Summary
| Total lunar eclipse September 28, 2015 | |
|---|---|
 From Murrieta, California, 2:52 UTC | |
Ecliptic north up The Moon passes right to left (west to east) through Earth's shadow | |
| Saros (and member) | 137 (28 of 81) |
| Gamma | −0.3296 |
| Magnitude | 1.2764 |
| Duration (hr:mn:sc) | |
| Totality | 1:11:55 |
| Partial | 3:19:52 |
| Penumbral | 5:10:41 |
| Contacts (UTC) | |
| P1 | 0:11:47 |
| U1 | 1:07:11 |
| U2 | 2:11:10 |
| Greatest | 2:47:08 |
| U3 | 3:23:05 |
| U4 | 4:27:03 |
| P4 | 5:22:27 |
 The Moon crosses Earth's shadow in Pisces, passing west to east (right to left) as shown here in hourly movements. Uranus, at magnitude 5.7, can be seen in binoculars 16 degrees east of the total eclipsed Moon. | |
A total lunar eclipse took place between 27 and 28 September 2015. It was seen on Sunday evening, 27 September, in the Americas; while in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, it was seen in the early hours of Monday morning, 28 September. It was the latter of two total lunar eclipses in 2015, and the final in a tetrad (four total lunar eclipses in series). Other eclipses in the tetrad are those of 15 April 2014, 8 October 2014, and 4 April 2015.
The Moon appeared larger than normal, because the Moon was just 1 hour past its closest approach to Earth in 2015 at mid-eclipse, sometimes called a supermoon. The Moon's apparent diameter was larger than 34' viewed straight overhead, just off the coast of northeast Brazil.[1][2]
The total lunar eclipse was darker than expected, possibly due to ash left behind from eruptions of the Calbuco volcano in April 2015.[3]
Background edit
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.[4]
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 northern portion of the Moon was closest to the center of the shadow, making it darkest, and most red in appearance.
Visibility edit
The eclipse was visible over Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and America.
 View of Earth from Moon at greatest eclipse |
 Simulated appearance of Earth and atmospheric ring of sunlight |
| |
|---|---|
Timing edit
| Time Zone adjustments from UTC |
-7h | -6h | -5h | -4h | -3h | -2h | -1h | 0h | +1h | +2h | +3h | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PDT MST |
MDT | CDT PET |
EDT BOT |
ADT AMST ART |
GMT WET |
WEST CET BST |
CEST EET MSK−1 |
EEST FET MSK | ||||
| Event | Evening 27 September | Morning 28 September | ||||||||||
| P1 | Penumbral begins* | N/A† | N/A† | 7:12 pm | 8:12 pm | 9:12 pm | 10:12 pm | 11:12 pm | 12:12 am | 1:12 am | 2:12 am | 3:12 am |
| U1 | Partial begins | N/A† | 7:07 pm | 8:07 pm | 9:07 pm | 10:07 pm | 11:07 pm | 12:07 am | 1:07 am | 2:07 am | 3:07 am | 4:07 am |
| U2 | Total begins | 7:11 pm | 8:11 pm | 9:11 pm | 10:11 pm | 11:11 pm | 12:11 am | 1:11 am | 2:11 am | 3:11 am | 4:11 am | 5:11 am |
| Mid-eclipse | 7:47 pm | 8:47 pm | 9:47 pm | 10:47 pm | 11:47 pm | 12:47 am | 1:47 am | 2:47 am | 3:47 am | 4:47 am | 5:47 am | |
| U3 | Total ends | 8:23 pm | 9:23 pm | 10:23 pm | 11:23 pm | 12:23 am | 1:23 am | 2:23 am | 3:23 am | 4:23 am | 5:23 am | 6:23 am |
| U4 | Partial ends | 9:27 pm | 10:27 pm | 11:27 pm | 12:27 am | 1:27 am | 2:27 am | 3:27 am | 4:27 am | 5:27 am | 6:27 am | Set |
| P4 | Penumbral ends | 10:22 pm | 11:22 pm | 12:22 am | 1:22 am | 2:22 am | 3:22 am | 4:22 am | 5:22 am | 6:22 am | Set | Set |
† The Moon was not visible during this part of the eclipse in this time zone.
* The penumbral phase of the eclipse changes the appearance of the Moon only slightly and is generally not noticeable.[5]
The timing of total lunar eclipses are determined by its contacts:[6]
|
Gallery edit
-
The stages of the Lunar eclipse from Staffordshire, UK -
Time-lapse images from Oslo, Norway -
Time-lapse images from Bregenz, Austria -
Warsaw, Poland, 2:01 - 2:16 UTC -
Denver, Colorado, 2:15 UTC -
Fray Bentos, Uruguay 2:28 UTC -
Tampa, Florida, 2:30 UTC -
New York City, New York, 2:36 UTC -
Wrocław, Poland, 2:36 UTC -
Zürich, Switzerland, 2:36 UTC -
Coralville, Iowa, 2:52 UTC -
Munich, Germany, 2:55 UTC -
Sitia, Greece, 3:01 UTC -
Berlin, Germany, 3:05 UTC -
Mill Valley, California, 3:07 UTC -
Munich, Germany, 3:23 UTC -
Boston, Massachusetts, 3:24 UTC -
Germany, 3:37 UTC -
Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire, France, 4:02 UTC -
California, 4:07 UTC
Supermoon edit
This eclipsed Moon appeared 12.9% larger in diameter than the April 2015 lunar eclipse, measured as 29.66' and 33.47' in diameter from Earth's center, as compared in these simulated images.
A supermoon is the coincidence of a full moon or a new moon with the closest approach the Moon makes to the Earth on its elliptical orbit, resulting in the largest apparent size of the lunar disk as seen from Earth. This was the last supermoon lunar eclipse until 31 January 2018.
Related eclipses edit
Eclipses of 2015 edit
- A total solar eclipse on 20 March.
- A total lunar eclipse on 4 April.
- A partial solar eclipse on 13 September.
- A total lunar eclipse on 28 September.
The eclipse was one of four lunar eclipses in a short-lived series at the descending 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, 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 series edit
It is part of Saros series 137.
Half-Saros cycle edit
A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).[7] This lunar eclipse is related to two annular solar eclipses of solar saros 144.
| 22 September 2006 | 2 October 2024 |
|---|---|
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See also edit
References edit
- ^ Sky and Telescope
- ^ Here’s the Scoop on Sunday’s Supermoon Eclipse, Bob King
- ^ "Why Was September's Lunar Eclipse So Dark? - Universe Today". Universe Today. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- ^ Fred Espenak & Jean Meeus. "Visual Appearance of Lunar Eclipses". NASA. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
- ^ Espenak, Fred. "Lunar Eclipses for Beginners". MrEclipse. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
- ^ Clarke, Kevin. "On the nature of eclipses". Inconstant Moon. Cyclopedia Selenica. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
- ^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros
External links edit
- 2015 Sep 28 chart: Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
- Hermit eclipse: 2015-09-28