July 2018 lunar eclipse

Total lunar eclipse July 27, 2018
Ecliptic north up The moon will pass through the center of the Earth's shadow.
Saros cycle	129 (38 of 71)
Gamma	+0.1168
Duration (hr:mn:sc)
Totality	1:42:57
Partial	3:54:32
Penumbral	6:13:48
Contacts (UTC)
P1	17:14:49
U1	18:24:27
U2	19:30:15
Greatest	20:21:44
U3	21:13:12
U4	22:19:00
P4	23:28:37

A total lunar eclipse will occur on July 27, 2018. The Moon will pass through the center of the Earth's shadow. This will be the first central lunar eclipse since June 15, 2011.

Since it will occur near apogee, this eclipse will also be the longest total lunar eclipse in the 21st century. Totality will last approximately 103 minutes.^[1]

This eclipse will be the second total lunar eclipse in 2018, after the one in January.

Visibility

It will be completely visible over Eastern Africa, and Central Asia, seen rising over South America, Western Africa, and Europe, and setting over Eastern Asia, and Australia.

View of Earth from Moon at greatest eclipse
Visibility map

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 shadow begins to "cover" part of the Moon, turning it a dark red-brown color (typically – 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 refraction of that light by Earth's atmosphere into its umbra.^[2]

The following simulation shows the approximate appearance of the Moon passing through Earth's shadow. The Moon's brightness is exaggerated within the umbral shadow. The northern portion of the Moon was closest to the center of the shadow, making it darkest, and most red in appearance.

Related eclipses

Lunar year series

Lunar eclipse series sets from 2016–2020
Descending node				Ascending node
Saros	Date	Type Viewing	Gamma	Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma
109	2016 Aug 18	Penumbral	1.56406	114	2017 Feb 11	Penumbral	−1.02548
119	2017 Aug 07	Partial	0.86690	124	2018 Jan 31	Total	−0.30143
129	2018 Jul 27	Total	0.11681	134	2019 Jan 21	Total	0.36842
139	2019 Jul 16	Partial	−0.64300	144	2020 Jan 10	Penumbral	1.07270
149	2020 Jul 05	Penumbral	−1.36387

Last set	2016 Sep 16			Last set	2016 Mar 23

Next set	2020 Jun 05			Next set	2020 Nov 30

Saros series

Lunar saros series 129, repeating every 18 years and 11 days, containing 71 events, has 11 total lunar eclipses. The first total lunar eclipse of this series was on May 24, 1910, and last will be on September 8, 2090. The longest occurrence of this series was on July 16, 2000 when totality lasted 106 minutes and 24.6 seconds.

Greatest	First
The greatest eclipse of the series occurred on 2000 Jul 16, lasting 106 minutes.	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