May 2069 lunar eclipse
Encyclopedia
| Total Lunar Eclipse May 6, 2069 |
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 The moon passes west to east (right to left) across the Earth's umbra Umbra The umbra, penumbra and antumbra are the names given to three distinct parts of a shadow, created by any light source. For a point source only the umbra is cast.These names are most often used to refer to the shadows cast by celestial bodies.... l shadow, shown in hourly intervals. |
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| Series (and member) Saros cycle The saros is a period of 223 synodic months , that can be used to predict eclipses of the Sun and Moon. One saros after an eclipse, the Sun, Earth, and Moon return to approximately the same relative geometry, and a nearly identical eclipse will occur, in what is referred to as an eclipse cycle... |
132 (33 of 71) |
| Duration (hr:mn:sc) | |
| Totality | 01:24:16 |
| Partial | 03:46:11 |
| Penumbral | 06:08:07 |
| Contacts | |
| P1 | 06:03:38 UTC |
| U1 | 07:14:38 UTC |
| U2 | 08:25:35 UTC |
| Greatest | 09:07:43 UTC |
| U3 | 09:49:42 UTC |
| U4 | 11:00:49 UTC |
| P4 | 12:11:45 UTC |
| The eclipse occurs in the constellation Constellation In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky.... Libra Libra (constellation) Libra is a constellation of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for weighing scales, and its symbol is . It is fairly faint, with no first magnitude stars, and lies between Virgo to the west and Scorpius to the east.-Notable features:]... at the ascending node of the moon's orbit. |
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A total lunar eclipse
Lunar eclipse
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes behind the Earth so that the Earth blocks the Sun's rays from striking the Moon. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, a lunar eclipse can only occur the night of a...
will take place on May 6, 2069. The eclipse will be a dark one with the southern tip of the moon passing through the center of the Earth's shadow. This is the first central eclipse of Saros series 132.
It is the first of two total lunar eclipses in 2069, the second occurring at the descending node of the moon's orbit will be on October 30th which will also be a central total eclipse.
Visibility
The eclipse will be visible after sunset over Australia and begin before sunset over far eastern Asia, and be seen in the predawn hours over western North and South America. This simulated view of the earth from the center of the moon during greatest eclipse show where the eclipse will be visible on earth. |
The moon will also occult
Occultation
An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden by another object that passes between it and the observer. The word is used in astronomy . It can also refer to any situation wherein an object in the foreground blocks from view an object in the background...
the bright star Alpha Librae
Alpha Librae
Alpha Librae is the second brightest star in the constellation Libra . It has the traditional name Zubenelgenubi. The name, from Arabic الزبن الجنوبي , means "southern claw" and was coined before Libra was recognized as distinct from Scorpius...
as seen from the southern hemisphere a few hours before greatest eclipse.
Related lunar eclipses
Lunar eclipses are related by many different eclipse cycleEclipse cycle
Eclipses may occur repeatedly, separated by certain intervals of time: these intervals are called eclipse cycles. The series of eclipses separated by a repeat of one of these intervals is called an eclipse series.- Eclipse conditions :...
s. The Saros cycle
Saros cycle
The saros is a period of 223 synodic months , that can be used to predict eclipses of the Sun and Moon. One saros after an eclipse, the Sun, Earth, and Moon return to approximately the same relative geometry, and a nearly identical eclipse will occur, in what is referred to as an eclipse cycle...
(18 years and 10 days) repeats the most consistently due three coinciding periods, and continue over 70 events (1200+ years). Eclipses are identified by a Saros number and a member index within each series.
The lunar year (354 days) and Metonic cycle
Metonic cycle
In astronomy and calendar studies, the Metonic cycle or Enneadecaeteris is a period of very close to 19 years which is remarkable for being very nearly a common multiple of the solar year and the synodic month...
s (19 years) are short period last only 8 to 10 events. The Metonic cycle is equal to one Saros cycle plus one lunar year, and so the two series progress in parallel.
The Inex
Inex
The inex is an eclipse cycle of 10,571.95 days . The cycle was first described by Crommelin in 1901, but was named by George van den Bergh who studied it half a century later...
cycle (29 years minus 20 days) can last tens of thousands of years, so long that long perturbations in the moon's path must be taken into account for prediction. Also the eclipse qualities are less inconsistent because the moon is at different significantly positions in its elliptical orbit in sequential events. Similarly for the shorter Tritos
Tritos
The tritos is an eclipse cycle of 3986.63 days. It corresponds to:*135 synodic months*146.50144 draconic months*11.50144 eclipse years *144.68135 anomalistic months....
cycle (10 years and 31 days), repeats less consistently for the same reason.
Lunar year series
This eclipse is the third of four lunar year eclipses occurring at the moon's ascending node.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.