en September 2016 lunar eclipse

September 2016 lunar eclipse
Penumbral eclipse
	Penumbral eclipse as viewed from Oria, Italy, 18:54 UTC
Date	September 16, 2016
Gamma	1.0548
Magnitude	−0.0624
Saros cycle	147 (9 of 71)
Penumbral	239 minutes, 17 seconds
P1
Contacts (UTC)
P1	16:54:40
Greatest	18:54:17
P4	20:53:57
	← August 2016 February 2017 →

A penumbral lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Friday, September 16, 2016,^[1] with an umbral magnitude of −0.0624. 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 1.8 days before perigee (on September 18, 2016, at 13:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.^[2]

Visibility

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

	Hourly motion shown right to left
Visibility map

Gallery

Progression as seen from Primorsko, Bulgaria

Hefei, China, 18:03 UTC
Huittinen, Finland, 18:51 UTC
Hong Kong, 19:00 UTC
Rabka-Zdrój, Poland, 19:09 UTC
Belfort, France, combined images
Progression from Belfort, France
Helmshore, England, 20:04 UTC

Eclipse details

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

September 16, 2016 Lunar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter	Value
Penumbral Magnitude	0.90912
Umbral Magnitude	−0.06240
Gamma	−1.05491
Sun Right Ascension	11h39m09.7s
Sun Declination	+02°15'14.2"
Sun Semi-Diameter	15'54.8"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	08.7"
Moon Right Ascension	23h40m27.3s
Moon Declination	-03°15'36.5"
Moon Semi-Diameter	16'22.8"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	1°00'06.8"
ΔT	68.2 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. The first and last eclipse in this sequence is separated by one synodic month.

Eclipse season of August–September 2016
August 18 Descending node (full moon)	September 1 Ascending node (new moon)	September 16 Descending node (full moon)

Penumbral lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 109	Annular solar eclipse Solar Saros 135	Penumbral lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 147

Related eclipses

Lunar eclipses of 2013–2016

The lunar year series repeats after 12 lunations or 354 days (Shifting back about 10 days in sequential years). Because of the date shift, the Earth's shadow will be about 11 degrees west in sequential events.

Lunar eclipse series sets from 2013–2016
Ascending node				Descending node
Saros	Viewing date	Type	Gamma	Saros	Viewing date	Type	Gamma
112	2013 Apr 25	Partial	−1.0121	117	2013 Oct 18	Penumbral	1.1508
122	2014 Apr 15	Total	−0.3017	127	2014 Oct 08	Total	0.3827
132	2015 Apr 04	Total	0.4460	137	2015 Sep 28	Total	−0.3296
142	2016 Mar 23	Penumbral	1.1592	147	2016 Sep 16	Penumbral	−1.0549

Last set	2013 May 25			Last set	2012 Nov 28

Next set	2017 Feb 11			Next set	2016 Aug 18

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 partial solar eclipses of Solar Saros 154.