A total lunar eclipse occurred from 5:27 to 11:06 UTC on 21 December 2010, coinciding with the date of the

Winter solstice The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winte ...

in the Northern Hemisphere and Summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. It was visible in its entirety as a total

lunar eclipse A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow. Such alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six months, during the full moon phase, when the Moon's orbital plane is closest to the plane of the Eart ...

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''no ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

, Iceland, Ireland, Britain and northern Scandinavia.

Occurrence

The eclipse of December 2010 was the first total lunar eclipse in almost three years, since the

February 2008 lunar eclipse A total lunar eclipse occurred on February 20 and February 21, 2008. It was visible in the eastern evening sky on February 20 for all of North and South America, and on February 21 in the predawn western sky from most of Africa and Europe. Great ...

. It is the second of two lunar eclipses in 2010. The first was a partial lunar eclipse on June 26, 2010. The eclipse was the first total

to occur on the day of the Northern

Winter Solstice The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winte ...

(Southern Summer Solstice) since

1638 Events January–March * January 4 – **A naval battle takes place in the Indian Ocean off of the coast of Goa at South India as a Netherlands fleet commanded by Admiral Adam Westerwolt decimates the Portuguese fleet. **A fleet of 80 ...

, and only the second in the

Common Era Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the ...

Related eclipses

This eclipse occurred at the descending node of the moon's orbit. Lunar eclipses are always paired with a solar eclipse either 2 weeks before or after at

new moon In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar eclip ...

in the opposite node. In this case, it was followed by a partial

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six mo ...

at the ascending node on January 4, 2011, visible from Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia. The following two lunar eclipses were also total, occurring on June 15, 2011, and December 10, 2011. : See This lunar year cycle The next December solstice total lunar eclipse, as a Metonic twin eclipse, will be December 20, 2029 (19 years later), one day before solstice. : See This 19 year Metonic cycle A saros series lasts for many centuries and has a similar event every 18 years and 11 days. This eclipse is the 18th of 26 total lunar eclipses in lunar saros series 125. The previous occurrence was on December 9, 1992, and the next will occur on December 31, 2028. : See This saros

Visibility

In North America, the eclipse was visible in its entirety on 21 December 2010, from 12:27 a.m. to 6:06 a.m.

Eastern Standard Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...

. In the Central Standard Time zone and west, the eclipse began the night of 20 December. Observers along South America's east coast missed the late stages of the eclipse because they occurred after moon-set. Likewise much of Europe and Africa experienced moon-set while the eclipse was in progress. In Europe, only those observers in northern Scandinavia (including Iceland), Ireland and Britain could observe the entire event. For observers in eastern Asia the moon rose in eclipse. The eclipse was not visible from southern and eastern Africa, the Middle East or South Asia. In Japan and northeastern Asia, the eclipse's end was visible, with the moon rising at sunset. In the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

it was observable as a partial lunar eclipse just after sunset. Predictions suggested that the total eclipse may appear unusually orange or red, as a result of the eruption of

Mount Merapi Mount Merapi, ''Gunung Merapi'' (literally Fire Mountain in Indonesian and Javanese), is an active stratovolcano located on the border between the province of Central Java and the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It is the most active ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

on 26 October.

Local times

Photo gallery

Individual shots, sorted by time: File:NYC Lunar Eclipse December 21 2010.jpg, From

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, 5:35 UTC File:2010 Lunar Eclipse Arlington VA.jpg, From

Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

, ~7:30 UTC File:Lunar Eclipse by Jiyang Chen.jpg, From New York City, New York, 7:38 UTC File:Lunar_Eclipse_seen_from_Seattle_21-12-2010.jpg, From

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

beginning of totality, 7:41 UTC File:December 2010 lunar eclipse.JPG, From the Lower Mainland of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

, Canada, 7:46 UTC File:Moon Eclipse cropped From Miami 2010.jpg, From

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

, 7:52 UTC File:Xmatt_-_eclipse_total_(by).jpg, From

Richardson, Texas Richardson is a city in Dallas and Collin counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 119,469. Richardson is an inner suburb of the city of Dallas. It is home to the University ...

, 7:53 UTC File:2010eclipse1.JPG, From

Dover, Delaware Dover () is the capital and second-largest city of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County and the principal city of the Dover, DE, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kent County and is part o ...

, 7:54 UTC File:December 2010 lunar eclipse 2.JPG, Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada during totality, 8:21 UTC File:Dec 2010 Lunar Eclipse-1.jpg, From

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada, 8:26 UTC File:2010-12-21 lunar eclipse Orlando FL.jpg, From Orlando, Florida, 8:28 UTC File:Lunar Eclipse Dec 21 2010 Jacksonville.JPG, From

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, 8:30 UTC File:Observando un Eclipse Lunar Total.png, Amateur scientists observing eclipse in

Villa Gesell Villa Gesell is a seaside resort city in Villa Gesell Partido, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It was founded in 1931, with the intention of turning a dune field into a timber plantation.

, Argentina, 8:34 UTC File:Eclipse 2010.jpg, From

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black

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, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive ...

, 8:44 UTC File:Lunar eclipse in Longjing township of taiwan.JPG, From

Longjing District Longjing District () is a coastal suburban district in western Taichung, Taiwan. Geography Longjing shares borders with Wuqi and Shalu to the north, Xitun to the east, the Pacific Ocean to the west, Dadu and Shengang in Changhua County ...

Taichung, Taiwan Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Taiw ...

at moonrise, 9:45 UTC Animations: File:Lunar_eclipse_chart_close-2010Dec21_animation.gif, File:Full_Moon_Eclipse_2010_Animation.gif, Time-lapsed animation

Related eclipse events

Tzolkinex

* Preceded: Lunar eclipse of November 8–9, 2003 * Followed: Lunar eclipse of January 31, 2018

Half-Saros

* Preceded:

Solar eclipse of December 14, 2001 An annular solar eclipse occurred on December 14, 2001. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the ...

* Followed:

Solar eclipse of December 26, 2019 An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of the orbit on Thursday, December 26, 2019. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the Sun for a viewer on Earth ...

Tritos

* Preceded: Lunar eclipse of January 21, 2000 * Followed: Lunar eclipse of November 19, 2021

Lunar Saros 125

* Preceded: Lunar eclipse of December 9–10, 1992 * Followed: Lunar eclipse of December 31, 2028

Inex

* Preceded: Lunar eclipse of January 9, 1982 * Followed: Lunar eclipse of November 30, 2039

Triad

* Preceded: Lunar eclipse of February 20, 1924 * Followed: Lunar eclipse of October 20–21, 2097

Eclipses of 2010

* An annular solar eclipse on 15 January. * A partial lunar eclipse on 26 June. * A total solar eclipse on 11 July. * A total lunar eclipse on 21 December.

Lunar year series

The

lunar year A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases (synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based only directly on the solar year. The most commonly used calendar, the Gr ...

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.

Metonic cycles (19 years)

Tritos series

Saros 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 annular solar eclipses of

Solar Saros 132 Saros cycle series 132 for solar eclipses occurs at the Moon's descending node, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 71 events. All eclipses in this series occurs at the Moon's descending node. This solar saros is linked to Lunar Saro ...

Notes

External links

Worldwide viewing times for the December 2010 Total Lunar Eclipse

* * ** ttp://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2010.html#LE2010Dec21T NASA: Eclipses During 2010 2010 Dec 21: Total Lunar Eclipse*
Animation of the December 21, 2010 eclipse
at shadowandsubstance.com
Astronomical Society of the Pacific eclipse times and questions & answers
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lunar eclipse 2010-12 2010-12 2010 in science December 2010 events