February 2008 lunar eclipse


A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Thursday, February 21, 2008, with an umbral magnitude of 1.1081. 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. The Moon's apparent diameter was near the average diameter because it occurred 7.2 days after perigee and 6.8 days before apogee.
This eclipse fell on the Lantern Festival, the first since March 4, 2007 local time in Asia.

Visibility

The eclipse was completely visible over North and South America, west Africa, and western Europe, seen rising over much of the Pacific Ocean and setting over much of Africa, eastern Europe, and west, central, and south Asia.
The bright star Regulus of Leo and the planet Saturn were prominent very near the Moon during the total eclipse portion. Shortly before the eclipse began, Regulus was occulted by the Moon in parts of the far Southern Atlantic Ocean and Antarctica.

Timing

The Moon entered the penumbral shadow at 0:36 UTC, and the umbral shadow at 1:43. Totality lasted for 50 minutes, between 3:01 and 3:51. The Moon left the umbra shadow at 5:09 and left the penumbra shadow at 6:16.

Images

Composites

North America

Canada

USA (west)

USA (east)

South America

Europe and Africa

Eclipse details

Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular lunar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
ParameterValue
Penumbral Magnitude2.14698
Umbral Magnitude1.10809
Gamma-0.39923
Sun Right Ascension22h15m30.0s
Sun Declination-10°48'31.3"
Sun Semi-Diameter16'10.5"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax08.9"
Moon Right Ascension10h14m48.5s
Moon Declination+10°28'07.6"
Moon Semi-Diameter15'34.2"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax0°57'08.5"
ΔT65.5 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.
February 7, 2008|February 7]
Ascending node
February 21
Descending node
Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 121		Total lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 133

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 2008

Metonic series

Saros 133

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 140.
February 16, 1999February 26, 2017