Jump to content

December 2010 lunar eclipse

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

December 2010 lunar eclipse
Total eclipse
Totality as viewed from San Jose, California, 8:11 UTC
DateDecember 21, 2010
Gamma0.3213
Magnitude1.2576
Saros cycle125 (48 of 72)
Totality72 minutes, 21 seconds
Partiality208 minutes, 41 seconds
Penumbral335 minutes, 7 seconds
Contacts (UTC)
P15:29:21
U16:32:38
U27:40:48
Greatest8:16:57
U38:53:09
U410:01:19
P411:04:28

A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Tuesday, December 21, 2010,[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.2576. 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 about 4 days before apogee (on December 25, 2010, at 7:15 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.[2]

This eclipse was notable in that it coincided with the date of the Winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and Summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. It 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.[3][4]

Visibility

[edit]

The eclipse was completely visible over North America and the eastern Pacific Ocean, seen rising over east Asia and Australia and setting over South America, west Africa, and Europe.[5]


Hourly motion shown right to left
The Moon's hourly motion across the Earth's shadow in the constellation of Taurus.

Visibility map

Images

[edit]

These simulated views of the Earth from the center of the Moon during the lunar eclipse show where the eclipse is visible on Earth.
NASA chart of the eclipse
[edit]
Progressions

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:

Timing

[edit]

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.[7] In the Central Standard Time zone and west, the eclipse began the night of 20 December.[8] Observers along South America's east coast missed the late stages of the eclipse because they occurred after moon-set.[9]

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.[9]

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.[10]

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 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

Eclipse details

[edit]

Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[11]

December 21, 2010 Lunar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter Value
Penumbral Magnitude 2.28215
Umbral Magnitude 1.25759
Gamma 0.32139
Sun Right Ascension 17h57m09.6s
Sun Declination -23°26'09.9"
Sun Semi-Diameter 16'15.5"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9"
Moon Right Ascension 05h57m17.3s
Moon Declination +23°44'47.8"
Moon Semi-Diameter 15'52.1"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°58'14.3"
ΔT 66.4 s

Eclipse season

[edit]
See also: Eclipse cycle

This 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.

Eclipse season of December 2010–January 2011
December 21
Descending node (full moon)
 January 4
Ascending node (new moon)
Total lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 125		 Partial solar eclipse
Solar Saros 151
[edit]

Eclipses in 2010

[edit]

Metonic

[edit]

Tzolkinex

[edit]

Half-Saros

[edit]

Tritos

[edit]

Lunar Saros 125

[edit]

Inex

[edit]

Triad

[edit]

Lunar eclipses of 2009–2013

[edit]

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

Metonic series

[edit]

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
  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)

Tritos series

[edit]

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

Saros 125

[edit]

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.[12]

Half-Saros cycle

[edit]

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).[13] This lunar eclipse is related to two annular solar eclipses of Solar Saros 132.

December 14, 2001 December 26, 2019

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ "December 20–21, 2010 Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)". timeanddate. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
  2. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
  3. ^ "NASA Science News: Solstice Lunar Eclipse". Science.nasa.gov. 17 December 2010. Archived from the original on 5 November 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  4. ^ "Lunar eclipse, winter solstice to coincide". Cbc.ca. 17 December 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  5. ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 2010 Dec 21" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
  6. ^ Gupta, Yatharth (21 December 2010). "Total Eclipse of the Moon". Seattle. Retrieved 30 July 2020 – via Flickr.
  7. ^ Greg (11 December 2010). "Total Lunar Eclipse of December 21, 2010". Outer Space Universe. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  8. ^ 2010 Dec 21 chart: Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
  9. ^ a b "What Time is the Lunar Eclipse 2010 Tonight?". City State Times. Archived from the original on 22 December 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  10. ^ Roberts, Chris. "A historic eclipse: Volcano will tint the moon in rare Dec. 21 celestial dance". El Paso Times. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012.
  11. ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 2010 Dec 21". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
  12. ^ Listing of Eclipses of cycle 125
  13. ^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lunar eclipse of 2010 December 21.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=December_2010_lunar_eclipse&oldid=1257478073"