A penumbral

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 ...

took place on 14 March 2006, the first of two lunar eclipses in 2006. This was a relatively rare

total penumbral lunar eclipse A total penumbral lunar eclipse is a lunar eclipse that occurs when the Moon becomes completely immersed in the penumbral cone of the Earth without touching the umbra. The path for the Moon to pass within the penumbra and outside the umbra is ve ...

with the Moon passing entirely within the penumbral shadow without entering the darker umbral shadow. The tables below contain detailed predictions and additional information on the Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of 14 March 2006.

Visibility

It was completely visible over Africa and Europe, seen rising over eastern North America, all of South America, and setting over western Asia. 2006-03-14 Lunar Eclipse Sketch

A simulated view of the Earth from the center of the Moon at maximum eclipse.

Map

Relation to other lunar eclipses

Eclipses of 2006

* A penumbral lunar eclipse on 14 March. * A total solar eclipse on 29 March. * A partial lunar eclipse on 7 September. * An annular solar eclipse on 22 September.

Lunar year series (354 days)

Saros series

The eclipse belongs to

Saros series The saros () is a period of exactly 223 synodic months, approximately 6585.3211 days, or 18 years, 10, 11, or 12 days (depending on the number of leap years), and 8 hours, that can be used to predict eclipses of the Sun and Moon. One saros peri ...

113, and is the 63rd of 71 lunar eclipses in the series. The first penumbral eclipse of saros cycle 113 began on 29 April 888 AD, first partial eclipse on 14 July 1014, and total first was on 20 March 1429. The last total eclipse occurred on 7 August 1645, last partial on 21 February 1970, and last penumbral eclipse on 10 June 2150.

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 120.

Metonic cycles (19 years)

Eclipse season An eclipse season is the period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Eclipse seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of the Moon's tilted orbital plane ( tilted five degrees to the Earth's orbital plane), just as Earth's we ...

This is the first eclipse this season. Second eclipse this season: 29 March 2006 Total Solar Eclipse

Notes

External links

*
photo of partial [penumbral] eclipse on March 14th of 2006, Kennebunk, Maine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lunar eclipse 2006-03 2006-03 2006-03 2006 in science March 2006 events