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February 2008 lunar eclipse: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 19:52, 24 February 2008

Total Lunar Eclipse

Eclipse observed from West Hartford, Connecticut at 3:18 UTC. Lunar north is near top-left.

Eclipse across descending node in Leo
Series (and member) 133 (26th of 71)
(6th of 21 total)
Date February 20-21, 2008
Duration (hr:mn:sc)
Totality 0:50:58
Partial 3:26:08
Penumbral 6:42:18
Contacts
P1 00:34:59 UTC (Feb 21)
U1 01:42:59 UTC
U2 03:00:34 UTC
Greatest 03:26:05 UTC
U3 03:51:32 UTC
U4 05:09:07 UTC
P4 06:17:16 UTC
Visibility

This view of the earth from the center of the moon during the lunar eclipse shows where the eclipse is visible on earth.

A total lunar eclipse occurred on the morning of Thursday, February 21, 2008 (in Europe and Africa; evening of Wednesday, February 20 for the Americas). It represented the first of the two lunar eclipses in 2008, with the second, the August 16, 2008 event being partial. The next total lunar eclipse will occur on December 21, 2010.

It was visible in the eastern evening sky on February 20 for all of North and South America, and on February 21 in the predawn western sky from most of Africa and Europe.

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes completely through the earth's shadow. This is called the umbral shadow. The moon took about an hour and 20 minutes to pass through the penumbral shadow before and after the total eclipse, during which the otherwise full moon may be mistaken as having a phase.

Shortly before the eclipse began, the bright star Regulus was occulted by the moon in parts of the Southern Hemisphere. Regulus and the planet Saturn were prominent very near the moon during the total eclipse portion.

Relation to other lunar eclipses

This eclipse is the first of two lunar eclipses occurring in 2008, the second being the partial eclipse of August 16.[1]

The February 2008 eclipse is part of series 133 of the Saros cycle, which repeats every 18 years and 11 days. Series 133 runs from the year 1557 until 2819. The previous eclipse of this series occurred on February 9, 1990 and the next will occur on March 3, 2026. [2] [3] [4]

It is the 6th of 21 total lunar eclipses in series 133. The first was on December 28, 1917. The last (21st) will be on August 3, 2278. The longest two occurrences of this series (14th and 15th) will last for a total of 1 hour and 42 minutes [5] on May 18, 2152 and May 30, 2170.

It is the second of two Metonic twin eclipses, being separated by 19 years, the first occurring on February 20, 1989.

Timing

The moon entered the penumbral shadow at 00:35 UTC, and the umbral shadow at 1:43. Totality lasted for 51 minutes, between 3:01 and 3:52. The moon left the umbra shadow at 5:09 and left the penumbra shadow at 6:17.[6]

Total Lunar Eclipse [7]
Event North and South America
Evening of February 20, 2008 		Europe and Africa
Morning of February 21, 2008
AKT
(-9h) 		PST
(-8h) 		MST
(-7h) 		CST
(-6h) 		EST
(-5h) 		AST
(-4h) 		GMT
(0h) 		CET
(+1h) 		EET
(+2h)
U1 Partial began 16:43 17:43 18:43 19:43 20:43 21:43 01:43 02:43 03:43
U2 Total began 18:01 19:01 20:01 21:01 22:01 23:01 03:01 04:01 05:01
Mid-eclipse 18:26 19:26 20:26 21:26 22:26 23:26 03:26 04:26 05:26
U3 Total ended 18:51 19:51 20:51 21:51 22:51 23:51 03:51 04:51 05:51
U4 Partial ended 20:09 21:09 22:09 23:09 00:09 01:09 05:09 06:09 07:09

See also

References

  1. ^ sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov
  2. ^ "Lunar Eclipses: 2001 to 2100". 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-22.
  3. ^ "Lunar Eclipses: 1901 to 2000". 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-22.
  4. ^ "Active Saros Cycles for the 20th and 21st Centuries". 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-22.
  5. ^ "Hermit Eclipse: Eclipse Search". 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-22.
  6. ^ "Total lunar eclipse of 2008 Feb 21". NASA. 2008-02-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA's GSFC
  7. ^ "NASA - Total Lunar Eclipse: February 20, 2008". 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-22.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lunar eclipse of 2008 February 21.
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