August 2007 lunar eclipse


A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Tuesday, August 28, 2007, with an umbral magnitude of 1.4777. It was a central lunar eclipse, in which part of the Moon passed through the center of the Earth's shadow. 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 2.4 days before perigee, the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
This was the most recent central lunar eclipse of Saros series 128 as well as the "longest and deepest lunar eclipse to be seen in 7 years". In the total lunar eclipse of July 16, 2000 the moon passed within two arc minutes of the center of the Earth's shadow. In comparison, this still very deep eclipse was off-center by over 12 minutes of arc. The next total lunar eclipse of a longer duration was on June 15, 2011.

Visibility

Viewing from Oceania was favored for the eclipse, because at the moment of greatest eclipse, the Moon was at the zenith of French Polynesia. The Pacific regions of Canada and the continental United States witnessed the whole event, along with most of eastern Australia, New Zealand and all the Pacific Island regions, and the tip of the Chukchi Peninsula that includes the town of Uelen, Russia. The majority of the Americas observed an abbreviated eclipse, with moonset occurring at some time during the eclipse. Siberia, far eastern Russia, eastern South Asia, China, the rest of eastern and southeastern Asia, New Guinea, and the rest of Australia missed out on the beginning of the eclipse, because the eclipse occurred at or close to moonrise in those regions.
Luzon in the Philippines, particularly Metro Manila, missed the rare eclipse entirely, due to clouds in the area due to the rainy season, which saddened many eclipse watchers in the area, but the eclipse was sighted by other amateur astronomers in other parts of the country as the lunar eclipse seen in clear skies. The eclipse was also missed in New Guinea, especially Port Moresby because of clouds. Greenland, Europe, Africa, western Asia, western Central Asia, and western South Asia missed the eclipse completely.

Images

Eclipse details

Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular lunar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
ParameterValue
Penumbral Magnitude2.45448
Umbral Magnitude1.47769
Gamma−0.21456
Sun Right Ascension10h26m26.9s
Sun Declination+09°45'56.7"
Sun Semi-Diameter15'50.0"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax08.7"
Moon Right Ascension22h26m50.4s
Moon Declination-09°57'18.5"
Moon Semi-Diameter16'12.5"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax0°59'29.2"
ΔT65.4 s

Eclipse season

This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.
August 28
Ascending node
September 11, 2007|September 11]
Descending node
Total lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 128		Partial solar eclipse
Solar Saros 154

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 2007

Metonic series

Saros 128

Tritos series

Inex series

Half-Saros cycle

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days. This lunar eclipse is related to two annular solar eclipses of Solar Saros 135.
August 22, 1998September 1, 2016