| Total eclipse | |||||||||||||||||
 Hourly motion shown right to left | |||||||||||||||||
| Date | July 16, 2000 | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gamma | 0.0302 | ||||||||||||||||
| Magnitude | 1.7684 | ||||||||||||||||
| Saros cycle | 129 (37 of 71) | ||||||||||||||||
| Totality | 106 minutes, 25 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Partiality | 236 minutes, 2 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Penumbral | 374 minutes, 31 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Sunday, July 16, 2000,[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.7684. 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 1.1 days after apogee (on July 15, 2000, at 11:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.[2]
This was a relatively rare central lunar eclipse, where the Moon crossed the center of the Earth's shadow. Totality lasted for 106 minutes and 25 seconds, the longest duration since 13 August 1859 (106 minutes and 28 seconds) and 3 May 459 (106 minutes and 32 seconds), and totality of this length won't occur again until 19 August 4753 (106 minutes and 35 seconds). This was the last and longest total lunar eclipse of the 20th century as well as the second longest and last of the second millennium. It was also the eighth longest total lunar eclipse on EclipseWise's Six Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses which covers the years 3000 BCE to 3000 AD. The longest total lunar eclipse between the years 4000 BCE and 6000 CE took place on 31 May 318. Totality lasted 106 minutes and 36 seconds which is only 11 seconds longer than this one.[3]
- ^ "July 16–17, 2000 Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)". timeanddate. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
- ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
- ^ EclipseWise – Six Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses