| Total eclipse | |||||||||||||||||
| View from Olympia, Washington, just after 7:00 UTC | |||||||||||||||||
| Date | March 14, 2025 | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gamma | 0.3485 | ||||||||||||||||
| Magnitude | 1.1804 | ||||||||||||||||
| Saros cycle | 123 (53 of 72) | ||||||||||||||||
| Totality | 66 minutes, 3.9 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Partiality | 218 minutes, 55.8 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Penumbral | 363 minutes, 22.4 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Friday, March 14, 2025, [1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.1804. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon's near side entirely passes into the Earth's umbral shadow. Unlike a total solar eclipse, which can only be viewed from a relatively small area of the world, a lunar eclipse may be viewed from anywhere on the night side of Earth. A total lunar eclipse can last up to nearly two hours, while a total solar eclipse lasts only a few minutes at any given place, because the Moon's shadow is smaller. Occurring about 3.3 days before apogee (on March 17, 2025, at 12:35 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller. [2]
This lunar eclipse was the first of an almost tetrad, with the others being on September 8, 2025 (total); March 3, 2026 (total); and August 28, 2026 (partial).
This eclipse was seen from the surface of the Moon by Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1 lander, which captured images of the ring of light around the Earth as the Sun passed behind it and the red glow on the Moon's surface. [3] [4]
The eclipse was completely visible over North America and South America, seen rising over Australia and northeast Asia and setting over Africa and Europe. [5]
| Simulated view of earth from moon | From moon, with IR clouds [6] | |
Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular lunar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse. [7]
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Penumbral Magnitude | 2.26146 |
| Umbral Magnitude | 1.18038 |
| Gamma | 0.34846 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 23h37m46.0s |
| Sun Declination | -02°24'16.8" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'05.2" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.8" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 11h38m23.0s |
| Moon Declination | +02°40'54.6" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 14'52.8" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°54'36.8" |
| ΔT | 71.7 s |
This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each calendar year and part of a third may occur. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.
| March 14 Descending node (full moon) | March 29 Ascending node (new moon) |
|---|---|
| | |
| Total lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 123 | Partial solar eclipse Solar Saros 149 |