Wednesday, December 22, 2010

December 2010 Lunar Eclipse

This article contains basic information about the recently concluded Total Lunar Eclipse which occurred from 5:27 to 11:06 UTC on December 21, coinciding with the date of the December Solstice. It was visible in its entirety as a total lunar eclipse in North and South America.

12 21 10 Lunar Eclipse OrlandoFL-cropped.jpg
A picture from the Celestial event. 8:28 UTC, from Florida.

A Lunar Eclipse occurs when "The moon moves completely into the shadow of the Earth. It only happens when the Sun, the Earth and the Moon all line up in a straight line. Sometimes it is only partial, and sometimes it is so slight that most of us don’t notice that it dims at all,". According to NASA, in this eclipse, the Moon's orbital trajectory takes it through the northern half of Earth's umbral shadow. Although the eclipse is not central, the total phase still lasts 72 minutes.


The eclipse of December 2010 was the first total lunar eclipse in almost three years, since the February 2008 lunar eclipse. It is the second of two lunar eclipses in 2010. The first was a partial lunar eclipse on June 26, 2010. The eclipse was the first total lunar eclipse to occur on the day of the Northern Winter Solstice (Southern Summer Solstice) since 1638, and only the second in the Common Era.
Duration (hr:mn:sc)
Totality1:13:12
Partial3:29:22
Penumbral5:38:22

Duration of the Eclipse




LunarEclipseSequence-December21-10-rectangle.jpg
The Phases of the Eclipse


12-2010 Lunar-Eclipse.jpg



For all the people who missed it, you can see the time lapse video below:


Sourced from www.en.wikipedia.org and www.youtube.com. Copied for informational purposes only, no breach of copyright intended.

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