May 2003 lunar eclipse


A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Friday, May 16, 2003, with an umbral magnitude of 1.1294. 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 only about 15 hours after perigee, the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
This lunar eclipse marks the beginning of a tetrad, with four total lunar eclipses in series, the others being on November 9, 2003; May 4, 2004; and October 28, 2004. The previous series was in 1985 and 1986, starting with the May 1985 lunar eclipse. The next series was in 2014 and 2015, starting with the April 2014 lunar eclipse.

Visibility

The eclipse was completely visible over eastern North America, South America, the Caribbean, Antarctica, and west Africa, seen rising over western North America and the Pacific Ocean and setting over Europe, west Asia, and much of Africa.

Eclipse details

Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
ParameterValue
Penumbral Magnitude2.07649
Umbral Magnitude1.12938
Gamma0.41234
Sun Right Ascension03h30m07.2s
Sun Declination+18°59'20.2"
Sun Semi-Diameter15'49.2"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax08.7"
Moon Right Ascension15h30m43.0s
Moon Declination-18°35'31.7"
Moon Semi-Diameter16'42.2"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax1°01'18.2"
ΔT64.4 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.
May 16
Descending node
May 31
Ascending node
Total lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 121		Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 147

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 2003

Metonic series

Saros 121

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 128.
May 10, 1994May 20, 2012