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February 2008 lunar eclipse

A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Thursday, February 21, 2008,[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.1081. 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. The Moon's apparent diameter was near the average diameter because it occurred 7.2 days after perigee (on February 13, 2008, at 20:00 UTC) and 6.8 days before apogee (on February 27, 2008, at 20:30 UTC).[2]

February 2008 lunar eclipse
Total eclipse
Telescopic view, from North Billerica, Massachusetts at 3:25 UT, near greatest eclipse.
DateFebruary 21, 2008
Gamma−0.3992
Magnitude1.1081
Saros cycle133 (26 of 71)
Totality49 minutes, 46 seconds
Partiality205 minutes, 28 seconds
Penumbral339 minutes, 3 seconds
Contacts (UTC)
P100:36:34
U101:43:17
U203:01:09
Greatest03:26:03
U303:50:55
U405:08:45
P406:15:37

Visibility

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The eclipse was completely visible over North and South America, west Africa, and western Europe, seen rising over much of the Pacific Ocean and setting over much of Africa, eastern Europe, and west, central, and south Asia.[3]

The bright star Regulus of Leo and the planet Saturn were prominent very near the Moon during the total eclipse portion. Shortly before the eclipse began, Regulus was occulted by the Moon in parts of the far Southern Atlantic Ocean and Antarctica.

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

Timing

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The Moon entered the penumbral shadow at 0:36 UTC, and the umbral shadow at 1:43. Totality lasted for 50 minutes, between 3:01 and 3:51. The Moon left the umbra shadow at 5:09 and left the penumbra shadow at 6:16.[4]

Total Lunar Eclipse[5]
Event North and South America Europe and Africa
Evening of February 20th Morning of February 21st
AKST
(-9h) 		PST
(-8h) 		MST
(-7h) 		CST
(-6h) 		EST
(-5h) 		AST
(-4h) 		GMT
(0h) 		CET
(+1h) 		EET
(+2h)
P1 Penumbral began Under Horizon Under Horizon Under Horizon 18:36 19:36 20:36 0:36 1:36 2:36
U1 Partial began Under Horizon Under Horizon 18:43 19:43 20:43 21:43 1:43 2:43 3:43
U2 Total began Under Horizon 19:01 20:01 21:01 22:01 23:01 3:01 4:01 5:01
Mid-eclipse 18:26 19:26 20:26 21:26 22:26 23:26 3:26 4:26 5:26
U3 Total ended 18:51 19:51 20:51 21:51 22:51 23:51 3:51 4:51 Set
U4 Partial ended 20:09 21:09 22:09 23:09 0:09 1:09 5:09 Set Set

Images

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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
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Composites

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Eclipse observed from Sandim, Portugal. 41°02′22″N 8°30′50″W / 41.03944°N 8.51389°W / 41.03944; -8.51389. 		 
Eclipse observed from Regina, Saskatchewan. Each image is roughly taken 5 minutes apart.
 
Images taken in 3-5 minute Intervals - from Bradley, Illinois. 		 
Eclipse observed from Halton Hills, Ontario. From 01:47 to 03:15 UTC, each image is roughly taken 5min apart.

Eclipse observed from Winnipeg, Manitoba

Lunar eclipse observed from Burlington, Ontario
 
Observed from Baltimore, Maryland, from 2:30 to 3:01 UTC. Lunar north is near left.

North America

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Canada

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  •  
    Eclipse Observed from Burlington, Ontario, at 2:00 UTC.
  •  
    Eclipse observed from Victoria, British Columbia, at 2:49 UTC. Lunar north is near top-left.
  •  
    Eclipse observed from Victoria, British Columbia at 2:56 UTC, just prior to total. Lunar north is near top-left.
  •  
    Eclipse observed from Salmon Arm, Canada at 3:11 UTC. Lunar north is near top-left.
  •  
    Eclipse observed from Burlington, Ontario at 4:05 UTC.

