Courtesy of NASA.

Total Lunar Eclipse of November 09

Penumbral Eclipse Begins: 22:15:00 UT
Partial Eclipse Begins: 23:32:21 UT
Total Eclipse Begins: 01:06:07 UT
Greatest Eclipse: 01:18:23 UT
Total Eclipse Ends: 01:30:38 UT
Partial Eclipse Ends: 03:04:24 UT
Penumbral Eclipse Ends: 04:21:48 UT

The second lunar eclipse of the year occurs six lunations after the first. It takes place at the ascending node of Luna’s orbit in Aries. This time, the Moon is 1.4 days shy of apogee and appears 12% smaller (= 29.4 arc-minutes) than it was during May’s eclipse. The Moon’s trajectory takes it well to the south of the umbral shadow’s central axis resulting in a total eclipse which lasts just 25 minutes. At mid-totality, the Moon’s southern limb is a scant 0.6 arc-minutes from the umbra’s edge. Even the northern limb is 23.4 arc-minutes from the centre of the shadow. Assuming that the transparency of Earth’s atmosphere remains relatively unchanged, the November eclipse will be dramatically brighter than the May event because of the shallow umbral depth. Since different parts of the Moon will probe radically different portions of Earth’s umbral shadow, a large variation in shadow brightness can be expected. The totally eclipsed Moon will appear to have a bright rim along its southern edge. Observers are encouraged to estimate the Danjon value at mid-totality (see section: Danjon Scale of Lunar Eclipse Brightness).

The near grazing geometry of this event suggests that it is a transition eclipse in its Saros series. Indeed, it is the very last total eclipse of Saros 126. This series produced thirteen total lunar eclipses during the past 234 years. The next nineteen eclipses in the family will all be partial eclipses of decreasing duration and magnitude.

The penumbral phase of November’s eclipse begins at 22:15 UT (on Nov 08), but most observers will not be able to visually detect the shadow until about 23:00 UT. The partial eclipse commences with first umbral contact at 23:33 UT. Totality begins at 01:06 UT and lasts until 01:31 UT. The partial and penumbral phases end at 03:05 UT and 04:22 UT, respectively.

At the instant of mid-totality (01:19 UT), the Moon will stand at the zenith for observers near the Cape Verde Islands in the Atlantic. At that time, the umbral eclipse magnitude will be 1.022. The entire eclipse will be visible from Europe and most of Africa as well as the eastern Americas. Various stages of the eclipse are in progress at moonset for observers throughout Asia. In the Western Hemisphere, the ingressing partial phases will already be in progress at moonrise for observers in western Canada and the U. S.. The Moon’s path through Earth’s shadows as well as a map illustrating worldwide visibility of the event is shown in Figure 4. Note that no eclipse is visible from easternmost Asia, Japan, Indonesia or Australia. Table 4 lists predicted umbral immersion and emersion times for twenty well-defined lunar craters. The timing of craters is useful in determining the atmospheric enlargement of Earth’s shadow (see: Crater Timings During Lunar Eclipses).