May 2170 lunar eclipse


A total lunar eclipse will occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Wednesday, May 30, 2170, with an umbral magnitude of 1.7488. It will be a central lunar eclipse, in which part of the Moon will pass 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 3.6 days after perigee, the Moon's apparent diameter will be larger.
This will be the greatest lunar eclipse of Lunar Saros 133 as well as the largest and darkest lunar eclipse of the 22nd century.

Visibility

The eclipse will be completely visible over central and eastern South America, western Europe, and much of Africa, seen rising over western South America and much of North America and setting over eastern Europe, the western half of Asia, and western Australia.

Eclipse details

Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular lunar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
ParameterValue
Penumbral Magnitude2.81880
Umbral Magnitude1.83301
Gamma0.01743
Sun Right Ascension04h28m29.8s
Sun Declination+21°45'15.5"
Sun Semi-Diameter15'47.2"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax08.7"
Moon Right Ascension16h28m30.9s
Moon Declination-21°44'16.0"
Moon Semi-Diameter16'00.8"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax0°58'46.3"
ΔT219.6 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. The first and last eclipse in this sequence is separated by one synodic month.
May 16
Ascending node
May 30
Descending node
June 14
Ascending node
Partial solar eclipse
Solar Saros 121		Total lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 133		Partial solar eclipse
Solar Saros 159

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 2170

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Lunar Saros 133

Inex

Triad

Lunar eclipses of 2168–2172

This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of lunar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.
The lunar eclipses on January 24, 2168, July 20, 2168, and January 13, 2169 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set, and the penumbral lunar eclipses on April 9, 2172 and October 2, 2172 occur in the next lunar year eclipse set.

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.
May 25, 2161June 5, 2179