A penumbral lunar eclipse will occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Sunday, December 20, 2048, with an umbral magnitude of −0.1420. 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 only about 13 hours before apogee (on December 20, 2048, at 19:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter will be smaller.
Visibility The eclipse will be completely visible over North America and much of South America, seen rising over northeast Asia and the western Pacific Ocean and setting over west and central Africa and Europe.
Eclipse details Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
+December 20, 2048 Lunar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Penumbral Magnitude 0.96321 Umbral Magnitude −0.14202 Gamma −1.06244 Sun Right Ascension 17h55m49.3s Sun Declination -23°25'43.8" Sun Semi-Diameter 16'15.4" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9" Moon Right Ascension 05h55m26.5s Moon Declination +22°28'37.2" Moon Semi-Diameter 14'42.6" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°53'59.0" ΔT 84.4 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.
+ Eclipse season of December 2048 December 5Ascending node (new moon) December 20Descending node (full moon) Total solar eclipseSolar Saros 133 Penumbral lunar eclipseLunar Saros 145
Related eclipses Eclipses in 2048 A total lunar eclipse on January 1. An annular solar eclipse on June 11. A partial lunar eclipse on June 26. A total solar eclipse on December 5. A penumbral lunar eclipse on December 20.
Metonic Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 3, 2045 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of October 8, 2052
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of November 8, 2041 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of February 1, 2056
Half-Saros Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 15, 2039 Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 26, 2057
Tritos Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of January 21, 2038 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of November 19, 2059
Lunar Saros 145 Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of December 9, 2030 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of December 31, 2066
Inex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of January 10, 2020 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of November 29, 2077
Triad Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of February 19, 1962 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of October 22, 2135
Lunar eclipses of 2046–2049
Metonic series
Saros 145
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 total solar eclipses of Solar Saros 152. December 15, 2039December 26, 2057
See also List of lunar eclipses and List of 21st-century lunar eclipses
Notes
External links