April 2015 lunar eclipse - Misplaced Pages

Total lunar eclipse of 4 April 2015

April 2015 lunar eclipse

Total eclipse

Totality as viewed from Los Angeles, California, 12:00 UTC

Date

April 4, 2015

Gamma

0.4460

Magnitude

1.0019

Saros cycle

132 (30 of 71)

Totality

4 minutes, 43 seconds

Partiality

209 minutes, 1 second

Penumbral

357 minutes, 31 seconds

Contacts (UTC)
P1	09:01:27
U1	10:15:45
U2	11:57:54
Greatest	12:00:15
U3	12:02:37
U4	13:44:46
P4	14:58:58

← October 2014 September 2015 →

A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Saturday, April 4, 2015, with an umbral magnitude of 1.0019. 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. Occurring about 3.1 days after apogee (on April 1, 2015, at 9:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.

This lunar eclipse is the third of a tetrad, with four total lunar eclipses in series, the others being on April 15, 2014; October 8, 2014; and September 28, 2015.

This is the 30th member of Lunar Saros 132, and the first total eclipse of the series. The previous event was the March 1997 lunar eclipse, being slightly partial.

Duration

Totality lasted only 4 minutes and 43 seconds, making it the shortest lunar totality in almost five centuries since October 17, 1529 (which lasted 1 minute and 42 seconds). It was claimed by some that due to the oblateness of the Earth, it may have actually just been a partial eclipse. It was the sixth total lunar eclipse out of nine with totality under 5 minutes in a five millennium period between 2,000 BC and 3,000 AD. The eclipsed moon was 12.9% smaller in apparent diameter than the supermoon September 2015 lunar eclipse, measured as 29.66' and 33.47' in diameter from the center of the Earth. It occurred 3 days past apogee at 29.42'.

Background

Main article: Lunar eclipse

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.

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 southern portion of the Moon will be closest to the center of the shadow, making it darkest, and most red in appearance.

Visibility

The eclipse was completely visible over northeast Asia, eastern Australia, the Pacific Ocean, and western North America, seen rising over Asia and western Australia and setting over North and South America.

Visibility map

Timing

Local times of contacts
Time Zone adjustments from UTC		+8_h	+11_h	+13_h	-10_h	-8_h	-7_h	-6_h	-5_h	-4_h
Time Zone adjustments from UTC		AWST	AEDT	NZDT	HST	AKDT	PDT	MDT	CDT	EDT
Event		Evening April 4			Morning April 4
P1	Penumbral begins	N/A†	8:01 pm	10:01 pm	11:01 pm	1:01 am	2:01 am	3:01 am	4:01 am	5:01 am
U1	Partial begins	6:16 pm	9:16 pm	11:16 pm	12:16 am	2:16 am	3:16 am	4:16 am	5:16 am	6:16 am
U2	Total begins	7:58 pm	10:58 pm	12:58 am	1:58 am	3:58 am	4:58 am	5:58 am	6:58 am	Set
	Greatest eclipse	8:00 pm	11:00 pm	1:00 am	2:00 am	4:00 am	5:00 am	6:00 am	7:00 am	Set
U3	Total ends	8:03 pm	11:03 pm	1:03 am	2:03 am	4:03 am	5:03 am	6:03 am	Set	Set
U4	Partial ends	9:45 pm	12:45 am	2:45 am	3:45 am	5:45 am	Set	Set	Set	Set
P4	Penumbral ends	10:59 pm	1:59 am	3:59 am	3:59 am	5:59 am	Set	Set	Set	Set

† The Moon was not visible during this part of the eclipse in this time zone.

