| Type: | total |
| Date: | February 21, 2008 |
| Gamma: | -0.3992 |
| Magnitude: | 1.1081 |
| Saros Ser: | 133 |
| Saros No: | 26 of 71 |
| Totality: | 49 minutes, 46 seconds |
| Partiality: | 205 minutes, 28 seconds |
| Penumbral: | 339 minutes, 3 seconds |
| P1: | 00:36:34 |
| U1: | 01:43:17 |
| U2: | 03:01:09 |
| Greatest: | 03:26:03 |
| U3: | 03:50:55 |
| U4: | 05:08:45 |
| P4: | 06:15:37 |
| Previous: | August 2007 |
| Next: | August 2008 |
A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Thursday, February 21, 2008,[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.1081. 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. The Moon's apparent diameter was near the average diameter because it occurred 7.2 days after perigee (on February 13, 2008, at 20:00 UTC) and 6.8 days before apogee (on February 27, 2008, at 20:30 UTC).[2]
The eclipse was completely visible over North and South America, west Africa, and western Europe, seen rising over much of the Pacific Ocean and setting over much of Africa, eastern Europe, and west, central, and south Asia.[3]
The bright star Regulus of Leo and the planet Saturn were prominent very near the Moon during the total eclipse portion. Shortly before the eclipse began, Regulus was occulted by the Moon in parts of the far Southern Atlantic Ocean and Antarctica.
The Moon entered the penumbral shadow at 0:36 UTC, and the umbral shadow at 1:43. Totality lasted for 50 minutes, between 3:01 and 3:51. The Moon left the umbra shadow at 5:09 and left the penumbra shadow at 6:16.[4]
| Event | COLSPAN=6 | North and South America | COLSPAN=3 | Europe and Africa | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| COLSPAN=6 | Evening of February 20th | COLSPAN=3 align=center BGCOLOR="#e0e0f0" | Morning of February 21st | ||||||||
| AKST (-9h) | PST (-8h) | MST (-7h) | CST (-6h) | EST (-5h) | AST (-4h) | GMT (0h) | CET (+1h) | EET (+2h) | |||
| P1 | Penumbral began | Under Horizon | Under Horizon | Under Horizon | 18:36 | 19:36 | 20:36 | 0:36 | 1:36 | 2:36 | |
| U1 | Partial began | Under Horizon | Under Horizon | 18:43 | 19:43 | 20:43 | 21:43 | 1:43 | 2:43 | 3:43 | |
| U2 | Total began | Under Horizon | 19:01 | 20:01 | 21:01 | 22:01 | 23:01 | 3:01 | 4:01 | 5:01 | |
| Mid-eclipse | 18:26 | 19:26 | 20:26 | 21:26 | 22:26 | 23:26 | 3:26 | 4:26 | 5:26 | ||
| U3 | Total ended | 18:51 | 19:51 | 20:51 | 21:51 | 22:51 | 23:51 | 3:51 | 4:51 | Set | |
| U4 | Partial ended | 20:09 | 21:09 | 22:09 | 23:09 | 0:09 | 1:09 | 5:09 | Set | Set |
Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[6]
| Penumbral Magnitude | 2.14698 | |
| Umbral Magnitude | 1.10809 | |
| Gamma | -0.39923 | |
| Sun Right Ascension | 22h15m30.0s | |
| Sun Declination | -10°48'31.3" | |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'10.5" | |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.9" | |
| Moon Right Ascension | 10h14m48.5s | |
| Moon Declination | +10°28'07.6" | |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 15'34.2" | |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°57'08.5" | |
| ΔT | 65.5 s |
See also: Eclipse cycle. 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.
This lunar eclipse is part of series 133 of the Saros cycle, which repeats every 18 years and 11 days. Series 133 runs from the year 1557 until 2819. The previous eclipse of this series occurred on February 9, 1990, and the next will occur on March 3, 2026.
It is the 6th of 21 total lunar eclipses in series 133. The first was on December 28, 1917. The last (21st) will be on August 3, 2278. The longest two occurrences of this series (14th and 15th) will last for a total of 1 hour and 42 minutes on May 18, 2152, and May 30, 2170. Solar saros 140 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.
This is the fourth of five Metonic lunar eclipses.
A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).[7] This lunar eclipse is related to two annular solar eclipses of Solar Saros 140.
