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Wikipedia / May 2003 lunar eclipse

A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Friday, May 16, 2003, with an umbral magnitude of 1.1294. 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 only about 15 hours after perigee (on May 15, 2003, at 11:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.

This lunar eclipse marks the beginning of a tetrad, with four total lunar eclipses in series, the others being on November 9, 2003; May 4, 2004; and October 28, 2004. The previous series was in 1985 and 1986, starting with the May 1985 lunar eclipse. The next series was in 2014 and 2015, starting with the April 2014 lunar eclipse.

Visibility

The eclipse was completely visible over eastern North America, South America, the Caribbean, Antarctica, and west Africa, seen rising over western North America and the Pacific Ocean and setting over Europe, west Asia, and much of Africa.

Hourly motion shown right to left

The moon's path across the Earth's shadow near its descending node in Libra.

Gallery

Eclipse details

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

Parameter

Value

Penumbral Magnitude

2.07649

Umbral Magnitude

1.12938

Gamma

0.41234

Sun Right Ascension

03h30m07.2s

Sun Declination

+18°59'20.2"

Sun Semi-Diameter

15'49.2"

Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax

08.7"

Moon Right Ascension

15h30m43.0s

Moon Declination

-18°35'31.7"

Moon Semi-Diameter

16'42.2"

Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax

1°01'18.2"

ΔT

64.4 s

May 16, 2003 Lunar Eclipse Parameters

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.

May 16Descending node (full moon)

May 31Ascending node (new moon)

Total lunar eclipseLunar Saros 121

Annular solar eclipseSolar Saros 147

Eclipse season of May 2003

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 2003

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Lunar Saros 121

Inex

Triad

Lunar eclipses of 2002–2005

Metonic series

Saros 121

Tritos series

Inex 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). This lunar eclipse is related to two annular solar eclipses of Solar Saros 128.

May 10, 1994

May 20, 2012

See also

References