Lunar eclipse
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A lunar eclipse occurs whenever the Moon passes through some portion of the Earth's shadow. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, there is always a full moon the night of a lunar eclipse. The type and length of an eclipse depend upon the Moon's location relative to its orbital nodes. The next total lunar eclipse occurs on December 21, 2010. The next eclipse of the Moon is a penumbral eclipse on July 7, 2009.
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[edit] Types of lunar eclipses
The shadow of the Earth can be divided into two distinctive parts: the umbra and penumbra. Within the umbra, there is no direct solar radiation. However, as a result of the Sun's large angular size, solar illumination is only partially blocked in the outer portion of the Earth's shadow, which is given the name penumbra.
A penumbral eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through the Earth's penumbra. The penumbra does not cause any noticeable darkening of the Moon's surface, though some may argue it turns a little yellow. A special type of penumbral eclipse is a total penumbral eclipse, during which the Moon lies exclusively within the Earth's penumbra. Total penumbral eclipses are rare, and when these occur, that portion of the Moon which is closest to the umbra can appear somewhat darker than the rest of the Moon.
A partial lunar eclipse occurs when only a portion of the Moon enters the umbra. When the Moon travels completely into the Earth's umbra, one observes a total lunar eclipse. The Moon's speed through the shadow is about one kilometer per second (2,300 mph), and totality may last up to nearly 107 minutes. Nevertheless, the total time between the Moon's first and last contact with the shadow is much longer, and could last up to 3.8 hours.[1] The relative distance of the Moon from the Earth at the time of an eclipse can affect the eclipse's duration. In particular, when the Moon is near its apogee, the farthest point from the Earth in its orbit, its orbital speed is the slowest. The diameter of the umbra does not decrease much with distance. Thus, a totally-eclipsed Moon occurring near apogee will lengthen the duration of totality.
A selenelion or selenehelion occurs when both the Sun and the eclipsed Moon can be observed at the same time. This can only happen just before sunset or just after sunrise, and both bodies will appear just above the horizon at nearly opposite points in the sky. This arrangement has led to the phenomenon being referred to as a horizontal eclipse. It happens during every lunar eclipse at all those places on the Earth where it is sunrise or sunset at the time. Indeed, the reddened light that reaches the Moon comes from all the simultaneous sunrises and sunsets on the Earth. Although the Moon is in the Earth's geometrical shadow, the Sun and the eclipsed Moon can appear in the sky at the same time because the refraction of light through the Earth's atmosphere causes objects near the horizon to appear higher in the sky than their true geometric position.[2]
The Moon does not completely disappear as it passes through the umbra because of the refraction of sunlight by the Earth's atmosphere into the shadow cone; if the Earth had no atmosphere, the Moon would be completely dark during an eclipse. The red colouring arises because sunlight reaching the Moon must pass through a long and dense layer of the Earth's atmosphere, where it is scattered. Shorter wavelengths are more likely to be scattered by the small particles, and so by the time the light has passed through the atmosphere, the longer wavelengths dominate. This resulting light we perceive as red. This is the same effect that causes sunsets and sunrises to turn the sky a reddish colour; an alternative way of considering the problem is to realise that, as viewed from the Moon, the Sun would appear to be setting (or rising) behind the Earth.
The amount of refracted light depends on the amount of dust or clouds in the atmosphere; this also controls how much light is scattered. In general, the dustier the atmosphere, the more that other wavelengths of light will be removed (compared to red light), leaving the resulting light a deeper red colour. This causes the resulting coppery-red hue of the Moon to vary from one eclipse to the next. Volcanoes are notable for expelling large quantities of dust into the atmosphere, and a large eruption shortly before an eclipse can have a large effect on the resulting colour.
[edit] Danjon scale
The following scale (the Danjon scale) was devised by André Danjon for rating the overall darkness of lunar eclipses:[3]
- L=0: Very dark eclipse. Moon almost invisible, especially at mid-totality.
- L=1: Dark Eclipse, gray or brownish in colouration. Details distinguishable only with difficulty.
- L=2: Deep red or rust-colored eclipse. Very dark central shadow, while outer edge of umbra is relatively bright.
- L=3: Brick-red eclipse. Umbral shadow usually has a bright or yellow rim.
- L=4: Very bright copper-red or orange eclipse. Umbral shadow is bluish and has a very bright rim.
[edit] Eclipse cycles
Every year there are usually at least two partial lunar eclipses, although total eclipses are significantly less common. If one knows the date and time of an eclipse, it is possible to predict the occurrence of other eclipses using an eclipse cycle like the Saros cycle. Unlike a solar eclipse, which can only be viewed from a certain relatively small area of the world, a lunar eclipse may be viewed from anywhere on the night side of the Earth.
[edit] Recent and upcoming lunar eclipse events
- March 3, 2007, lunar eclipse - The first total lunar eclipse of 2007 occurred on March 03, 2007, and was partially visible from the Americas, Asia and Australia. The complete event was visible throughout Africa and Europe. The event lasted 01h:15m, began at 20:16 UTC, and reached totality at 22:43 UTC.[4]
- August 2007 lunar eclipse - August 28, 2007, saw the second total lunar eclipse of the year. The initial stage began at 07:52 UTC, and reached totality at 09:52 UTC. This eclipse was viewable form Eastern Asia, Australia and New Zealand the Pacific, and the Americas.[5]
- February 2008 lunar eclipse - The only total lunar eclipse of 2008 occurred on February 21, 2008, beginning at 01:43 UTC, visible from Europe, the Americas, and Africa.[6]
- The next partial eclipse of the Moon will occur on December 31, 2009.
- The next total eclipse of the Moon will occur on December 21, 2010.
