). "Total Eclipse of the Moon". Seattle. Retrieved 30 July 2020 via Flickr.
  11. Listing of Eclipses of cycle 125
  12. Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros

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