A total lunar eclipse took place on 4 April 2015. It is the former of two total lunar eclipses in 2015, and the third in a tetrad (four total lunar eclipses in series). Other eclipses in the tetrad are those of 15 April 2014, 8 October 2014, and 28 September 2015.
Totality lasted only 4 minutes and 43 seconds,[1] making it the shortest lunar totality in almost five centuries since 17 October 1529 (which lasted 1 minute and 42 seconds). It was claimed by some that due to the oblateness of the Earth, it may have actually just been a partial eclipse.[2] It was the sixth total lunar eclipse out of nine with totality under 5 minutes in a five millennium period between 2,000 BC and 3,000 AD. The eclipsed moon was 12.9% smaller in apparent diameter than the supermoon September 2015 lunar eclipse, measured as 29.66' and 33.47' in diameter from the center of the earth. It occurred 3 days past apogee at 29.42'.
Visibility
The eclipse was visible across the Pacific, including all of Australia and New Zealand. It was visible near sunrise for North America, and after sunset for eastern Asia including India.
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes within Earth's umbra (shadow). As the eclipse begins, Earth's shadow first darkens the Moon slightly. Then, the shadow begins to "cover" part of the Moon, turning it a dark red-brown color (typically - the color can vary based on atmospheric conditions). The Moon appears to be reddish because of Rayleigh scattering (the same effect that causes sunsets to appear reddish) and the refraction of that light by Earth's atmosphere into its umbra.[3]
The following simulation shows the approximate appearance of the Moon passing through Earth's shadow. The Moon's brightness is exaggerated within the umbral shadow. The southern portion of the Moon will be closest to the center of the shadow, making it darkest, and most red in appearance.
A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).[5] This lunar eclipse is related to two total solar eclipses of solar saros 139.
The eclipse is the one of four lunar eclipses in a short-lived series at the ascending node of the moon's orbit.
The lunar year series repeats after 12 lunations, or 354 days (shifting back about 10 days in sequential years). Because of the date shift, the Earth's shadow will be about 11 degrees west in sequential events.
Lunar saros series 132, repeating every 18 years and 11 days, has a total of 71 lunar eclipse events including 44 umbral lunar eclipses (32 partial lunar eclipses and 12 total lunar eclipses).
Greatest
First
The greatest eclipse of the series will occur on 2123 Jun 9, lasting 106 minutes.[6]
There are 11 series events between 1901 and 2100, grouped into threes (called an exeligmos), each column with approximately the same viewing longitude on earth.
april, 2015, lunar, eclipse, total, lunar, eclipse, took, place, april, 2015, former, total, lunar, eclipses, 2015, third, tetrad, four, total, lunar, eclipses, series, other, eclipses, tetrad, those, april, 2014, october, 2014, september, 2015, total, eclipse. A total lunar eclipse took place on 4 April 2015 It is the former of two total lunar eclipses in 2015 and the third in a tetrad four total lunar eclipses in series Other eclipses in the tetrad are those of 15 April 2014 8 October 2014 and 28 September 2015 April 2015 lunar eclipseTotal eclipseLos Angeles California 12 00 UTCDate4 April 2015Gamma0 4460Magnitude1 0008Saros cycle132 30 of 71 Totality4 minutes 43 secondsPartiality209 minutes 1 secondsPenumbral357 minutes 31 secondsContacts UTC P109 01 27U110 15 45U211 57 54Greatest12 00 15U312 02 37U413 44 46P414 58 58 October 2014September 2015 This is the 30th member of Lunar Saros 132 and the first total eclipse The previous event was the March 1997 lunar eclipse being slightly partial Contents 1 Duration 2 Visibility 3 Background 4 Gallery 5 Timing 6 Related eclipses 6 1 Eclipses of 2015 6 2 Half Saros cycle 6 3 Lunar year series 6 4 Saros series 6 5 Tzolkinex 7 See also 8 Notes 9 External linksDuration EditTotality lasted only 4 minutes and 43 seconds 1 making it the shortest lunar totality in almost five centuries since 17 October 1529 which lasted 1 minute and 42 seconds It was claimed by some that due to the oblateness of the Earth it may have actually just been a partial eclipse 2 It was the sixth total lunar eclipse out of nine with totality under 5 minutes in a five millennium period between 2 000 BC and 3 000 AD The eclipsed moon was 12 9 smaller in apparent diameter than the supermoon September 2015 lunar eclipse measured as 29 66 and 33 47 in diameter from the center of the earth It occurred 3 days past apogee at 29 42 Visibility EditThe eclipse was visible across the Pacific including all of Australia and New Zealand It was visible near sunrise for North America and after sunset for eastern Asia including India Visibility mapBackground EditMain article Lunar eclipse A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes within Earth s umbra shadow As the eclipse begins Earth s shadow first darkens the Moon slightly Then the shadow begins to cover part of the Moon turning it a dark red brown color typically the color can vary based on atmospheric conditions The Moon appears to be reddish because of Rayleigh scattering the same effect that causes sunsets to appear reddish and the refraction of that light by Earth s atmosphere into its umbra 3 The following simulation shows the approximate appearance of the Moon passing through Earth s shadow The Moon s brightness is exaggerated within the umbral shadow The southern portion of the Moon will be closest to the center of the shadow making it darkest and most red in appearance Gallery Edit Progression from Bali Indonesia Time lapsed image from Taiwan Sequence from Fox Observatory in Sunrise Florida Sequence from Melbourne Florida Progression from St Louis Missouri Toronto Canada 9 54 UTC Auckland New Zealand 9 54 UTC Macon Georgia 10 54 UTC Mexico City Mexico 10 59 UTC Minneapolis Minnesota 11 09 UTC Chicago Illinois 11 36 UTC Melbourne Australia 11 46 UTC Denver Colorado 11 50 UTC Tai Po Hong Kong 12 01 UTC Santa Clara County California 12 02 UTC Las Vegas Nevada 12 03 UTC Rio Rancho New Mexico 12 13 UTC Bangkok Thailand 12 37 UTC Hirosaki Aomori 12 56 UTC Pune India 13 38 UTCTiming EditLocal times of contacts Time Zoneadjustments fromUTC 8h 11h 13h 10h 8h 7h 6h 5h 4hAWST AEDT NZDT HST AKDT PDT MDT CDT EDTEvent Evening April 4 Morning April 4P1 Penumbral begins N A 8 01 pm 10 01 pm 11 01 pm 1 01 am 2 01 am 3 01 am 4 01 am 5 01 amU1 Partial begins 6 16 pm 9 16 pm 11 16 pm 12 16 am 2 16 am 3 16 am 4 16 am 5 16 am 6 16 amU2 Total begins 7 58 pm 10 58 pm 12 58 am 1 58 am 3 58 am 4 58 am 5 58 am 6 58 am SetGreatest eclipse 8 00 pm 11 00 pm 1 00 am 2 00 am 4 00 am 5 00 am 6 00 am 7 00 am SetU3 Total ends 8 03 pm 11 03 pm 1 03 am 2 03 am 4 03 am 5 03 am 6 03 am Set SetU4 Partial ends 9 45 pm 12 45 am 2 45 am 3 45 am 5 45 am Set Set Set SetP4 Penumbral ends 10 59 pm 1 59 am 3 59 am 3 59 am 5 59 am Set Set Set Set The Moon was not visible during this part of the eclipse in this time zone Contact points relative to the Earth s umbral and penumbral shadows here with the Moon near its descending node vte The timing of total lunar eclipses are determined by its contacts 4 P1 First contact Beginning of