First of Two 2011 Total Lunar Eclipses Happens Wednesday, June 15

Summary: The first of two 2011 total lunar eclipses happens Wednesday, June 15, and favors four continents with visibility of the entire eclipse.

details of the moon's passage through Earth's shadow during June 2011 lunar eclipse and the June 2011 lunar eclipse visibility areas: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA GSFC Emeritus," via NASA Eclipse Web Site

The first of two 2011 total lunar eclipses happens Wednesday, June 15, and favors four (Antarctica, central and western Asia, western Australia) of the world’s seven continents with visibility of the entire eclipse.

The visibility region separates the Americas. Greenland and North America are excluded from visibility of any portion of the June 2011 eclipse.

Apart from all of Ecuador and portions of Colombia, Peru and Venezuela, most of South America falls within the visibility area for portions of the lunar eclipse. Totality is available to observers in eastern Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.

Occurrence of the eclipse’s early stages before moonrise prevents observation of the entire event in Europe. Fred Espenak, known as “Mr. Eclipse,” notes on NASA’s Eclipse Web Site that, apart from northern Scotland and northern Scandinavia, totality is fortuitously available throughout Europe. Iceland, however, is excluded completely from the visibility area.

Occurrence of the eclipse’s last stages after moonset deprives eastern Asia, eastern Australia and New Zealand of visibility of the entire ecliptic event.

The first of two 2011 total lunar eclipses begins and ends with a penumbral eclipse, which defines the astronomical event’s parameters. The penumbral eclipse lasts for 5 hours 36 minutes 11 seconds.

Partial and total eclipses occur within the penumbral eclipse’s framework. The partial eclipse endures for 3 hours 39 minutes 44 seconds. The total eclipse spans 1 hour 40 minutes 12 seconds.

According to NASA’s Eclipse Web Site, the first of two 2011 total lunar eclipses begins Wednesday, June 15, as a penumbral eclipse at 17:24:34 UT (1:24 p.m. EDT). Astronomers designate the penumbral lunar eclipse’s start time as P1.

The partial eclipse phase begins at 18:22:56 UT (2:22 p.m. EDT). U1 is the designator for the partial lunar eclipse’s start time.

The June 2011 lunar eclipse commences totality at 19:22:30 UT (3:22 p.m. EDT). U2 designates the total lunar eclipse’s start time.

Greatest eclipse happens at 20:12:37 UT (4:12 EDT). Greatest eclipse represents the instant of the moon's closest passage to the axis of Earth's shadow.

The total lunar eclipse phase ends at 21:02:42 UT (5:02 EDT). U3 is the designator for the total lunar eclipse’s end time.

The partial lunar eclipse phase ends at 22:02:15 UT (6:02 p.m. EDT). U4 designates the partial lunar eclipse’s end time.

The penumbral phase of the June 2011 lunar eclipse ends at 23:00:45 UT (7:00 EDT). P4 is the designator for the penumbral lunar eclipse’s end time.

The second 2011 lunar eclipse also experiences totality. Occurring Saturday, Dec. 10, the year’s second total lunar eclipse excludes the continents of Antarctica and South America from visibility.

Fred Espenak notes on NASA’s Eclipse Web Site that the 2011 eclipse lineup features a rare 4:2 combination of two total lunar eclipses and four partial solar eclipses. The 21st century witnesses only six 4:2 combinations: 2011, 2029, 2047, 2065, 2076 and 2094.

The June 2011 total lunar eclipse belongs to Saros Series 130. The Saros cycle organizes lunar and solar eclipses into families, known as series. A Saros cycle endures for approximately 6,585.3 days (18 years 11 days 8 hours).

The takeaway for the Wednesday, June 15, event as the first of two 2011 total lunar eclipses is the favoring of four of Earth’s seven continents with entire visibility.

graphic of "orientation of the earth as viewed from the center of the moon during greatest eclipse" for total lunar eclipse of Wednesday, June 15, 2011: Tom Ruen (SockPuppetForTomruen), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

details of the moon's passage through Earth's shadow during June 2011 lunar eclipse and the June 2011 lunar eclipse visibility areas: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA GSFC Emeritus," via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2011Jun15T.pdf

graphic of "orientation of the earth as viewed from the center of the moon during greatest eclipse" for total lunar eclipse of Wednesday, June 15, 2011: Tom Ruen (SockPuppetForTomruen), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lunar_eclipse_from_moon-2011Jun15.png

For further information:

“December 10 / December 11, 2011 -- Total Lunar Eclipse.” Time And Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2011-december-10

Espenak, Fred. “Eclipses During 2011.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Lunar Eclipses.
Available @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2011.html

Espenak, Fred. “Lunar Eclipses: 2011-2020.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Lunar Eclipses.
Available @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEdecade/LEdecade2011.html

Espenak, Fred. "Table 3 -- Crater Immersion and Emersion Times for the Total Lunar Eclipse of 2011 June 15." NASA Eclipse Web Site > Observer's Handbook > Observer's Handbook Tables.
Available @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHtables/OH2011-Tab03.pdf

Espenak, Fred. "Total Lunar Eclipse of 2011 Jun 15." NASA Eclipse Web Site > Lunar Eclipses > Lunar Eclipse Page > Lunar Eclipses: 2011-2020: 2011 Jun 15.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2011Jun15T.pdf

Espenak, Fred; Jean Meeus. "Saros Series 130." NASA Eclipse Web Site > Lunar Eclipses > Catalog of Lunar Eclipse Saros Series.
Available A https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEsaros/LEsaros130.html

“June 15 / June 16, 2011   Total Lunar Eclipse.” Time And Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2011-june-15

Marriner, Derdriu. “2010 Total Lunar Eclipse Tuesday, Dec. 21, Favors North America.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2010.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2010/12/2010-total-lunar-eclipse-tuesday-dec-21.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "First of Four 2011 Partial Solar Eclipses Happens Tuesday, Jan. 4." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2010.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2010/12/first-of-four-2011-partial-solar.html