A penumbral
lunar eclipse
A lunar eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six months, during the full moon phase, ...
will occur at the Moon’s
ascending node
An orbital node is either of the two points where an orbit intersects a plane of reference to which it is inclined. A non-inclined orbit, which is contained in the reference plane, has no nodes.
Planes of reference
Common planes of referenc ...
of orbit on Saturday, December 11, 2038, with an umbral
magnitude
Magnitude may refer to:
Mathematics
*Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction
*Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object
*Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector
*Order of ...
of −0.2876. A lunar eclipse occurs when the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
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
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 Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...
, which can only be viewed from a relatively small area of the world, a lunar eclipse may be viewed from anywhere on the
night
Night, or nighttime, is the period of darkness when the Sun is below the horizon. Sunlight illuminates one side of the Earth, leaving the other in darkness. The opposite of nighttime is daytime. Earth's rotation causes the appearance of ...
side of Earth. Occurring about 3.3 days after
apogee
An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values.
Apsides perta ...
(on December 8, 2038, at 8:35 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter will be smaller.
This eclipse will be the last of four penumbral lunar eclipses in 2038, with the others occurring on
January 21
Events Pre-1600
* 763 – Following the Battle of Bakhamra between Alids and Abbasids near Kufa, the Alid rebellion ends with the death of Ibrahim, brother of Isa ibn Musa.
* 1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded wh ...
,
June 17
Events Pre-1600
* 653 – Pope Martin I is arrested and taken to Constantinople, due to his opposition to monothelitism.
*1242 – Following the Disputation of Paris, twenty-four carriage loads of Jewish religious manuscripts were burn ...
, and
July 16.
Visibility
The eclipse will be completely visible over
northeast Africa
Northeast Africa, or Northeastern Africa, or Northern East Africa as it was known in the past, encompasses the countries of Africa situated in and around the Red Sea. The region is intermediate between North Africa and East Africa, and encompasses ...
,
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
,
Asia
Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
, and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, seen rising over
west
West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...
and
central Africa
Central Africa (French language, French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries accordin ...
and setting over the central
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
.
Eclipse details
Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
Eclipse season
This eclipse is part of an
eclipse season
An eclipse season is a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Eclipse seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of the Orbit of the Moon, Moon's orbital plane (orbital inclination, tilted five degrees to the ecliptic, Earth ...
, 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
A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term , meaning "" (or "fourteen days", since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights).
Astronomy and tides
In astronomy, a ''lunar fortnight'' is hal ...
.
Related eclipses
Eclipses in 2038
*
An annular solar eclipse on January 5.
*
A penumbral lunar eclipse on January 21.
*
A penumbral lunar eclipse on June 17.
*
An annular solar eclipse on July 2.
*
A penumbral lunar eclipse on July 16.
* A penumbral lunar eclipse on December 11.
*
A total solar eclipse on December 26.
Metonic
* Preceded by:
Lunar eclipse of February 22, 2035
* Followed by:
Lunar eclipse of September 29, 2042
Tzolkinex
* Preceded by:
Lunar eclipse of October 30, 2031
* Followed by:
Lunar eclipse of January 22, 2046
Half-Saros
* Preceded by:
Solar eclipse of December 5, 2029
* Followed by:
Solar eclipse of December 16, 2047
Tritos
* Preceded by:
Lunar eclipse of January 12, 2028
* Followed by:
Lunar eclipse of November 9, 2049
Lunar Saros 116
* Preceded by:
Lunar eclipse of November 30, 2020
* Followed by:
Lunar eclipse of December 22, 2056
Inex
* Preceded by:
Lunar eclipse of December 31, 2009
* Followed by:
Lunar eclipse of November 21, 2067
Triad
* Preceded by:
Lunar eclipse of February 11, 1952
* Followed by:
Lunar eclipse of October 12, 2125
Lunar eclipses of 2038–2042
Saros 116
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 123.
See also
*
List of lunar eclipses
__NOTOC__
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened.
By type
* List of central lunar eclipses
* Total penumbral lunar eclipse
By classification
* List of saros series for lunar eclipse ...
and
List of 21st-century lunar eclipses
Notes
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lunar eclipse 2038-12
2038-12
2038-12
2038 in science