Second of Two 2013 Penumbral Lunar Eclipses Happens Friday, Oct. 18

Summary: The second of two 2013 penumbral lunar eclipses happens Friday, Oct. 18, with all eclipse visibility for Africa, Europe and the Atlantic Ocean.

lunar passage through Earth’s penumbral shadow, Oct. 18, 2013: SockPuppetForTomruen at English Wikipedia, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The second of two 2013 penumbral lunar eclipses happens Friday, Oct. 18, with an all eclipse visibility for Africa, Europe and the Atlantic Ocean and no visibility for Australia.

Oceanically, the October 2013 penumbral lunar eclipse favors four of Earth’s oceans with entire event viewing. Most of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans have all eclipse visibility. Parts of the Southern Ocean and of the western Indian Ocean fall within the all event visibility areas.

Six of Earth’s seven continents have all event visibility. Only Australia is excluded from viewing the eclipse.

On the NASA Eclipse Web Site, retired astrophysicist Fred Espenak, known as “Mr. Eclipse,” notes that all eclipse visibility is available throughout Africa and Europe. Parts of the Americas favor all eclipse visibility. South America’s eastern bulge has all eclipse visibility. In North America, eastern Canada and eastern New England are all eclipse visibility areas. New Englanders planning to watch the entire event should site their observation points on high ground as the moon will be close to the horizon at the penumbral lunar eclipse's local start times.

Moonrise and moonset reduce all eclipse visibility for four continents. Both moonrise and moonset allow for incomplete visibility for Antarctica. Moonset decreases the visibility time span for central and eastern Asia. Moonrise affects visibility for most southern and western South America as well as for most of Canada and the United States.

First contact of Earth’s northern penumbral shadow with the lunar surface announces the start of the second of two 2013 penumbral lunar eclipses. Designated as P1, first penumbral contact happens Friday, Oct. 18, at 21:50:38 Universal Time (5:50 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time).

Greatest eclipse takes place at 23:50:17 UT (7:50 p.m. EDT). Greatest eclipse refers to the instant of the moon’s closest passage to the axis of Earth’s shadow.

The October 2013 penumbral lunar eclipse ends at 01:49:49 UT (9:49 p.m. EDT). Designated as P4, the end of the penumbral lunar eclipse marks the moon’s last contact with Earth’s penumbra.

The October 2013 penumbral lunar eclipse lasts for 3 hours 59 minutes 11 seconds.

The NASA Eclipse Web Site explains that a penumbral lunar eclipse’s start and finish are not detectable by the naked eye. Shading of the visible lunar surface is only detectable after immersion of two-thirds of the lunar disk in Earth’s penumbra. A dusky shading in the moon’s southern half should be perceptible during the October 2013 penumbral lunar eclipse between about 23:30 and 00:10 UT (7:30 and 8:10 p.m. EDT).

The October 2013 penumbral lunar eclipse succeeds the year’s first penumbral lunar eclipse, which occurred Saturday, May 25. As a relatively deep penumbral lunar eclipse, the October 2013 event has a longer passage through Earth’s penumbra than that of its predecessor. The May eclipse’s shallow passage through Earth’s penumbra lasted a brief 33 minutes 45 seconds.

The October 2013 penumbral lunar event closes the year as the second of two penumbral lunar eclipses and also as the third of the year’s three lunar eclipses. The October event also marks a transition to dominance of total lunar eclipses in the moon’s ecliptic lineup for 2 years 5 months. After the October 2013 event, the next penumbral lunar eclipse takes place Wednesday, March 23, 2016.

The May 2013 penumbral lunar eclipse belongs to Saros Series 117. The Saros cycle unites 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 second of two 2013 penumbral lunar eclipses is that the visually perceptible event favors Africa, Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, precedes a lineup of four consecutive total lunar eclipses, and serves not only as 2013’s last penumbral lunar eclipse but also as the last such eclipse until a long-awaited penumbral lunar eclipse on Wednesday, March 23, 2016.

Earth visibility chart and eclipse data for penumbral lunar eclipse of Oct. 18, 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 penumbral shadow, Oct. 18, 2013: SockPuppetForTomruen at English Wikipedia, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lunar_eclipse_chart_close-2013Oct18.png

Earth visibility chart and eclipse data for penumbral lunar eclipse of Oct. 18, 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-Fig04.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. "Figure 4 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of 2013 Oct 18." NASA Eclipse Web Site > Lunar Eclipses > Lunar Eclipse Page: Eclipses During 2013 > Eclipses During 2013: 2013 Oct 18 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of October 18."
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHfigures/OH2013-Fig04.pdf

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

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

“October 18 / October 19, 2013 -- Penumbral Lunar Eclipse.” Time And Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2013-october-18