Second of Two 2011 Total Lunar Eclipses Happens Saturday, Dec. 10

Summary: The second of two 2011 total lunar eclipses happens Saturday, Dec. 10, and disfavors Antarctica, South America and parts of West and Southern Africa.

details of total lunar eclipse of Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak and Jean Meeus (NASA's GSFC)," via NASA Eclipse Web Site

The second of two 2011 total lunar eclipses happens Saturday, Dec. 10, disfavors Antarctica, South America, most of West Africa and a slice of Southern Africa, and favors Australia, northernmost North America, northern Europe and most of Asia with visibility of the entire event.

In northernmost North America, all of Alaska, northern Canada and most of Greenland enjoy visibility of the entire eclipse. Northern Europe’s all eclipse visibility encompasses northern Scandinavia and northwesternmost Russia, especially the Kola Peninsula. Asia’s visibility of the entire event spans Asian Russia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, eastern Central Asia and northeastern South Asia.

Antarctica, South America, parts of West and a slice of South Africa (southern Angola, western Namibia, western South Africa) are excluded from visibility of 2011’s second lunar eclipse. Visibility of portions of the lunar event is available to those areas of Asia, Europe and North America that fall outside the complete viewing path. Fred Espenak, known as “Mr. Eclipse,” notes on the NASA Eclipse Web Site that occurrence of the ecliptic event’s early phases before moonrise precludes their observation by viewers in Africa and Europe. Most of North America misses out on visibility of the entire event because the moon is setting while the eclipse is in progress.

According to NASA’s Eclipse Web Site, the second of two 2011 total lunar eclipses begins with the moon’s entrance into Earth’s penumbra (P1) at 11:33:32 Universal Time (6:33 a.m. Eastern Standard Time) and finishes with the moon’s exit from Earth’s penumbra (P4) of 17:30 UT (12:30 p.m. EST). The penumbra consists of the lighter outer region of Earth’s shadow.

The eclipse begins partiality, designated as U1, at 12:45:42 UT (7:45 a.m. EST). Partiality comprises partial coverage of the lunar surface by Earth’s umbra, the shadow’s darkest, inner region.

Totality, designated as U2, begins at 14:06:16 UT (9:06 a.m. EST). During totality, Earth’s umbra covers the visible lunar surface.

Greatest eclipse takes place at 14:31:49 UT (9:31 a.m. EST). Greatest eclipse indicates the instant of the moon’s closest passage to the axis of Earth’s shadow.

The end of totality happens at 14:57:24 UTC (9:57 a.m. EST). U3 designates the instant of exit from totality.

Partiality ends at 16:17:58 UT (11:17 a.m. EST). U4 is the designator for partiality’s end time.

The lunar event ends with the moon’s exit from Earth’s penumbra at 17:30:00 UT (12:30 p.m. EST). P4 designates the end of the penumbral eclipse.

The second of two 2011 lunar eclipses has a total duration of 5 hours 56 minutes 28 seconds. Within the total time frame, partiality takes up 3 hours 32 minutes 16 seconds. Totality accounts for 51 minutes 8 seconds within the total time frame.

The December 2011 total lunar eclipse closes a year that featured only two lunar eclipses, with both categorized as total lunar eclipses from Earth’s perspective. A lag of two and one-third years separates the December 2011 total lunar eclipse and the next total lunar eclipse, which takes place Tuesday, April 15, 2014.

The second of two 2011 total lunar eclipses belongs to Saros Series 135. The Saros cycle groups lunar and solar eclipses into families, known as series. A Saros cycle lasts for approximately 6,585.3 days (18 years 11 days 8 hours).

The second of two 2011 total lunar eclipses closes the year’s lineup of eclipses and also signals an absence of total lunar eclipses from subsequent eclipse lineups for two and one-third years.

graphic of "orientation of the earth as viewed from the center of the moon during greatest eclipse" for total lunar eclipse of Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011: SockPuppetForTomruen at English Wikipedia, 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 total lunar eclipse of Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak and Jean Meeus (NASA's GSFC)," via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCLEmap/2001-2100/LE2011-12-10T.gif

graphic of "orientation of the earth as viewed from the center of the moon during greatest eclipse" for total lunar eclipse of Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011: SockPuppetForTomruen at English Wikipedia, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lunar_eclipse_from_moon-2011Dec10.png

For further information:

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

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

Espenak, Fred. “Greatest Eclipse.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Solar Eclipses > Glossary of Solar Eclipse Terms.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/SEglossary.html

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

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

Espenak, Fred. "Table 5 -- Crater Immersion and Emersion Times for the Total Lunar Eclipse of 2011 December 10." NASA Eclipse Web Site > Observer's Handbook > Observer's Handbook Tables > Observer's Handbook 2011.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHtables/OH2011-Tab05.pdf

Espenak, Fred. "Total 2011 Dec. 10." NASA Eclipse Web Site > Lunar Eclipses > Lunar Eclipse Publications Online: NASA TP-2009-214172: Five Millennium Canon of Lunar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 (2000 BCE to 3000 CE) > Five Millennium Canon of Lunar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 NASA Technical Publication TP-2009-214172 by Fred Espenak and Jean Meeus > Supplementary Data: Five Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 - web-based catalog (with links to individual color figures) > Index to Five Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 (2000 BCE to 3000 CE): Five Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 (2000 BCE to 3000 CE): Five Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses: 2001 to 2100 > Five Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses: 2001 to 2100 (2001 CE to 2100 CE): Catalog of Lunar Eclipses: 2001 to 2100 (2001 CE to 2100 CE) > 09676 2011 Dec 10.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCLEmap/2001-2100/LE2011-12-10T.gif

Marriner, Derdriu. "First of Two 2011 Total Lunar Eclipses Happens Wednesday, June 15." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, June 8, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/06/first-of-two-2011-total-lunar-eclipses.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

Marriner, Derdriu. "Fourth of Four 2011 Partial Solar Eclipses Happens Friday, Nov. 25." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/11/fourth-of-four-2011-partial-solar.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Second of Four 2011 Partial Solar Eclipses Happens Wednesday, June 1." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 25, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/05/second-of-four-2011-partial-solar.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Third of Four 2011 Partial Solar Eclipses Happens Friday, July 1." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, June 29, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/06/third-of-four-2011-partial-solar.html