en February 2054 lunar eclipse

February 2054 lunar eclipse
Total eclipse
	The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left
Date	February 22, 2054
Gamma	−0.3242
Magnitude	1.2781
Saros cycle	124 (51 of 74)
Totality	72 minutes, 8 seconds
Partiality	200 minutes, 53 seconds
Penumbral	314 minutes, 45 seconds
P1
Contacts (UTC)
P1	4:12:25
U1	5:09:19
U2	6:13:41
Greatest	6:49:46
U3	7:25:49
U4	8:30:12
P4	9:27:09
	← August 2053 August 2054 →

A total lunar eclipse will occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Sunday, February 22, 2054,^[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.2781. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon's near side entirely passes into the Earth's umbral shadow. 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. A total lunar eclipse can last up to nearly two hours, while a total solar eclipse lasts only a few minutes at any given place, because the Moon's shadow is smaller. Occurring about 1.2 days before perigee (on February 21, 2054, at 2:55 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter will be larger.^[2]

This lunar eclipse will be the first of an almost tetrad, with the others being on August 18, 2054 (total); February 11, 2055 (total); and August 7, 2055 (partial).

Visibility

The eclipse will be completely visible over North and South America, seen rising over much of Africa and Europe and setting over northeast Asia and eastern Australia.^[3]

Eclipse details

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

February 22, 2054 Lunar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter	Value
Penumbral Magnitude	2.25022
Umbral Magnitude	1.27805
Gamma	−0.32419
Sun Right Ascension	22h23m02.4s
Sun Declination	-10°05'18.4"
Sun Semi-Diameter	16'10.2"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	08.9"
Moon Right Ascension	10h22m40.9s
Moon Declination	+09°46'14.8"
Moon Semi-Diameter	16'38.0"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	1°01'02.7"
ΔT	87.8 s

Eclipse season

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 February–March 2054
February 22 Ascending node (full moon)	March 9 Descending node (new moon)

Total lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 124	Partial solar eclipse Solar Saros 150

Related eclipses

Lunar eclipses of 2053–2056

Lunar eclipse series sets from 2053–2056
Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart
Ascending node			Descending node
114	2053 Mar 04	Penumbral	119	2053 Aug 29	Penumbral
124	2054 Feb 22	Total	129	2054 Aug 18	Total
134	2055 Feb 11	Total	139	2055 Aug 07	Partial
144	2056 Feb 01	Penumbral	149	2056 Jul 26	Partial

Last set	2052 Apr 14		Last set	2052 Oct 08

Next set	2056 Dec 22		Next set	2056 Jun 27

Half-Saros cycle

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).^[5] This lunar eclipse is related to two solar eclipses of Solar Saros 131.