Second 2018 Total Lunar Eclipse Occurs Friday, July 27

Summary: The second 2018 total lunar eclipse occurs Friday, July 27, at 17:14:49 Coordinated Universal Time (1:14 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time).

Fred Espenak/NASA GSFC, via NASA Eclipse Web Site

The second 2018 total lunar eclipse occurs Friday, July 27, at 17:14:49 Coordinated Universal Time (1:14 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time; 1:14 p.m. Atlantic Standard Time; 2:44 p.m. Newfoundland Daylight Time), as last of 2018’s two lunar eclipses and as fourth of five 2018 eclipses.

July’s lunar eclipse begins with a penumbral eclipse. The instant of first exterior contact between Earth’s penumbra and the moon initiates the penumbral eclipse. The penumbra is the lighter, outer region of Earth’s shadow.

The lunar eclipse ends at 23:28:37 UTC (7:28 p.m. AST/EDT; 8:58 p.m. NDT) with the instant of last exterior contact between Earth’s penumbra and the moon. The total lunar eclipse lasts approximately 6 hours 13 minutes 48 seconds.

A partial eclipse commences at 18:24:27 UTC (2:24 p.m. AST/EDT; 3:54 p.m. NDT) with the instant of first exterior contact between Earth’s umbra and the moon. The umbra is the darker, inner region of Earth’s shadow.

The full eclipse begins at 19:30:15 UTC (3:30 p.m. AST/EDT; 5 p.m. NDT) with the instant of first interior contact between Earth’s umbra and the moon. Greatest eclipse takes place at 20:21:44 UTC (4:21 p.m. AST/EDT; 5:51 p.m. NDT). Greatest eclipse represents the instant of the moon’s closest passage to the axis of Earth’s shadow.

Totality ends at 21:13:12 (5:13 p.m. AST/EDT; 6:43 p.m. NDT) with the instant of last interior contact between Earth’s umbra and the moon. Totality spans almost 1 hour 43 minutes (1 hour 42 minutes 57 seconds).

Partiality ends at 22:19:00 UTC (6:19 p.m. AST/EDT; 7:49 p.m. NDT). The instant of last exterior contact between Earth’s umbra and the moon signals the end of the partial eclipse.

The penumbral eclipse ends at 23:28:37 UTC (7:28 p.m. AST/EDT; 8:58 p.m. NDT), with the last exterior contact between Earth’s penumbra and the moon. The ending of the penumbral eclipse brings closure to the second 2018 total lunar eclipse.

July’s lunar eclipse has a total duration of 6 hours 13 minutes 48 seconds. The year’s second total lunar eclipse lasts 56 minutes 36 seconds longer than the year’s first total lunar eclipse. January 2018’s total lunar eclipse’s duration was 5 hours 17 minutes 12 seconds.

July’s totality of 1 hour 42 minutes 56 seconds exceeded January’s totality by 26 minutes 52 seconds. January’s totality endured 1 hour 16 minutes 4 seconds.

The second 2018 total lunar eclipse favors the Indian Ocean. Oceanically, eclipse visibility also encompasses the Southern Ocean and much of the Atlantic and the Pacific.

Continentally, July’s total lunar eclipse favors Antarctica, Central Asia and Eastern Africa. Eclipse visibility at moonrise is available for much of Europe, western Africa and South America. Australia and eastern Asia experience eclipse visibility at moonset.

Eclipse visibility excludes continental North America. The northeastern island of Newfoundland claims Canada’s only visibility, with a moonrise eclipse. The United States finds visibility only in the Caribbean Sea. The U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands experience the eclipse at moonrise.

July’s total lunar eclipse closes the lunar component of 2018’s eclipse offerings. The next lunar eclipse occurs almost six months later, on Monday, Jan. 21, 2019.

The first 2019 lunar eclipse occurs as another total eclipse. The second 2019 lunar eclipse appears as a partial eclipse.

July’s total lunar eclipse numbered fourth in 2018’s lineup of five eclipses. As the year’s second lunar eclipse, the July event is sandwiched between two solar eclipses.

The year’s last lunar eclipse shared the month of July with 2018’s second partial solar eclipse. The month’s partial solar eclipse happened Friday, July 13, two weeks before the month’s lunar eclipse.

The year’s fifth and last eclipse takes place Saturday, Aug. 11. The August event numbers as the third of three 2018 partial solar eclipses.

The 21st century’s next solar eclipse happens Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019, as a partial eclipse. January’s solar eclipse opens 2019’s quintet of eclipses. The 2019 solar lineup features three different eclipses: partial, total and annular.

The takeaway for the second 2018 total lunar eclipse is that its occurrence Friday, July 27, falls between the year’s last two solar eclipse and marks the year’s last lunar eclipse.

Earth as viewed from the center of the moon during July 27, 2018’s total lunar eclipse’s greatest eclipse: 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:

graphics and details of total lunar eclipse Friday, July 27, 2018: Fred Espenak/NASA GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center), via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2018Jul27T.pdf

Earth as viewed from the center of the moon during July 27, 2018’s total lunar eclipse’s greatest eclipse: Tom Ruen (SockPuppetForTomruen at English Wikipedia), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lunar_eclipse_from_moon-2018Jul27.png

For further information:

Espenak, Fred. “Key to Lunar Eclipse Global Maps.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Lunar Eclipses.
Available @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEhistory/LEplotkey.html

Espenak, Fred. “Total Lunar Eclipse of 2018 Jul 27.” EclipseWise > Lunar Eclipses > Lunar Eclipses 2001-2100.
Available @ http://eclipsewise.com/lunar/LEprime/2001-2100/LE2018Jul27Tprime.html

Espenak, Fred. “Total Lunar Eclipse of 2018 Jul 27.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Lunar Eclipses > Lunar Eclipses: 2011-2020.
Available @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2018Jul27T.pdf

Espenak, Fred. “Total Lunar Eclipse of July 27.” EclipseWise > Lunar Eclipses > Eclipses During 2018.
Available @ http://www.eclipsewise.com/oh/ec2018.html#LE2018Jul27T

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Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2018-july-27

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/01/crater-timings-for-jan-31-2018-total.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/01/first-2018-eclipse-is-blue-moon-total.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Jan. 31, 2018, Blue Moon Total Lunar Eclipse Belongs to Saros Cycle 124.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/01/jan-31-2018-blue-moon-total-lunar.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Partial Solar Eclipse Feb. 15 Is First of Three 2018 Solar Eclipses.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/02/partial-solar-eclipse-feb-15-is-first.html

McClure, Bruce. “Super Blue Moon Eclipse on January 31.” EarthSky > Tonight. Jan. 30, 2018.
Available @ http://earthsky.org/?p=270280

Rao, Joe. “First Blue Moon Total Lunar Eclipse in 150 Years Coming This Month.” Space.com. Skywatching. Jan. 1, 2018.
Available @ https://www.space.com/39241-first-blue-moon-total-eclipse-150-years.html

Walker, John. “2018 Jan 31 13:29 UTC.” Fourmilab > Earth and Moon Viewer.
Available @ http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/Earth