Second of Three 2013 Lunar Eclipses Occurs May 25 as Penumbral Eclipse

Summary: The second of three 2013 lunar eclipses happens May 25 as a penumbral eclipse that is visually imperceptible due to shallow entry into Earth’s shadow.

lunar passage through Earth’s shadow, May 25, 2013: SockPuppetForTomruen at English Wikipedia, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The second of three 2013 lunar eclipses happens Saturday, May 25, as a penumbral eclipse with such a small entry into Earth’s lightest, outermost penumbral shadow that the event is visually imperceptible.

Areas of all eclipse visibility, from Earth’s perspective, characterize each lunar eclipse. During a visually imperceptible penumbral lunar eclipse, areas of all eclipse visibility are those with visibility of the moon during the event’s entire time span.

Oceanically, the May 2013 penumbral lunar eclipse favors the Atlantic and the Eastern Pacific Ocean with viewing of the entire visually imperceptible event. The Indian Ocean southward from South Africa and the Southern Ocean also fall within the all event visibility areas.

Five of Earth’s seven continents have all event visibility. Asia and Australia are excluded from viewing the event.

On the NASA Eclipse Web Site, retired astrophysicist Fred Espenak, known as “Mr. Eclipse,” identifies western Africa and the Americas as all event visibility areas. All of South America experiences the entire visually imperceptible event. In North America, all of the United States’ 48 contiguous states and all of Central America enjoy all event visibility. Southern Greenland and much of Canada have all event visibility.

Much of Europe is excluded from all or partial event visibility. Only three of Western Europe’s eight countries fall within the visibility area. All of Ireland has all event visibility. The southwestern United Kingdom and a swath of western France have all event visibility.

All three countries on Southwestern Europe’s Iberian Peninsula enjoy all event visibility. Located at the Iberian Peninsula’s southern end, the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar also lays claim to all event visibility.

The second of three 2013 lunar eclipses begins with the moon’s first contact with Earth’s penumbra. Designated as P1, the instant of first contact takes place Thursday, May 25, at 3:53:11 Universal Time (Wednesday, May 24, at 11:53 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time).

Greatest eclipse occurs at 04:10:00 UT (12:10 a.m. EDT). Greatest eclipse celebrates the instant of the moon’s closest passage to the axis of Earth’s shadow.

The May 2013 penumbral lunar eclipse ends Thursday, May 25, at 04:26:56 UT (12:26 a.m. EDT). Designated as P4, the end of the penumbral lunar eclipse clocks the moon’s last contact with Earth’s penumbra.

The May 2013 visually imperceptible penumbral lunar eclipse has a duration of 33 minutes 45 seconds. The moon’s brief grazing of the inside of Earth’s northern penumbral shadow accounts for the eclipse’s short duration.

The May 2013 penumbral lunar eclipse succeeds the year’s first lunar eclipse, which happened Thursday, April 25. The year’s first ecliptic event appeared as partial lunar eclipse.

The May 2013 penumbral lunar eclipse is the first of two consecutive penumbral lunar eclipses. The second 2013 penumbral lunar eclipse takes place Friday, Oct. 18. The October penumbral lunar eclipse is the last of 2013’s three lunar eclipses.

The May 2013 penumbral lunar eclipse initiates Saros Series 150. The Saros cycle groups eclipses into families, known as series. A Saros cycle lasts for approximately 6,585.3 days (18 years 11 days 8 hours).

The takeaway for the second of three 2013 lunar eclipses is that the event happens Thursday, May 25, as a visually imperceptible penumbral lunar eclipse that completes its grazing of Earth’s penumbra in less than 34 minutes.

Earth visibility chart and eclipse data for penumbral lunar eclipse of Saturday, May 25, 2013: "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

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

lunar passage through Earth’s shadow, May 25, 2013: SockPuppetForTomruen at English Wikipedia, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lunar_eclipse_chart_close-2013May25.png

Earth visibility chart and eclipse data for penumbral lunar eclipse of Saturday, May 25, 2013: "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/OH/OHfigures/OH2013-Fig03.pdf

For further information:

Espenak, Fred. “Eclipses During 2013.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Lunar Eclipses.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2013.html

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. "Figure 3 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of 2013 May 25." NASA Eclipse Web Site > Lunar Eclipses > Lunar Eclipse Page > Lunar Eclipses Past and Future: Eclipses During 2013 > Eclipses During 2013: 2013 May 25: Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of May 25.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHfigures/OH2013-Fig03.pdf

Marriner, Derdriu. “Second of Two 2012 Lunar Eclipses Happens Nov. 28 as Penumbral Eclipse.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/11/second-of-two-2012-lunar-eclipses.html

“May 24 / May 25, 2013 -- Penumbral Lunar Eclipse.” Time And Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2013-may-25