December 2010 lunar eclipse - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The December 2010 lunar eclipse occurred from 5:27 to 11:06 UTC

Coordinated Universal Time

Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...

on December 21, coinciding with the date of the December solstice. It was visible in its entirety as 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...

in North

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

and South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

, Iceland, Ireland, Britain and northern Scandinavia.

Occurrence

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

February 2008 lunar eclipse

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...

.

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

June 2010 lunar eclipse

The partial lunar eclipse of June 26, 2010 was the first of two lunar eclipses in 2010. At maximum eclipse 53.7% of the moon was covered by the earth's shadow.This eclipse preceded by two weeks the total Solar eclipse of July 11, 2010 over the South Pacific....

.

The eclipse was the first total lunar eclipse

Lunar eclipse

to occur on the day of the Northern Winter Solstice

Winter solstice

Winter solstice may refer to:* Winter solstice, astronomical event* Winter Solstice , former band* Winter Solstice: North , seasonal songs* Winter Solstice , 2005 American film...

(Southern Summer Solstice

Summer solstice

The summer solstice occurs exactly when the axial tilt of a planet's semi-axis in a given hemisphere is most inclined towards the star that it orbits. Earth's maximum axial tilt to our star, the Sun, during a solstice is 23° 26'. Though the summer solstice is an instant in time, the term is also...

) since 1638, and only the second in the Common Era

Common Era

Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...

Related eclipses

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

New moon

In astronomical terminology, the new moon is the lunar phase that occurs when the Moon, in its monthly orbital motion around Earth, lies between Earth and the Sun, and is therefore in conjunction with the Sun as seen from Earth...

in the opposite node. In this case, it was followed by a partial solar eclipse

Solar eclipse

As seen from the Earth, a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun as viewed from a location on Earth. This can happen only during a new moon, when the Sun and the Moon are in conjunction as seen from Earth. At least...

at the ascending node on January 4, 2011

Solar eclipse of January 4, 2011

The solar eclipse of January 4, 2011 was a partial eclipse of the Sun that was visible after sunrise over most of Europe , northwestern and South Asia. It ended at sunset over eastern Asia...

, visible from Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia.

The following two lunar eclipses will also be total, occurring on June 15, 2011

June 2011 lunar eclipse

A total lunar eclipse took place on June 15, 2011. It was the first of two such eclipses in 2011. The second will occur on December 10, 2011.This was a relatively rare central lunar eclipse, in which the center point of Earth's shadow passes across the Moon. The last time a lunar eclipse was closer...

, and December 10, 2011

December 2011 lunar eclipse

A total lunar eclipse will take place on December 10, 2011. It will be the second of two total lunar eclipses in 2011, the first having occurred on June 15.- Visibility :...

See This lunar year cycle

The next December solstice total lunar eclipse, as a Metonic twin

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...

eclipse, will be December 20, 2029

December 2029 lunar eclipse

A total lunar eclipse will take place on 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

December 1992 lunar eclipse

A total lunar eclipse took place on December 9, 1992, the second of two total lunar eclipses in 1992.- Saros series :This is the 17th of 26 total lunar eclipses in series 125. The previous occurrence was on November 29, 1974 and the next will occur on December 21, 2010.- External links :* Photo...

, and the next will occur on December 31, 2028

December 2028 lunar eclipse

A total lunar eclipse will take place on December 31, 2028.-Saros series:This is the 19th of 26 total lunar eclipses in series 125. The previous occurrence was on December 21, 2010 and the next will occur on January 12, 2047....

See This saros

Visibility

In North America, the eclipse was visible in its entirety on December 21, 2010, from 12:27 a.m. to 6:06 a.m. Eastern Standard Time

Eastern Standard Time

Eastern Standard Time may refer to:*North American Eastern Time Zone, UTC-5*Australian Eastern Standard Time, UTC+10*An album by Hip Hop group Kooley High...

. In the Central Standard Time zone and west, the eclipse began the night of December 20. Observers along South America's east coast missed the late stages of the eclipse because they occurred after moon-set.

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

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

it was observable as a partial lunar eclipse just after sunset.

Predictions suggested that the total eclipse may appear unusually orange or red, as a result of the eruption of Mount Merapi

Mount Merapi

Mount Merapi, Gunung Merapi , is an active stratovolcano located on the border between Central Java and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548...

in Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

on October 26.

Local times

Local times of eclipse over North America
Event	HAST Hawaii-Aleutian time zone The Hawaii-Aleutian Time Zone observes Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time , by subtracting ten hours from Coordinated Universal Time . The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 150th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory.... (UTC Coordinated Universal Time Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose... -10)	AKST Alaska Time Zone The Alaska Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting nine hours from Coordinated Universal Time . During daylight saving time its time offset is only eight hours . The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 135th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory.The zone... (UTC-9)	PST Pacific Time Zone The Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time . The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 120th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. During daylight saving time, its time offset is UTC-7.In the United States... (UTC-8)	MST Mountain Time Zone The Mountain Time Zone of North America keeps time by subtracting seven hours from Coordinated Universal Time, also known as Greenwich Mean Time, during the shortest days of autumn and winter , and by subtracting six hours during daylight saving time in the spring, summer, and early autumn... (UTC-7)	CST Central Time zone In North America, the Central Time Zone refers to national time zones which observe standard time by subtracting six hours from UTC , and daylight saving, or summer time by subtracting five hours... (UTC-6)	EST Eastern Time Zone The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time... (UTC-5)	AST (UTC-4)
Start penumbral (P1)	7:27 pm^(*)	8:27 pm^(*)	9:27 pm^(*)	10:27 pm^(*)	11:27 pm^(*)	12:27 am	1:27 am
Start umbral (U1)	8:32 pm^(*)	9:32 pm^(*)	10:32 pm^(*)	11:32 pm^(*)	12:32 am	1:32 am	2:32 am
Start total (U2)	9:40 pm^(*)	10:40 pm^(*)	11:40 pm^(*)	12:40 am	1:40 am	2:40 am	3:40 am
Greatest eclipse	10:17 pm^(*)	11:17 pm^(*)	12:17 am	1:17 am	2:17 am	3:17 am	4:17 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
End umbral (U4)	12:02 am	1:02 am	2:02 am	3:02 am	4:02 am	5:02 am	6:02 am
End penumbral (P4)	1:06 am	2:06 am	3:06 am	4:06 am	5:06 am	6:06 am	7:06 am
(*) before midnight on Monday night, December 20

Photo gallery

**Progressions**
Progression from Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
Progression from São Paulo São Paulo São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among... , Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
Progression from Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the southcentral part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the northernmost major city in the United States...
Sequence from Toronto, Ontario (Sequence is in 15 minute increments, with 5 minute increments up until totality at 8:17am UTC)	Progression from Toronto, Canada
From Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968... , 8:29 UTC - 10:06 UTC	From Easton, Pennsylvania Easton, Pennsylvania Easton is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 26,800 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Northampton County....

Individual shots, sorted by time:
Animations:

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.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.