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August 2054 lunar eclipse

August 2054 lunar eclipse
Total eclipse
The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left
DateAugust 18, 2054
Gamma0.2806
Magnitude1.3074
Saros cycle129 (40 of 71)
Totality82 minutes, 57 seconds
Partiality226 minutes, 32 seconds
Penumbral369 minutes, 27 seconds
Contacts (UTC)
P16:20:05
U17:31:32
U28:43:19
Greatest9:24:48
U310:06:16
U411:18:04
P412:29:32

A total lunar eclipse will occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Tuesday, August 18, 2054,[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.3074. 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 2 hours after apogee (on August 18, 2054, at 6:20 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter will be smaller.[2]

This lunar eclipse will be the second of an almost tetrad, with the others being on February 22, 2054 (total); February 11, 2055 (total); and August 7, 2055 (partial).

Visibility

The eclipse will be completely visible over western North America and the central and eastern Pacific Ocean, seen rising over east Asia and Australia and setting over eastern North America and South America.[3]

Eclipse details

Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[4]

August 18, 2054 Lunar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter Value
Penumbral Magnitude 2.38166
Umbral Magnitude 1.30735
Gamma 0.28065
Sun Right Ascension 09h51m47.0s
Sun Declination +12°57'08.8"
Sun Semi-Diameter 15'48.0"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.7"
Moon Right Ascension 21h51m32.0s
Moon Declination -12°42'26.7"
Moon Semi-Diameter 14'42.4"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°53'58.4"
ΔT 88.1 s

Eclipse season

This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) 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.

Eclipse season of August–September 2054
August 3
Ascending node (new moon)
August 18
Descending node (full moon)
September 2
Ascending node (new moon)
Partial solar eclipse
Solar Saros 117
Total lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 129
Partial solar eclipse
Solar Saros 155

Eclipses in 2054

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Lunar Saros 129

Inex

Triad

Lunar eclipses of 2053–2056

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 (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.[5]

The penumbral lunar eclipses on June 27, 2056 and December 22, 2056 occur in the next lunar year eclipse set.

Lunar eclipse series sets from 2053 to 2056
Ascending node   Descending node
Saros Date
Viewing
Type
Chart
Gamma Saros Date
Viewing
Type
Chart
Gamma
114 2053 Mar 04
Penumbral
−1.0530 119 2053 Aug 29
Penumbral
1.0165
124 2054 Feb 22
Total
−0.3242 129 2054 Aug 18
Total
0.2806
134 2055 Feb 11
Total
0.3526 139 2055 Aug 07
Partial
−0.4769
144 2056 Feb 01
Penumbral
1.0682 149 2056 Jul 26
Partial
−1.2048

Saros 129

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 129, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a penumbral lunar eclipse on June 10, 1351. It contains partial eclipses from September 26, 1531 through May 11, 1892; total eclipses from May 24, 1910 through September 8, 2090; and a second set of partial eclipses from September 20, 2108 through April 26, 2469. The series ends at member 71 as a penumbral eclipse on July 24, 2613.

The longest duration of totality was produced by member 37 at 106 minutes, 24 seconds on July 16, 2000. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.[6]

Greatest First

The greatest eclipse of the series occurred on 2000 Jul 16, lasting 106 minutes, 24 seconds.[7]
Penumbral Partial Total Central
1351 Jun 10
1531 Sep 26
1910 May 24
1946 Jun 14
Last
Central Total Partial Penumbral
2036 Aug 07
2090 Sep 08
2469 Apr 26
2613 Jul 24

Eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.

Tritos series

This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

Series members between 1801 and 2200
1803 Aug 03
(Saros 106)
1814 Jul 02
(Saros 107)
1825 Jun 01
(Saros 108)
1836 May 01
(Saros 109)
1847 Mar 31
(Saros 110)
1858 Feb 27
(Saros 111)
1869 Jan 28
(Saros 112)
1879 Dec 28
(Saros 113)
1890 Nov 26
(Saros 114)
1901 Oct 27
(Saros 115)
1912 Sep 26
(Saros 116)
1923 Aug 26
(Saros 117)
1934 Jul 26
(Saros 118)
1945 Jun 25
(Saros 119)
1956 May 24
(Saros 120)
1967 Apr 24
(Saros 121)
1978 Mar 24
(Saros 122)
1989 Feb 20
(Saros 123)
2000 Jan 21
(Saros 124)
2010 Dec 21
(Saros 125)
2021 Nov 19
(Saros 126)
2032 Oct 18
(Saros 127)
2043 Sep 19
(Saros 128)
2054 Aug 18
(Saros 129)
2065 Jul 17
(Saros 130)
2076 Jun 17
(Saros 131)
2087 May 17
(Saros 132)
2098 Apr 15
(Saros 133)
2109 Mar 17
(Saros 134)
2120 Feb 14
(Saros 135)
2131 Jan 13
(Saros 136)
2141 Dec 13
(Saros 137)
2152 Nov 12
(Saros 138)
2163 Oct 12
(Saros 139)
2174 Sep 11
(Saros 140)
2185 Aug 11
(Saros 141)
2196 Jul 10
(Saros 142)

Half-Saros cycle

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).[8] This lunar eclipse is related to two total solar eclipses of Solar Saros 136.

August 12, 2045 August 24, 2063

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "August 17–18, 2054 Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)". timeanddate. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  2. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  3. ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 2054 Aug 18" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  4. ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 2054 Aug 18". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  5. ^ van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  6. ^ "NASA - Catalog of Lunar Eclipses of Saros 129". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.
  7. ^ Listing of Eclipses of series 129
  8. ^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros