Second of Two 2014 Total Lunar Eclipses Happens Wednesday, Oct. 8

Summary: The second of two 2014 total lunar eclipses happens Wednesday, Oct. 8, as the second in a tetrad that ends Monday, Sept. 28, 2015.

Earth visibility chart and eclipse data for partial lunar eclipse of Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2014: "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 second of two 2014 total lunar eclipses happens Wednesday, Oct. 8, as the second in a tetrad, or series of four consecutive total lunar eclipses, that began with 2014’s first total lunar eclipse, on Tuesday, April 15, and ends on Monday, Sept. 28, 2015.

The October 2014 total lunar eclipse favors the Pacific Ocean. Portions of four continents claim entire event visibility. Antarctica’s entire visibility skims the northern Ross Sea. Asia’s entire visibility encompasses the Russian Far East and northern Japan. The eastern quarter of Australia joins Oceania’s large islands, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, in experiencing entire ecliptic visibility. In North America, entire ecliptic visibility is available for observers in Alaska, western Canada and much of the western continental United States.

Africa, Europe and the Middle East are excluded from viewing any portion of the eclipse. Coincidence of the event with either moonrise or moonset accounts for partial ecliptic visibility for South America, eastern North America, and central and western Asia.

The moon’s entrance into Earth’s lighter, outer penumbral shadow announces the eclipse’s beginning. Designated as P1, the penumbral eclipse begins at 8:15:33 Universal Time (4:15:33 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time).

At 9:14:48 UT (5:14:48 a.m. EDT), a partial eclipse begins (U1). Partiality marks partial coverage of the visible lunar surface by Earth’s umbra, the shadow’s darkest, inner region.

The event’s total eclipse starts at 10:25:10 UT (6:25:10 a.m. EDT). Designated as U2, the start of totality signals coverage of the entire visible lunar surface by Earth’s umbra.

Greatest eclipse happens at 10:54:36 UT (6:54:36 a.m. EDT). Greatest eclipse signifies the instant of the moon’s closest passage to the axis of Earth’s shadow.

The event’s total eclipse ends at 11:24:00 UT (7:24 a.m. EDT). Designated as U3, the end of totality logs the instant of exit from umbral totality.

The partial eclipse ends at 12:34:21 UT (8:34:21 a.m. EDT). U4 is the designator for the instant of exit from partiality.

The event’s penumbral eclipse ends at 13:33:43 UT (9:33:43 a.m. EDT). P4 designates the penumbral exit. The end of the penumbral eclipse also announces the end of the October 2014 lunar ecliptic event.

The October 2014 eclipse has a total duration of 5 hours 18 minutes 10 seconds. Within this time frame, partiality spans 3 hours 19 minutes 33 seconds. Totality endures for 58 minutes 50 seconds within the total time frame.

The October 2014 total lunar eclipse occurs in a year featuring only two lunar eclipses. Both lunar events feature total eclipses. The year’s first total lunar eclipse happened Tuesday, April 15, and favored the Western Hemisphere. With a total duration of 5 hours 44 minutes, the April ecliptic event outlasted October’s event by 25 minutes 50 seconds. With a duration of 1 hour 17 minutes 48 seconds, April’s totality exceeds October’s totality of 58 minutes 50 seconds by 19 minutes 58 seconds.

The October total lunar eclipse succeeds the April event as second in the 2014-2015 lunar tetrad. The tetrad’s third total lunar eclipse takes place Saturday, April 4, 2015. The fourth consecutive total lunar eclipse, occurring Monday, Sept. 28, 2015, closes the tetrad.

The October 2014 total lunar eclipse belongs to Saros Series 127. The Saros cycle assigns lunar and solar eclipses to families, known as series. A Saros cycle lasts for approximately 6,585.3 days (18 years 11 days 8 hours).

The second of two 2014 total lunar eclipses closes the year’s lineup of eclipses, favors the Pacific Ocean with complete visibility and appears as second in the 2014-2015 tetrad of four consecutive total lunar eclipses.

graphic of "orientation of the earth as viewed from the center of the moon during greatest eclipse" for total lunar eclipse Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2014: Tom Ruen (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:

Earth visibility chart and eclipse data for partial lunar eclipse of Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2014: "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/OH2014-Fig03.pdf

graphic of "orientation of the earth as viewed from the center of the moon during greatest eclipse" for total lunar eclipse Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2014: Tom Ruen (SockPuppetForTomruen at English Wikipedia), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lunar_eclipse_from_moon-2012Jun04.png

For further information:

Espenak, Fred. “Eclipses During 2014.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Lunar Eclipses.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2014.html

Espenak, Fred. "Figure 3 Total Lunar Eclipse of 2014 Oct 08." NASA Eclipse Web Site > Lunar Eclipses > Lunar Eclipse Page > Lunar Eclipses Past and Future: Eclipses During 2014 > Eclipses During 2014: 2014 Oct 08 Total Lunar Eclipse: Total Lunar Eclipse of October 08.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHfigures/OH2014-Fig03.pdf

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. “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. “First of Two 2014 Total Lunar Eclipses Happens Tuesday, April 15.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, April 9, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/04/

“October 8, 2014 -- Total Lunar Eclipse.” Time And Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2014-october-8