A total lunar eclipse occurred on the evening of Wednesday, February 20, and morning of Thursday, February 21, 2008. 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.
The total lunar eclipse is 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.
Viewing
The eclipse 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.The penumbral eclipse began at 00:35 UTC (February 21), and ended at 6:17. A partial eclipse existed from 1:43 until 3:00, followed by 51 minutes of totality (3:00 - 3:51), and then partial again from 3:51 until 5:09. (For local times, see Timing.)
It is possible to mistake the appearance of partial eclipse as the moon being in a different phase, but the shadow from the eclipse changes much more rapidly.
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.
Relation to other lunar eclipses
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.
Lunar year and Metonic cycles (354 days and 19 years)
This eclipse is the one of two short-lived parallel series:
- 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.
- 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.
Note: Lunar Saros 103 ended on February 21, 1951 | |
| These charts show the moon's path through the earth's shadow near its descending node. The path progresses southward through each sequential eclipse. The second and third are total. | |
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.| 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 | |
Photo gallery
Composites
Eclipse observed from Sandim, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal. Lat:41º02'22" N Lon:8º30'50" W. | Eclipse observed from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Each image is roughly taken 5 minutes apart. | Images taken in 3-5 minute Intervals - from Bradley, Illinois. |
Eclipse observed from Halton Hills, Ontario, Canada. From 01:47 to 03:15 UTC, each image is roughly taken 5min apart. | Lunar eclipse observed from Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico. | |
Eclipse observed from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada | ||
Lunar eclipse observed from Burlington, Ontario, Canada | ||
Observed from Baltimore, MD, USA from 2:30 to 3:01 UTC. Lunar north is near left. | ||
North America
Canada
USA (west)
USA (east)
South America
Europe and Africa
See also
- List of lunar eclipses and List of 21st century lunar eclipses
- March 2007 lunar eclipse
- August 2007 lunar eclipse
- Solar eclipse
References
External links
- Astronet: Information and live webcasts of the February 20-21 total lunar eclipse from Holland, Belgium, Germany, Spain and Argentina
- NASA: Total Lunar Eclipse: February 20, 2008
- NASA Saros series 133
- NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: February 20, 2008, February 22, 2008 March 1, 2008
- Hermit eclipse (Ian Cameron Smith) Total Lunar Eclipse: February 21 2008
- Sky&Telescope, Eclipses of 2008
- Example Images from Dr. Eric S. Ackerman - Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Various Animations of the Eclipse Astronight Observatory - Billerica MA
- SpaceWeather Lunar Eclipse Photo Gallery: February 20, 2008
- Philadelphia, PA: A timelapse of the total lunar eclipse on February 20th, 2008. Recorded with still images.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Thursday July 10, 2008 at 20:26:48 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation
Copyright © 2008, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.