The timing of total lunar eclipses are determined by its contacts:

P1 (First contact): Beginning of the penumbral eclipse. Earth's penumbra touches the Moon's outer limb.
U1 (Second contact): Beginning of the partial eclipse. Earth's umbra touches the Moon's outer limb.
U2 (Third contact): Beginning of the total eclipse. The Moon's surface is entirely within Earth's umbra.
Greatest eclipse: The peak stage of the total eclipse. The Moon is at its closest to the center of Earth's umbra.
U3 (Fourth contact): End of the total eclipse. The Moon's outer limb exits Earth's umbra.
U4 (Fifth contact): End of the partial eclipse. Earth's umbra leaves the Moon's surface.
P4 (Sixth contact): End of the penumbral eclipse. Earth's penumbra no longer makes contact with the Moon.

Gallery

Progression from Bali, Indonesia
Time-lapsed image from Taiwan	Sequence from Fox Observatory in Sunrise, Florida
Sequence from Melbourne, Florida	Progression from St. Louis, Missouri

Toronto, Canada, 9:54 UTC
Auckland, New Zealand, 9:54 UTC
Macon, Georgia, 10:54 UTC
Mexico City, Mexico, 10:59 UTC
Minneapolis, Minnesota, 11:09 UTC
Chicago, Illinois, 11:36 UTC
Melbourne, Australia, 11:46 UTC
Denver, Colorado, 11:50 UTC
Tai Po, Hong Kong, 12:01 UTC
Santa Clara County, California, 12:02 UTC
Las Vegas, Nevada, 12:03 UTC
Rio Rancho, New Mexico, 12:13 UTC
Bangkok, Thailand, 12:37 UTC
Hirosaki, Aomori, 12:56 UTC
Pune, India, 13:38 UTC

Eclipse details

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

April 4, 2015 Lunar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter	Value
Penumbral Magnitude	2.08024
Umbral Magnitude	1.00191
Gamma	0.44599
Sun Right Ascension	00h53m01.2s
Sun Declination	+05°40'32.8"
Sun Semi-Diameter	15'59.6"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	08.8"
Moon Right Ascension	12h53m29.7s
Moon Declination	-05°17'20.2"
Moon Semi-Diameter	14'49.9"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	0°54'25.9"
ΔT	67.7 s

Eclipse season

Related eclipses

Lunar eclipses of 2013–2016

The eclipse is the one of four lunar eclipses in a short-lived series at the ascending node of the Moon's orbit.

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.

Lunar eclipse series sets from 2013–2016
Ascending node				Descending node
Saros	Viewing date	Type	Gamma	Saros	Viewing date	Type	Gamma
112	2013 Apr 25	Partial	−1.0121	117	2013 Oct 18	Penumbral	1.1508
122	2014 Apr 15	Total	−0.3017	127	2014 Oct 08	Total	0.3827
132	2015 Apr 04	Total	0.4460	137	2015 Sep 28	Total	−0.3296
142	2016 Mar 23	Penumbral	1.1592	147	2016 Sep 16	Penumbral	−1.0549

Last set	2013 May 25			Last set	2012 Nov 28

Next set	2017 Feb 11			Next set	2016 Aug 18

Saros 132

Lunar saros series 132, repeating every 18 years and 11 days, has a total of 71 lunar eclipse events including 44 umbral lunar eclipses (32 partial lunar eclipses and 12 total lunar eclipses).

Greatest	First
The greatest eclipse of the series will occur on 2123 Jun 9, lasting 106 minutes.	Penumbral	Partial	Total	Central
	1492 May 12	1636 Aug 16	2015 Apr 4	2069 May 6
	Last
	Central	Total	Partial	Penumbral
	2177 Jul 11	2213 Aug 2	2429 Dec 11	2754 Jun 26

There are 11 series events between 1901 and 2100, grouped into threes (called an exeligmos), each column with approximately the same viewing longitude on earth.

1901–2100
1907 Jan 29	1925 Feb 8	1943 Feb 20

1961 Mar 2	1979 Mar 13	1997 Mar 24

2015 Apr 4	2033 Apr 14	2051 Apr 26

2069 May 6	2087 May 17

Half-Saros cycle

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros). This lunar eclipse is related to two total solar eclipses of solar saros 139.