| Total eclipse | |||||||||||||||||
_(cropped).jpg) Totality as viewed from Oria, Italy, 5:43 UTC | |||||||||||||||||
| Date | January 21, 2019 | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gamma | 0.3684 | ||||||||||||||||
| Magnitude | 1.1966 | ||||||||||||||||
| Saros cycle | 134 (27 of 73) | ||||||||||||||||
| Totality | 61 minutes, 59 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Partiality | 196 minutes, 45 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Penumbral | 311 minutes, 30 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Monday, January 21, 2019,[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.1966. 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 10 hours before perigee (on January 21, 2019, at 15:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[2]
Because the Moon was near its perigee on January 21, it can be described as a "supermoon".[3] As this supermoon was also a wolf moon (the first full moon in a calendar year), it was referred to as a "super blood wolf moon"; blood refers to the typical red color of the Moon during a total lunar eclipse.[4] This was the last total lunar eclipse until May 2021. This was a Super Full Moon because occurred less than a day before perigee and the Moon was less than exactly 360,000 km (223,694 mi).
The Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California captured video showing a meteor between the size of an acorn and tennis ball impacting the Moon during the eclipse.[5] The impact was observed during totality, at 4:41 UTC, on the left side of the Moon.[6] It is the only documented case of a lunar impact during a total lunar eclipse.[7][8]
- ^ "January 20–21, 2019 Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)". timeanddate. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
- ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
- ^ Rogers, James (20 January 2019). "'Super blood Moon' eclipse stuns in remarkable pictures". Fox News.
- ^ "Super blood wolf moon: stargazers battle cold and clouds to view lunar eclipse". The Guardian. 21 January 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
- ^ Meghan Bartels (22 January 2019). "Watch a Meteor Smack the Blood Moon in This Lunar Eclipse Video". Space.com. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
- ^ "A meteor hit the moon during the lunar eclipse. Here's what we know". Science & Innovation. 22 January 2019. Archived from the original on 23 January 2019.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:0was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Video: A Meteorite Hit the Moon During the Recent Eclipse!". Jason Kottke. 23 January 2019.