A penumbral lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Tuesday, July 7, 2009,[1] with an umbral magnitude of −0.9116. 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 only about 8 hours before apogee (on July 7, 2009, at 17:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.[2] This eclipse entered only the southernmost tip of the penumbral shadow and thus was predicted to be very difficult to observe visually.[3]
This eclipse was the second of four lunar eclipses in 2009, with the others occurring on February 9 (penumbral), August 6 (penumbral), and December 31 (partial).
Visibility
The eclipse was completely visible over eastern Australia and western North and South America, seen rising over western Australia and setting over eastern North and South America.[4]
Hourly motion shown right to left
The Moon's hourly motion across the Earth's shadow in the constellation of Sagittarius.
Visibility map
Eclipse details
Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[5]
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.[6][7][8]
This eclipse is one of five lunar eclipses in a short-lived series. 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.
This eclipse is a member of Saros series 110. The previous event occurred on 27 June 1991. The next event is on 18 July 2027 which will end the 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).[9] This lunar eclipse is related to two partial solar eclipses of Solar Saros 117.
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