| Type: | total |
| Date: | April 15, 2014 |
| Gamma: | −0.3017 |
| Magnitude: | 1.2918 |
| Saros Ser: | 122 |
| Saros No: | 56 of 75 |
| Totality: | 77 minutes, 48 seconds |
| Partiality: | 214 minutes, 43 seconds |
| Penumbral: | 343 minutes, 53 seconds |
| P1: | 4:53:40 |
| U1: | 5:58:19 |
| U2: | 7:06:46 |
| Greatest: | 7:45:39 |
| U3: | 8:24:34 |
| U4: | 9:33:02 |
| P4: | 10:37:33 |
| Previous: | October 2013 |
| Next: | October 2014 |
A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Tuesday, April 15, 2014,[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.2918. 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. The Moon's apparent diameter was near the average diameter because it occurred 6.9 days after apogee (on April 8, 2014, at 10:50 UTC) and 7.6 days before perigee (on April 22, 2014, at 20:20 UTC).[2]
This lunar eclipse is the first of a tetrad, with four total lunar eclipses in series, the others being on October 8, 2014; April 4, 2015; and September 28, 2015.
See main article: Lunar eclipse. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes within Earth's umbra (shadow). As the eclipse begins, the Earth's shadow first darkens the Moon slightly. Then, the shadow begins to "cover" part of the Moon, turning it a dark red-brown color (typically - the color can vary based on atmospheric conditions). The Moon appears to be reddish because of Rayleigh scattering (the same effect that causes sunsets to appear reddish) and the refraction of that light by the Earth's atmosphere into its umbra.[3]
The following simulation shows the approximate appearance of the Moon passing through the Earth's shadow. The Moon's brightness is exaggerated within the umbral shadow. The northern portion of the Moon was closest to the center of the shadow, making it darkest, and most red in appearance.
On April 15, 2014, the Moon passed through the southern part of the Earth's umbral shadow. It was visible over most of the western hemisphere, including eastern Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Ocean, and the Americas.[4] In the western Pacific, the first half of the eclipse occurred before moonrise. In Europe and Africa, the eclipse began just before moonset. Mars, which had just passed its opposition, appeared at magnitude -1.5 about 9.5° northwest of the Moon.[5] [6] Spica was 2° to the west, while Arcturus was 32° north. Saturn was 26° east and Antares 44° southeast.
The Moon entered Earth's penumbral shadow at 4:53:40 UTC and the umbral shadow at 5:58:19. Totality lasted for 1 hour 17.8 minutes, from 7:06:46 to 8:24:34. The moment of greatest eclipse occurred at 7:45:39. At that point, the Moon's zenith was approximately 3000km (2,000miles) southwest of the Galápagos Islands. The Moon left the umbral shadow at 9:33:02 and the penumbral shadow at 10:37:33.[7]
The peak umbral magnitude was 1.29177, at which moment the northern part of the moon was 1.7 arc-minutes south of the center of Earth's shadow, while the southern part was 40.0 arc-minutes from center. The gamma of the eclipse was −0.3017.
The eclipse was a member of Lunar Saros 122. It was the 56th such eclipse.
| Time Zone adjustments from UTC | +12h | -9h | -8h | -7h | -6h | -5h | -4h | -3h | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NZST | HDT | AKDT | PDT | MDT | CDT PET | EDT BOT | ADT AMST ART | |||
| Event | Evening 15 April | Evening 14 April | Morning 15 April | |||||||
| P1 | Penumbral begins* | Under Horizon | 7:54 pm | 8:54 pm | 9:54 pm | 10:54 pm | 11:54 pm | 12:54 am | 1:54 am | |
| U1 | Partial begins | 5:58 pm | 8:58 pm | 9:58 pm | 10:58 pm | 11:58 pm | 12:58 am | 1:58 am | 2:58 am | |
| U2 | Total begins | 7:07 pm | 10:07 pm | 11:07 pm | 12:07 am | 1:07 am | 2:07 am | 3:07 am | 4:07 am | |
| Mid-eclipse | 7:46 pm | 10:46 pm | 11:46 pm | 12:46 am | 1:46 am | 2:46 am | 3:46 am | 4:46 am | ||
| U3 | Total ends | 8:25 pm | 11:25 pm | 12:25 am | 1:25 am | 2:25 am | 3:25 am | 4:25 am | 5:25 am | |
| U4 | Partial ends | 9:33 pm | 12:33 am | 1:33 am | 2:33 am | 3:33 am | 4:33 am | 5:33 am | 6:33 am | |
| P4 | Penumbral ends | 10:38 pm | 1:38 am | 2:38 am | 3:38 am | 4:38 am | 5:38 am | 6:38 am | Set | |
Many museums and observatories planned special events for the eclipse. The United States National Park Service sponsored events at Great Basin National Park and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.[9] The University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy held events at two locations on the islands.[10] The Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California streamed the eclipse live on the Internet.
NASA hosted two live question-and-answer sessions online. The first happened roughly 12 hours before the eclipse via Reddit's Ask Me Anything. The second was a web chat hosted on NASA's site just before the eclipse began. NASA also streamed the eclipse live on their website.[11] NASA TV provided 3 hours of live coverage beginning at 2 a.m. EDT.[12]
See main article: Blood moon prophecy. Starting in 2008, Christian pastors John Hagee and Mark Biltz began teaching "blood moon prophecies": Biltz said the Second Coming of Jesus would occur at the end of the tetrad that began with the April 2014 eclipse, while Hagee said only that the tetrad is a sign of something significant.[13] The idea gained popular media attention in the United States, and prompted a response from the scientific radio show Earth & Sky.[14] According to Christian Today, only a "small group of Christians" saw the eclipse as having religious significance, despite the attention.[15]
Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[16]
| Penumbral Magnitude | 2.31934 | |
| Umbral Magnitude | 1.29177 | |
| Gamma | −0.30174 | |
| Sun Right Ascension | 01h33m40.0s | |
| Sun Declination | +09°46'27.6" | |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 15'56.6" | |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.8" | |
| Moon Right Ascension | 13h33m21.1s | |
| Moon Declination | -10°02'59.8" | |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 15'30.9" | |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°56'56.4" | |
| ΔT | 67.4 s |
See also: Eclipse cycle. 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.
A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).[17] This lunar eclipse is related to two hybrid total/annualar solar eclipses of solar saros 129.