December 2010 lunar eclipse

The December 2010 lunar eclipse occurred from 5:27 to 11:06 UTC on 21 December 2010, coinciding with the date of the December solstice. It was visible in its entirety as a total lunar eclipse in North and South America, Iceland, Ireland, Britain and northern Scandinavia.

December 2010 lunar eclipse
Total eclipse
Viewed from San Jose, California
Date21 December 2010
Gamma0.3214
Magnitude1.2561
Saros cycle125 (48 of 72)
Totality72 minutes, 21 seconds
Partiality208 minutes, 43 seconds
Penumbral335 minutes, 14 seconds

Occurrence

The eclipse of December 2010 was the first total lunar eclipse in almost three years, since the February 2008 lunar eclipse.[1]

It is the second of two lunar eclipses in 2010. The first was a partial lunar eclipse on June 26, 2010.[2]

The eclipse was the first total lunar eclipse to occur on the day of the Northern Winter Solstice (Southern Summer Solstice) since 1638, and only the second in the Common Era.[3][4]

This eclipse occurred at the descending node of the moon's orbit. Lunar eclipses are always paired with a solar eclipse either 2 weeks before or after at new moon in the opposite node. In this case, it was followed by a partial solar eclipse at the ascending node on January 4, 2011, visible from Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia.

The following two lunar eclipses were also total, occurring on June 15, 2011, and December 10, 2011.

See This lunar year cycle

The next December solstice total lunar eclipse, as a Metonic twin eclipse, will be December 20, 2029 (19 years later), one day before solstice.

See This 19 year Metonic cycle

A saros series lasts for many centuries and has a similar event every 18 years and 11 days. This eclipse is the 18th of 26 total lunar eclipses in lunar saros series 125. The previous occurrence was on December 9, 1992, and the next will occur on December 31, 2028.

See This saros

Visibility
NASA chart of the eclipse

These simulated views of the earth from the center of the moon during the lunar eclipse show where the eclipse is visible on earth.

In North America, the eclipse was visible in its entirety on 21 December 2010, from 12:27 a.m. to 6:06 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.[5] In the Central Standard Time zone and west, the eclipse began the night of 20 December.[6] Observers along South America's east coast missed the late stages of the eclipse because they occurred after moon-set.[7]

Likewise much of Europe and Africa experienced moon-set while the eclipse was in progress. In Europe, only those observers in northern Scandinavia (including Iceland), Ireland and Britain could observe the entire event. For observers in eastern Asia the moon rose in eclipse. The eclipse was not visible from southern and eastern Africa, the Middle East or South Asia. In Japan and northeastern Asia, the eclipse's end was visible, with the moon rising at sunset. In the Philippines it was observable as a partial lunar eclipse just after sunset.[7]

Predictions suggested that the total eclipse may appear unusually orange or red, as a result of the eruption of Mount Merapi in Indonesia on 26 October.[8]

Local times
Local times of eclipse over North America
Event HAST
(UTC-10)		 AKST
(UTC−9)		 PST
(UTC−8)		 MST
(UTC−7)		 CST
(UTC−6)		 EST
(UTC−5)		 AST
(UTC−4)		 UTC
(UTC)
Start penumbral (P1) 7:29 pm(*) 8:29 pm(*) 9:29 pm(*) 10:29 pm(*) 11:29 pm(*) 12:29 am 1:29 am 5:29 am
Start umbral (U1) 8:33 pm(*) 9:33 pm(*) 10:33 pm(*) 11:33 pm(*) 12:33 am 1:33 am 2:33 am 6:33 am
Start total (U2) 9:41 pm(*) 10:41 pm(*) 11:41 pm(*) 12:41 am 1:41 am 2:41 am 3:41 am 7:41 am
Greatest eclipse 10:17 pm(*) 11:17 pm(*) 12:17 am 1:17 am 2:17 am 3:17 am 4:17 am 8:17 am
End total (U3) 10:53 pm(*) 11:53 pm(*) 12:53 am 1:53 am 2:53 am 3:53 am 4:53 am 8:53 am
End umbral (U4) 12:01 am 1:01 am 2:01 am 3:01 am 4:01 am 5:01 am 6:01 am 10:01 am
End penumbral (P4) 1:04 am 2:04 am 3:04 am 4:04 am 5:04 am 6:04 am 7:04 am 11:04 am
(*) before midnight on Monday night, 20 December
Progressions

Progression from São Paulo, Brazil

Progression from Anchorage, Alaska

Panorama showing the view from the site of the VLT

Sequence from Toronto, Ontario, Canada
(Sequence is in 15 minute increments, with 5 minute increments up until totality at 8:17am UTC)
Progression from Toronto, Canada

From Jacksonville, Florida, 8:29 UTC - 10:06 UTC
From Easton, Pennsylvania

Individual shots, sorted by time:

Animations:

Eclipses of 2010

Lunar year 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.

Metonic cycles (19 years)

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 be in nearly the same location relative to the background stars.

Ascending node Descending node
  1. 1991 Jun 27 - penumbral (110)
  2. 2010 Jun 26 - partial (120)
  3. 2029 Jun 26 - total (130)
  4. 2048 Jun 26 - partial (140)
  5. 2067 Jun 27 - penumbral (150)
  1. 1991 Dec 21 - partial (115)
  2. 2010 Dec 21 - total (125)
  3. 2029 Dec 20 - total (135)
  4. 2048 Dec 20 - partial (145)

Tritos series

The tritos series repeats 31 days short of 11 years at alternating nodes. Sequential events have incremental Saros cycle indices.

This series produces 20 total eclipses between April 24, 1967 and August 11, 2185, only being partial on November 19, 2021.

Saros series

Lunar saros series 125, repeating every 18 years and 11 days, has 26 total lunar eclipses. The first was on June 17, 1704 and the last will be on March 19, 2155. The longest totality occurrence of this series (7th) was on August 22, 1812 when totality lasted one hour and 42 minutes.[10]

Half-Saros cycle

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).[11] This lunar eclipse is related to two annular solar eclipses of Solar Saros 132.

December 14, 2001 December 26, 2019

See also

Notes
  1. Beatty, J. Kelly (30 December 2009). "Eclipses in 2010". Sky & Telescope. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  2. "Partial Lunar Eclipse on June 26, 2010". Timeanddate.com. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  3. "NASA Science News: Solstice Lunar Eclipse". Science.nasa.gov. 17 December 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  4. "Lunar eclipse, winter solstice to coincide". Cbc.ca. 17 December 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  5. Greg. "Total Lunar Eclipse of December 21, 2010". Outer Space Universe. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  6. 2010 Dec 21 chart: Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
  7. "What Time is the Lunar Eclipse 2010 Tonight?". City State Times. Archived from the original on 22 December 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  8. A historic eclipse: Volcano will tint the moon in rare Dec. 21 celestial dance by Chris Roberts, El Paso Times
  9. Gupta, Yatharth (21 December 2010). "Total Eclipse of the Moon". Seattle. Retrieved 30 July 2020 – via Flickr.
  10. Listing of Eclipses of cycle 125
  11. Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros
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