A penumbral lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Thursday, August 6, 2009, with an umbral magnitude of −0.6642. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when part or all of the Moon's near side passes into the Earth's penumbra. 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. Occurring about 2.1 days after apogee (on August 3, 2009, at 22:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
This eclipse was the third of four lunar eclipses in 2009, with the others occurring on February 9 (penumbral), July 7 (penumbral), and December 31 (partial).
Visibility The eclipse was completely visible over South America, Africa, and Europe, seen rising over much of North America and setting over central and south Asia.
Hourly motion shown right to leftThe Moon's hourly motion across the Earth's shadow in the constellation of Capricornus. Visibility map
Gallery
Eclipse details Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular lunar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
+August 6, 2009 Lunar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Penumbral Magnitude 0.40379 Umbral Magnitude −0.66417 Gamma 1.35724 Sun Right Ascension 09h04m42.0s Sun Declination +16°42'38.9" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'46.1" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.7" Moon Right Ascension 21h02m46.3s Moon Declination -15°34'32.9" Moon Semi-Diameter 14'45.9" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°54'11.4" ΔT 66.0 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 July–August 2009 July 7Ascending node (full moon) July 22Descending node (new moon) August 6Ascending node (full moon) Penumbral lunar eclipseLunar Saros 110 Total solar eclipseSolar Saros 136 Penumbral lunar eclipseLunar Saros 148
Related eclipses Eclipses in 2009 An annular solar eclipse on January 26. A penumbral lunar eclipse on February 9. A penumbral lunar eclipse on July 7. A total solar eclipse on July 22. A penumbral lunar eclipse on August 6. A partial lunar eclipse on December 31.
Metonic Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of October 17, 2005 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 25, 2013
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 24, 2002 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of September 16, 2016
Half-Saros Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 31, 2000 Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 11, 2018
Tritos Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of September 6, 1998 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of July 5, 2020
Lunar Saros 148 Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of July 26, 1991 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of August 17, 2027
Inex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of August 26, 1980 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of July 16, 2038
Triad Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of October 6, 1922 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of June 6, 2096
Lunar eclipses of 2006–2009
Saros 148
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 (a half saros).Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros This lunar eclipse is related to two partial solar eclipses of Solar Saros 155. July 31, 2000August 11, 2018
See also List of lunar eclipses and List of 21st-century lunar eclipses
Notes
External links The eclipse was captured with two digital photographs and combined into one gif file.