A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Friday, May 16, 2003,[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.1294. 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 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 only about 15 hours after perigee (on May 15, 2003, at 11:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[2]
| Total eclipse | |||||||||||||||||
 Totality as viewed from Minneapolis, MN, 3:17 UTC | |||||||||||||||||
| Date | May 16, 2003 | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gamma | 0.4123 | ||||||||||||||||
| Magnitude | 1.1294 | ||||||||||||||||
| Saros cycle | 121 (54 of 82) | ||||||||||||||||
| Totality | 51 minutes, 12 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Partiality | 193 minutes, 53 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Penumbral | 306 minutes, 31 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
This lunar eclipse marks the beginning of a tetrad, with four total lunar eclipses in series, the others being on November 9, 2003; May 4, 2004; and October 28, 2004. The previous series was in 1985 and 1986, starting with the May 1985 lunar eclipse. The next series was in 2014 and 2015, starting with the April 2014 lunar eclipse.
Visibility
editThe eclipse was completely visible over eastern North America, South America, the Caribbean, Antarctica, and west Africa, seen rising over western North America and the Pacific Ocean and setting over Europe, west Asia, and much of Africa.[3]
| Hourly motion shown right to left | |
| The moon's path across the Earth's shadow near its descending node in Libra. | |
Gallery
edit-
Wide Angle view from Minneapolis at 3:35 UTC, near greatest eclipse
Eclipse details
editShown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[4]
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Penumbral Magnitude | 2.07649 |
| Umbral Magnitude | 1.12938 |
| Gamma | 0.41234 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 03h30m07.2s |
| Sun Declination | +18°59'20.2" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 15'49.2" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.7" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 15h30m43.0s |
| Moon Declination | -18°35'31.7" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'42.2" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 1°01'18.2" |
| ΔT | 64.4 s |
Eclipse season
editThis eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.
| May 16 Descending node (full moon) |
May 31 Ascending node (new moon) |
|---|---|
| Total lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 121 |
Annular solar eclipse Solar Saros 147 |
Related eclipses
editEclipses in 2003
edit- A total lunar eclipse on May 16.
- An annular solar eclipse on May 31.
- A total lunar eclipse on November 9.
- A total solar eclipse on November 23.
Metonic
edit- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of July 28, 1999
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 3, 2007
Tzolkinex
edit- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 4, 1996
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of June 26, 2010
Half-Saros
edit- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 10, 1994
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 20, 2012
Tritos
edit- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 15, 1992
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 15, 2014
Lunar Saros 121
edit- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 4, 1985
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 26, 2021
Inex
edit- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 4, 1974
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 25, 2032
Triad
edit- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of July 15, 1916
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 15, 2090
Lunar eclipses of 2002–2005
editThis eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of lunar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.[5]
The penumbral lunar eclipse on June 24, 2002 occurs in the previous lunar year eclipse set.
| Lunar eclipse series sets from 2002 to 2005 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Descending node | Ascending node | |||||||
| Saros | Date Viewing |
Type Chart |
Gamma | Saros | Date Viewing |
Type Chart |
Gamma | |
| 111 | 2002 May 26 |
Penumbral |
1.1759 | 116 | 2002 Nov 20 |
Penumbral |
−1.1127 | |
| 121 |
2003 May 16 |
Total |
0.4123 | 126 |
2003 Nov 09 |
Total |
−0.4319 | |
| 131 |
2004 May 04 |
Total |
−0.3132 | 136 |
2004 Oct 28 |
Total |
0.2846 | |
| 141 | 2005 Apr 24 |
Penumbral |
−1.0885 | 146 |
2005 Oct 17 |
Partial |
0.9796 | |
_(cropped).jpg){kind=link}
Metonic series
editThe 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.
|
|
Saros 121
editThis eclipse is a part of Saros series 121, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 82 events. The series started with a penumbral lunar eclipse on October 6, 1047. It contains partial eclipses from May 10, 1408 through July 3, 1498; total eclipses from July 13, 1516 through May 26, 2021; and a second set of partial eclipses from June 6, 2039 through August 11, 2147. The series ends at member 82 as a penumbral eclipse on March 18, 2508.
The longest duration of totality was produced by member 43 at 100 minutes, 29 seconds on October 18, 1660. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.[6]
| Greatest | First | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The greatest eclipse of the series occurred on 1660 Oct 18, lasting 100 minutes, 29 seconds.[7] | Penumbral | Partial | Total | Central |
| 1047 Oct 06 |
1408 May 10 |
1516 Jul 13 |
1570 Aug 15 | |
| Last | ||||
| Central | Total | Partial | Penumbral | |
| 1949 Apr 13 |
2021 May 26 |
2147 Aug 11 |
2508 Mar 18 | |
Eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.
| Series members 43–64 occur between 1801 and 2200: | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43 | 44 | 45 | |||
| 1805 Jan 15 | 1823 Jan 26 | 1841 Feb 06 | |||
| 46 | 47 | 48 | |||
| 1859 Feb 17 | 1877 Feb 27 | 1895 Mar 11 | |||
| 49 | 50 | 51 | |||
| 1913 Mar 22 | 1931 Apr 02 | 1949 Apr 13 | |||
| 52 | 53 | 54 | |||
| 1967 Apr 24 | 1985 May 04 | 2003 May 16 | |||
| 55 | 56 | 57 | |||
| 2021 May 26 | 2039 Jun 06 | 2057 Jun 17 | |||
| 58 | 59 | 60 | |||
| 2075 Jun 28 | 2093 Jul 08 | 2111 Jul 21 | |||
| 61 | 62 | 63 | |||
| 2129 Jul 31 | 2147 Aug 11 | 2165 Aug 21 | |||
| 64 | |||||
| 2183 Sep 02 | |||||
Tritos series
editThis eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
| Series members between 1801 and 2200 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1806 Nov 26 (Saros 103) |
1828 Sep 23 (Saros 105) |
1839 Aug 24 (Saros 106) |
1850 Jul 24 (Saros 107) | ||||||
| 1861 Jun 22 (Saros 108) |
1872 May 22 (Saros 109) |
1883 Apr 22 (Saros 110) |
1894 Mar 21 (Saros 111) |
1905 Feb 19 (Saros 112) | |||||
| 1916 Jan 20 (Saros 113) |
1926 Dec 19 (Saros 114) |
1937 Nov 18 (Saros 115) |
1948 Oct 18 (Saros 116) |
1959 Sep 17 (Saros 117) | |||||
| 1970 Aug 17 (Saros 118) |
1981 Jul 17 (Saros 119) |
1992 Jun 15 (Saros 120) |
2003 May 16 (Saros 121) |
2014 Apr 15 (Saros 122) | |||||
| 2025 Mar 14 (Saros 123) |
2036 Feb 11 (Saros 124) |
2047 Jan 12 (Saros 125) |
2057 Dec 11 (Saros 126) |
2068 Nov 09 (Saros 127) | |||||
| 2079 Oct 10 (Saros 128) |
2090 Sep 08 (Saros 129) |
2101 Aug 09 (Saros 130) |
2112 Jul 09 (Saros 131) |
2123 Jun 09 (Saros 132) | |||||
| 2134 May 08 (Saros 133) |
2145 Apr 07 (Saros 134) |
2156 Mar 07 (Saros 135) |
2167 Feb 04 (Saros 136) |
2178 Jan 04 (Saros 137) | |||||
| 2188 Dec 04 (Saros 138) |
2199 Nov 02 (Saros 139) | ||||||||
Half-Saros cycle
editA lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).[8] This lunar eclipse is related to two annular solar eclipses of Solar Saros 128.
| May 10, 1994 | May 20, 2012 |
|---|---|
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "May 15–16, 2003 Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)". timeanddate. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
- ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
- ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 2003 May 16" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
- ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 2003 May 16". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
- ^ van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
- ^ "NASA - Catalog of Lunar Eclipses of Saros 121". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.
- ^ Listing of Eclipses of series 121
- ^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros
External links
edit- Saros cycle 121
- 2003 May 16 chart: Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
- NASA Saros series 121
- Lunar Eclipse Gallery
- Pictures of the May 15-16 Lunar Eclipse
- Prof. Druckmüller's eclipse photography site. Czech Republic
