July 2018 lunar eclipse

July 2018 lunar eclipse
Total eclipse
Totality from Oria, Italy, 21:09 UTC
Chart of the eclipse; ecliptic north is up, hourly motion shown right to left
Date 27 July 2018
Gamma +0.1168
Magnitude 1.6087
Saros cycle 129 (38 of 71)
Catalog LE2018Jul27T
Duration
Totality 102 minutes, 57 seconds
Partiality 234 minutes, 32 seconds
Penumbral 373 minutes, 48 seconds

A total lunar eclipse occurred on 27 July 2018. The Moon passed through the center of Earth's shadow in what was the first central lunar eclipse since 15 June 2011. It was also the second total lunar eclipse in 2018, after the one on 31 January.

The eclipse occurred when the Moon was near its maximum distance from Earth, which caused the Moon to appear smaller than normal (a phenomenon sometimes called a micromoon),[1][2] and to travel at its slowest speed in its orbit around Earth.[3] This was the longest total lunar eclipse that will occur in the 21st century.[3] Totality lasted approximately one hour and 43 minutes,[4][5][6][7] a period "just short of the theoretical limit of a lunar eclipse (one hour and 47 minutes)".[8] The Moon remained at least partially in Earth's shadow for four hours.[8]

This lunar eclipse coincided with Mars being nearly as close as possible to Earth, a concurrence that happens once every 25,000 years.[6]

Background

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes within Earth's umbra (shadow). As the eclipse begins, Earth's shadow first darkens the Moon slightly. Then, the Earth's shadow begins to cover part of the Moon, typically turning it a dark red-brown color (the color can vary based on atmospheric conditions). The Moon appears to be reddish because of Rayleigh scattering (the same effect that causes sunsets to appear reddish and the daytime sky to appear blue) and the refraction of that light by Earth's atmosphere into its umbra.[9]

The Moon's brightness is exaggerated within the umbral shadow.[9] The southern portion of the Moon was closest to the center of the shadow, making it the darkest, and most red in appearance.

Animation showing the approximate appearance of the Moon passing through Earth's shadow

Visibility

Wide angle view of the total lunar eclipse and Mars in Melbourne, Australia
Sequence of the lunar eclipse seen from Davao City, Philippines

The lunar eclipse was completely visible over Eastern Africa, Southern Africa, Southern Asia and Central Asia, seen rising over South America, Western Africa, and Europe, and setting over Eastern Asia, and Australia.[10]


View of earth from moon at greatest eclipse

Map

Observations

Lunar year series

Saros series

Lunar saros cycle series 129, repeating every 18 years and 11 days, has a total of 71 lunar eclipse events including 11 total lunar eclipses.

Greatest First

The greatest eclipse of the series occurred on 2000 Jul 16, lasting 106 minutes.[11]		 Penumbral Partial Total Central
1351 Jun 10 1513 Sep 15 1910 May 24 1946 Jun 14
Last
Central Total Partial Penumbral
2036 Aug 7 2090 Sep 8 2469 Apr 26 2613 Jul 24
1901–2100
1910 May 24 1928 Jun 3 1946 Jun 14
1964 Jun 25 1982 Jul 6 2000 Jul 16
2018 Jul 27 2036 Aug 7 2054 Aug 18
2072 Aug 28 2090 Sep 8

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "What Is a Micromoon?". Timeanddate.com. Stavanger, Norway: Time and Date AS. n.d. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
  2. ↑ Mosher, Dave; Gal, Shayanne (26 July 2018). "The longest total lunar eclipse in a century is about to happen — here's how Earth will color the moon blood-red". Business Insider. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  3. 1 2 McClure, Bruce (27 July 2018). "Century's Longest Lunar Eclipse July 27". EarthSky. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  4. ↑ Space (29 December 2017). "In 2018 the longest lunar eclipse will take place in 100 years". Earth Chronicles. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  5. ↑ Resnick, Brian (27 July 2018). "Watch: The longest 'blood moon' lunar eclipse of the century". Vox. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  6. 1 2 Nunamaker, Susan Sun (27 July 2018). "Century's Longest Lunar Eclipse, Blood Moon 2018, Today, Will Last 103 Minutes". Windermere Sun. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  7. ↑ "Два редких астрономических явления можно будет наблюдать 27 июля". TASS (in Russian). 26 July 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  8. 1 2 Lyons, Kate (25 July 2018). "Blood moon: All you need to know about this week's lunar eclipse". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  9. 1 2 Espenak, Fred; Meeus, Jean (29 January 2009). "Visual Appearance of Lunar Eclipses". NASA Eclipse Web Site. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  10. ↑ "Eclipse Map — 27 July 2018 Total Lunar Eclipse".
  11. ↑ "Saros Series of Lunar Eclipses". www.hermit.org.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.