USA (west)

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USA (east)

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South America

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Europe and Africa

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Eclipse details

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Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[6]

February 21, 2008 Lunar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter Value
Penumbral Magnitude 2.14698
Umbral Magnitude 1.10809
Gamma -0.39923
Sun Right Ascension 22h15m30.0s
Sun Declination -10°48'31.3"
Sun Semi-Diameter 16'10.5"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9"
Moon Right Ascension 10h14m48.5s
Moon Declination +10°28'07.6"
Moon Semi-Diameter 15'34.2"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°57'08.5"
ΔT 65.5 s

Eclipse season

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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 February 2008
February 7
Ascending node (new moon)
 February 21
Descending node (full moon)
   
Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 121		 Total lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 133
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Eclipses in 2008

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Metonic

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Tzolkinex

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Half-Saros

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Tritos

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Lunar Saros 133

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Inex

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Triad

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Lunar eclipses of 2006–2009

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Lunar eclipse series sets from 2006–2009
Descending node   Ascending node
Saros #
and photo 		Date
Viewing 		Type
Chart 		Gamma Saros #
and photo 		Date
Viewing 		Type
Chart 		Gamma
113
  		2006 Mar 14
  		penumbral
  		1.0211 118
  		2006 Sep 7
  		partial
  		−0.9262
123
  		2007 Mar 03
  		total
  		0.3175 128
  		2007 Aug 28
  		total
  		−0.2146
133
  		2008 Feb 21
  		total
  		−0.3992 138
  		2008 Aug 16
  		partial
  		0.5646
143
  		2009 Feb 09
  		penumbral
  		−1.0640 148
  		2009 Aug 06
  		penumbral
  		1.3572
Last set 2005 Apr 24 Last set 2005 Oct 17
Next set 2009 Dec 31 Next set 2009 Jul 07


Saros 133

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This lunar 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.

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 on May 18, 2152, and May 30, 2170. Solar saros 140 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.

Lunar saros series 133, repeating every 18 years and 11 days, has a total of 71 lunar eclipse events including 54 umbral lunar eclipses (33 partial lunar eclipses and 21 total lunar eclipses).

Greatest First

The greatest eclipse of the series will occur on 2170 May 30, lasting 102 minutes.

[7]

Penumbral Partial Total Central
1557 May 13
 1683 Aug 07
 1917 Dec 28
  		2098 Apr 15
 
Last
Central Total Partial Penumbral
2224 Jul 01
 2278 Aug 03
 2429 Dec 11
 2754 Jun 26

There are 10 series events between 1901 and 2100, grouped into threes (called an exeligmos), each column with approximately the same viewing longitude on Earth.

1901–2100
1917 Dec 28 1936 Jan 08 1954 Jan 19
           
1972 Jan 30 1990 Feb 09 2008 Feb 21
           
2026 Mar 03 2044 Mar 13 2062 Mar 25
       
2080 Apr 04 2098 Apr 15
       

Metonic series

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This is the fourth of five Metonic lunar eclipses.

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 in nearly the same location relative to the background stars.

Metonic lunar eclipse sets 1951–2027
Descending node   Ascending node
Saros Date Type Saros Date Type
103 1951 Feb 21.88 Penumbral 108 1951 Aug 17.13 Penumbral
   
113 1970 Feb 21.35 Partial 118 1970 Aug 17.14 Partial
   
123 1989 Feb 20.64 Total 128 1989 Aug 17.13 Total
   
133 2008 Feb 21.14 Total 138 2008 Aug 16.88 Partial
   
143 2027 Feb 20.96 Penumbral 148 2027 Aug 17.30 Penumbral
   

Half-Saros cycle

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A 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 140.

February 16, 1999 February 26, 2017
   

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ "February 20–21, 2008 Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)". timeanddate. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  2. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  3. ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 2008 Feb 21" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  4. ^ "Total lunar eclipse of 2008 Feb 21" (PDF). NASA. 21 February 2008. Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA's GSFC
  5. ^ "NASA - Total Lunar Eclipse: February 20, 2008". 2008. Archived from the original on 21 February 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2008.
  6. ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 2008 Feb 21". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  7. ^ "NASA - Catalog of Lunar Eclipses in Saros 133". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  8. ^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros
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