the penumbral eclipse Earth s penumbra touches the Moon s outer limb U1 Second contact Beginning of the partial eclipse Earth s umbra touches the Moon s outer limb U2 Third contact Beginning of the total eclipse The Moon s surface is entirely within Earth s umbra Greatest eclipse The peak stage of the total eclipse The Moon is at its closest to the center of Earth s umbra U3 Fourth contact End of the total eclipse The Moon s outer limb exits Earth s umbra U4 Fifth contact End of the partial eclipse Earth s umbra leaves the Moon s surface P4 Sixth contact End of the penumbral eclipse Earth s penumbra no longer makes contact with the Moon Related eclipses EditEclipses of 2015 Edit A total solar eclipse on 20 March A total lunar eclipse on 4 April A partial solar eclipse on 13 September A total lunar eclipse on 28 September Half Saros cycle Edit A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5 5 days a half saros 5 This lunar eclipse is related to two total solar eclipses of solar saros 139 29 March 2006 8 April 2024 Lunar year series Edit The eclipse is the one of four lunar eclipses in a short lived series at the ascending node of the moon s orbit The lunar year series repeats after 12 lunations or 354 days shifting back about 10 days in sequential years Because of the date shift the Earth s shadow will be about 11 degrees west in sequential events Lunar eclipse series sets from 2013 2016Ascending node Descending nodeSaros Viewingdate Type Gamma Saros Viewingdate Type Gamma112 2013 Apr 25 Partial 1 0121 117 2013 Oct 18 Penumbral 1 1508122 2014 Apr 15 Total 0 3017 127 2014 Oct 08 Total 0 3827132 2015 Apr 04 Total 0 4460 137 2015 Sep 28 Total 0 3296142 2016 Mar 23 Penumbral 1 1592 147 2016 Sep 16 Penumbral 1 0549Last set 2013 May 25 Last set 2012 Nov 28Next set 2017 Feb 11 Next set 2016 Aug 18Saros series Edit Lunar saros series 132 repeating every 18 years and 11 days has a total of 71 lunar eclipse events including 44 umbral lunar eclipses 32 partial lunar eclipses and 12 total lunar eclipses Greatest First The greatest eclipse of the series will occur on 2123 Jun 9 lasting 106 minutes 6 Penumbral Partial Total Central1492 May 12 1636 Aug 16 2015 Apr 4 2069 May 6 LastCentral Total Partial Penumbral2177 Jul 11 2213 Aug 2 2429 Dec 11 2754 Jun 26 There are 11 series events between 1901 and 2100 grouped into threes called an exeligmos each column with approximately the same viewing longitude on earth 1901 2100 1907 Jan 29 1925 Feb 8 1943 Feb 20 1961 Mar 2 1979 Mar 13 1997 Mar 24 2015 Apr 4 2033 Apr 14 2051 Apr 26 2069 May 6 2087 May 17 Tzolkinex Edit Preceded Lunar eclipse of February 20 21 2008Followed Lunar eclipse of May 15 16 2022See also EditList of lunar eclipses and List of 21st century lunar eclipsesNotes Edit Espenak Fred Total Lunar Eclipse of 2015 Apr 04 PDF NASA s GSFC The Lunar Eclipse Wasn t Total After All Sky amp Telescope 6 April 2015 Fred Espenak and Jean Meeus Visual Appearance of Lunar Eclipses NASA Retrieved 13 April 2014 Clarke Kevin On the nature of eclipses Inconstant Moon Cyclopedia Selenica Retrieved 19 December 2010 Mathematical Astronomy Morsels Jean Meeus p 110 Chapter 18 The half saros Listing of Eclipses of series 132External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lunar eclipse of 2015 April 4 2015 Apr 04 chart Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak NASA GSFC Hermit Eclipse Total Lunar Eclipse April 4 2015 Mattastro com Total Lunar Eclipse April 4 2015 Full Moon in Earth s Shadow APOD 2015 April 8 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title April 2015 lunar eclipse amp oldid 1138345198, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
