February 2009 lunar eclipse

February 2009 lunar eclipse

Penumbral eclipse
Penumbral eclipse as viewed from Chennai, India, 14:29 UTC
Date	February 9, 2009
Gamma	−1.0640
Magnitude	−0.0863
Saros cycle	143 (18 of 73)
Penumbral	238 minutes, 49 seconds
Contacts (UTC) P1 12:38:50 Greatest 14:38:16 P4 16:37:39

A penumbral lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Monday, February 9, 2009,[1] with an umbral magnitude of −0.0863. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon 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, 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. Occurring about 1.9 days after perigee (on February 7, 2009, at 15:10 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[2]

This eclipse was the first of four lunar eclipses in 2009, with the others occurring on July 7 (penumbral), August 6 (penumbral), and December 31 (partial).

It also happened on the Lantern Festival, the first since February 20, 1989.

Visibility

The eclipse was completely visible over east Asia and Australia, seen rising over east Africa, eastern Europe, and west Asia and setting over North America and the eastern Pacific Ocean.[3]

	Hourly motion shown right to left	The Moon's hourly motion across the Earth's shadow in the constellation of Leo.
Visibility map

Images

This simulated view shows the Earth and Sun as viewed from the center of the Moon near contact points P1 and P4. The eclipse will be visible from Earth from the locations of the world as seen on the Earth above.

Gallery

• 
  Pune, India, 13:18 UTC
• 
  Subang Jaya, Malaysia, 14:37 UTC
• 
  Hong Kong, 14:46 UTC

Eclipse details

Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[4]

February 9, 2009 Lunar Eclipse Parameters

Parameter	Value
Penumbral Magnitude	0.90132
Umbral Magnitude	−0.08632
Gamma	−1.06401
Sun Right Ascension	21h33m30.0s
Sun Declination	-14°30'07.1"
Sun Semi-Diameter	16'12.6"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	08.9"
Moon Right Ascension	09h31m42.1s
Moon Declination	+13°31'37.5"
Moon Semi-Diameter	16'24.8"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	1°00'14.2"
ΔT	65.8 s

Eclipse season

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.

Eclipse season of January–February 2009

January 26 Ascending node (new moon)	February 9 Descending node (full moon)
Annular solar eclipse Solar Saros 131	Penumbral lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 143

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 2009

• An annular solar eclipse on January 26.
• A penumbral lunar eclipse on February 9.
• A penumbral lunar eclipse on July 7.
• A total solar eclipse on July 22.
• A penumbral lunar eclipse on August 6.
• A partial lunar eclipse on December 31.

Metonic

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 24, 2005
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of November 28, 2012

Tzolkinex

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of December 30, 2001
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 23, 2016

Half-Saros

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 5, 2000
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 15, 2018

Tritos

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 13, 1998
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of January 10, 2020

Lunar Saros 143

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of January 30, 1991
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of February 20, 2027

Inex

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 1, 1980
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of January 21, 2038

Triad

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 11, 1922
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of December 11, 2095

Lunar eclipses of 2006–2009

This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of lunar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.[5]

The lunar eclipses on July 7, 2009 (penumbral) and December 31, 2009 (partial) occur in the next lunar year eclipse set.

Lunar eclipse series sets from 2006 to 2009
Descending node					Ascending node
Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma		Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma
113	2006 Mar 14	Penumbral	1.0211		118	2006 Sep 7	Partial	−0.9262
123	2007 Mar 03	Total	0.3175		128	2007 Aug 28	Total	−0.2146
133	2008 Feb 21	Total	−0.3992		138	2008 Aug 16	Partial	0.5646
143	2009 Feb 09	Penumbral	−1.0640		148	2009 Aug 06	Penumbral	1.3572

Half-Saros cycle

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).[6] This lunar eclipse is related to two partial solar eclipses of Solar Saros 150.

February 5, 2000	February 15, 2018

See also

• List of lunar eclipses
• List of 21st-century lunar eclipses
• File:2009-02-09 Lunar Eclipse Sketch.gif Chart

Notes

1. "February 9–10, 2009 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
2. "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
3. "Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of 2009 Feb 09" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
4. "Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of 2009 Feb 09". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
5. van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
6. Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros

External links

• Penumbral Eclipse of the Moon: 2009 February 09
• 2009 Feb 09 chart: Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC