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, ...

occurred at the Moon’s

descending 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 Friday, September 16, 2016, 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 −0.0624. 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 Earth's shadow (or Earth shadow) is the shadow that Earth itself casts through its atmosphere and into outer space, toward the antisolar point. During the twilight period (both early dusk and late dawn), the shadow's visible fringe – someti ...

, 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 1.8 days before

perigee 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 September 18, 2016, at 13:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.

Visibility

The eclipse was completely visible over

east Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

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 western

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 Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

and

western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

and setting over eastern Australia and the western

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 ...

Gallery

Progression as seen from

Primorsko Primorsko ( ) is a town and seaside resort in southeastern Bulgaria, the capital of the municipality of the same name, and part of Burgas Province. A well-known resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, it is located 52 km south of Burgas and ...

, Bulgaria Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of Sep 16, 2016.jpg, Hefei, China, 18:03 UTC 2016.09.16 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse (29613161962).jpg,

Huittinen Huittinen () is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in the Satakunta region, southeast of Pori and southwest of Tampere. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The ...

, Finland, 18:51 UTC Lunar Eclipse (29104134764).png,

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, 19:00 UTC Partial lunar eclipse 2016.09.16.jpg,

Rabka-Zdrój Rabka-Zdrój (, Goral: ''Robka'', colloquially: ''Rabka'') is a spa town in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland. It is located between Kraków and Zakopane in a valley on the northern slopes of the Gorce Mountains, where the rivers Poniczanka and ...

, Poland, 19:09 UTC 2016-09-16 20-30-00 eclipse-lunaire-ann1.gif,

Belfort Belfort (; archaic , ) is a city in northeastern France, situated approximately from the Swiss border. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Territoire de Belfort. Belfort is from Paris and from Basel. The residents of the city ...

, France, combined images 2016-09-16 20-30-00 eclipse-lunaire-ann2.gif, Progression from Belfort, France Harvest Moon (29100727543).jpg,

Helmshore Helmshore () is a village in the Rossendale Valley, Lancashire, England, south of Haslingden between the A56 and the B6235, north of Manchester. The population at the 2011 census was 5,805. The housing in Helmshore is mixed, with some two-up, ...

, England, 20:04 UTC

Eclipse details

Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular lunar 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 ...

. The first and last eclipse in this sequence is separated by one

synodic month In lunar calendars, a lunar month is the time between two successive Syzygy (astronomy), syzygies of the same type: new moons or full moons. The precise definition varies, especially for the beginning of the month. Variations In Shona people, S ...

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 2016

* A total solar eclipse on March 9. * A penumbral lunar eclipse on March 23. * A penumbral lunar eclipse on August 18. * An annular solar eclipse on September 1. * A penumbral lunar eclipse on September 16.

Metonic

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of November 28, 2012 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of July 5, 2020

Tzolkinex

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of August 6, 2009 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of October 28, 2023

Half-Saros

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 11, 2007 * Followed by:

Solar eclipse of September 21, 2025 A partial solar eclipse will occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Sunday, September 21, 2025, with a magnitude of 0.855. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring th ...

Tritos

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of October 17, 2005 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of August 17, 2027

Lunar Saros 147

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of September 6, 1998 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of September 28, 2034

Inex

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of October 7, 1987 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of August 27, 2045

Triad

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of November 17, 1929 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of July 19, 2103

Lunar eclipses of 2013–2016

Saros 147

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 partial solar eclipses of

Solar Saros 154 Saros cycle series 154 for solar eclipses occurs at the Moon's descending lunar node, node, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 71 eclipses, 56 of which will be umbral (17 annular, 3 hybrid, 36 total). The first eclipse in the series was ...

References

External links

*
Hermit eclipse: 23 Mar 2016 - Penumbral Lunar Eclipse

Penumbral Lunar Eclipse On Sep. 16, 2016
by Giuseppe Donatiello,

Oria, Italy Oria (or ''Orra'', ; or , '; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Apulia region (Salento), in the province of Brindisi, in southern Italy. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oria. History Antiquity In classical times, Oria was know ...

Penumbral Lunar Eclipse on September 16, 2016
by Mulham Hindi, Makkah, Saudi Arabia {{DEFAULTSORT:Lunar eclipse 2016-09 2016-09 2016 in science September 2016