The current lunar year eclipse cycle has 8 events, each event separated by 6 lunations (177 days):
Descending node | Ascending node |
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|
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These charts show the Moon's path through the Earth's shadow near its ascending and descending nodes. |
The next lunar year eclipse cycle has 9 events, each event separated by 6 lunations (177 days):
Descending node | Ascending node |
---|---|
|
|
[edit] See also
- List of lunar eclipses
- List of central lunar eclipses
- List of 16th century lunar eclipses
- List of 17th century lunar eclipses
- List of 18th century lunar eclipses
- List of 19th century lunar eclipses
- List of 20th century lunar eclipses
- List of 21st century lunar eclipses
- List of 22nd century lunar eclipses
- List of 23rd century lunar eclipses
- List of 24th century lunar eclipses
- List of 25th century lunar eclipses
- Eclipse
- Solar eclipse
- Umbra
- Orbit of the Moon
- Columbus' lunar eclipse
- Moon illusion
[edit] Lunar eclipse photo galleries
Eclipse are grouped by their Saros series which repeat every 18 years, 10 days. There are currently 48 active Saros series (for lunar eclipses), indexed as 109 to 150.
Lunar eclipses from all 48 active saros series are represented below, grouped by their lunar year cycles (12 lunations), and subgrouped by their ocurrences at either the ascending or descending nodes of the Moon's orbit.
Ascending node | |||
---|---|---|---|
April 15, 1995 Partial Series 112 | April 4, 1996 Total Series 122 | March 24, 1997 Partial Series 132 | March 13, 1998 Penumbral Series 142 |
(No photo) | (No photo) | (No photo) | (No photo) |
Descending node | |||
October 8, 1995 Penumbral Series 117 | September 27, 1996 Total Series 127 | September 16, 1997 Total Series 137 | September 6, 1998 Penumbral Series 147 |
(No photo) | (No photo) | (No photo) | (No photo) |
Ascending node | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
January, 31, 1999 Penumbral Saros 114 | January 21, 2000 Total Saros 124 | January 9, 2001 Total Saros 134 | December 30, 2001 Penumbral Saros 144 | |
(No photo) | (No photo) | (No photo) | (No photo) | |
Descending node | ||||
August 8, 1998 Penumbral Saros 109 | July 28, 1999 Partial Saros 119 | July 16, 2000 Total Saros 129 | July 5, 2001 Partial Saros 139 | June 24, 2002 Penumbral Saros 149 |
(No photo) | (No photo) | (No photo) | (No photo) | (No photo) |
Descending node | |||
---|---|---|---|
May 26, 2002 Penumbral Saros 111 | May 16, 2003 Total Saros 121 | May 4, 2004 Total Saros 131 | April 24, 2005 Penumbral Saros 141 |
(No photo) | |||
Ascending node | |||
November 20, 2002 Penumbral Saros 116 | November 7, 2003 Total Saros 126 | October 28, 2004 Total Saros 136 | October 17, 2005 Partial Saros 146 |
(No photo) | (No photo) |
Descending node | |||
---|---|---|---|
March 14, 2006 Penumbral Saros 113 | March 3, 2007 Total Saros 123 | February 21, 2008 Total Saros 133 | February 9, 2009 Penumbral Saros 143 |
Ascending node | |||
September 7, 2006 Partial Saros 118 | August 28, 2007 Total Saros 128 | August 16, 2008 Partial Saros 138 | August 6, 2009 Penumbral Saros 148 |
(Future) |
Ascending node | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
July 7, 2009 Penumbral Saros 110 | June 26, 2010 Partial Saros 120 | June 15, 2011 Total Saros 130 | June 4, 2012 Partial Saros 140 | May 25, 2013 Penumbral Saros 150 |
(Future) | (Future) | (Future) | (Future) | (Future) |
Descending node | ||||
December 31, 2009 Partial Saros 115 | December 21, 2010 Total Saros 125 | December 10, 2011 Total Saros 135 | November 28, 2012 Penumbral Saros 145 | |
(Future) | (Future) | (Future) | (Future) |
[edit] References
- ^ Hannu Karttunen. "Fundamental Astronomy". Springer. http://books.google.com/books?id=DjeVdb0sLEAC&pg=PA139&lpg=PA139&dq=lunar+eclipse+%22maximum+duration%22&source=web&ots=2g2ku9x57X&sig=x5J8rF3DEVu4-TkJGhYr9LhW_GQ.
- ^ John Hammond (May 15, 2003). "Weather Centre: Astronomical event threatened by the Great British weather". BBC News. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/ukweather/daily_review/news/15052003news.shtml. Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
- ^ Paul Deans and Alan M. MacRobert. "Observing and Photographing Lunar Eclipses". Sky and Telescope. http://skytonight.com/observing/objects/eclipses/3304036.html.
- ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse: March 3, 2007". NASA Eclipse Page. NASA. 2008. http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/OH2007.html. Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
- ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse: August 28, 2007". NASA Eclipse Page. NASA. 2008. http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEmono/TLE2007Aug28/TLE2007Aug28.html. Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
- ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse: February 20, 2008". NASA Eclipse Page. NASA. 2008. http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEmono/TLE2008Feb21/TLE2008Feb21.html. Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
[edit] External links
Look up lunar eclipse in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lunar eclipse |
- Total Lunar Eclipse Timelapse - Timelapse video accelerated 1285 times
- Lunar Eclipse time sequence
- U.S. Navy Lunar Eclipse Computer
- NASA Eclipse home page
- Search among the 12,064 lunar eclipses over five millennium and display interactive maps
- Lunar Eclipses for Beginners
- Shadow and Substance for animation of future and past eclipses
- Tips on photographing the lunar eclipse from New York Institute of Photography
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