Partial Lunar Eclipse July 16 to July 17 Is Second 2019 Lunar Eclipse

Summary: The partial lunar eclipse July 16 to July 17 is the second 2019 lunar eclipse, occurring less than six months after 2019’s first lunar eclipse.

graphics and details of partial lunar eclipse Tuesday, July 16, to Wednesday, July 17, 2019: Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC Emeritus, via NASA Eclipse Web Site

The partial lunar eclipse July 16 to July 17 is the second 2019 lunar eclipse, occurring less than six months after 2019’s first lunar eclipse and two weeks after 2019’s second solar eclipse.

The partial lunar eclipse Tuesday, July 16, to Wednesday, July 17, favors Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and South America. Oceanically, the July partial lunar eclipse includes four of Earth’s five oceans. The visibility region takes in all of the Indian and Southern Oceans, much of the Atlantic Ocean and some of the Pacific Ocean.

Mid-July’s partial lunar eclipse visibility mostly disfavors North America by barely skimming the mainland’s northeastern coast and Greenland’s southeastern tip. The Arctic Ocean is excluded from the event’s visibility region.

A penumbral eclipse initiates mid-July’s partial lunar eclipse. The penumbral eclipse concerns the lighter, outer region of Earth’s shadow, known as the penumbra (Latin: paene, “almost” + umbra, “shadow”).

The instant of first exterior contact between the moon and Earth’s penumbra happens Tuesday, July 16, 2019, at 18:43:53 Universal Time (2:43 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time), according to (now retired) NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak's predictions on NASA’s Eclipse Web Site. Local time zones place the start of mid-July’s partial lunar eclipse at 8:43 p.m. Central European Summer Time in Malta; 9:43 p.m. Eastern Africa Time in Tanzania; 8:43 p.m. Central Africa Time in Namibia.

The instant of first exterior contact between the moon and the umbra, darker, inner region of Earth’s shadow, starts the partial eclipse segment of mid-July’s partial lunar eclipse. The partial segment starts at 20:01:43 UT (4:01 p.m. EDT). Local time zones place the partial segment’s beginning at 10:01 p.m. CEST in Malta; 11:01 p.m. EAT in Tanzania; 10:01 p.m. CAT in Namibia.

Greatest eclipse references the instant of the closest lunar passage to the axis of Earth’s shadow cone. Greatest eclipse occurs at 21:30:43.5 UT (5:30 p.m. EDT). Local time zones place the instant of greatest eclipse at 11:30 p.m. CEST in Malta and at 11:30 p.m. CAT in Namibia.

A day change occurs for the instant of the greatest eclipse in the Eastern Africa Time (EAT) zone. The EAT’s offset of UTC+3 indicates the zone’s time as set three hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the world’s primary time standard. The instant of greatest eclipse takes place Wednesday, July 17, at 12:30 a.m. in Tanzania.

July 2019’s partial lunar eclipse ends with the instant of last exterior contact between the moon and Earth’s penumbra. The penumbral eclipse ends Wednesday, July 17, at 00:17:36 UT (Tuesday, July 16, at 8:17 p.m. EDT). Local time zones end the penumbral eclipse Wednesday, July 17, at 2:17 a.m. CEST in Malta; at 3:17 a.m. in Tanzania; at 2:17 a.m. in Namibia.

The total duration of mid-July’s penumbral eclipse is 5 hours 33 minutes 43 seconds, according to Espenak’s predictions on NASA’s Eclipse Web Site. The duration of the umbral portion is 2 hours 57 minutes 56 seconds.

Mid-July’s partial lunar eclipse appears as 2019’s only partial eclipse. The year’s first lunar eclipse occurred Monday, Jan. 21, at 02:36:30 UT (Sunday, Jan. 20, at 5:36 p.m. Eastern Standard Time), as a total lunar eclipse.

The year’s only partial lunar eclipse shares July with 2019’s only total solar eclipse. The month’s total solar eclipse happened Tuesday, July 2, at 18:01:04.3 UT (2:01 p.m. EDT).

January’s total lunar eclipse also paired with a solar eclipse. January’s lunar eclipse shared the month with the year’s first solar eclipse. The partial solar eclipse took place Saturday, Jan. 5, at 23:34:08.75 UT (6:34 p.m. EST).

Fred Espenak’s EclipseWise website notes that the July 16-17, 2019, partial lunar eclipse happens 4.1 days before July’s lunar apogee (Ancient Greek: ἀπό, apó, “away”) + γῆ, gê, “Earth”). The month’s farthest center-to-center distance between moon and Earth occurs Sunday, July 21, 2019, at 00:01 Greenwich Mean Time/Coordinated Universal Time (Saturday, July 20, at 8:01 p.m. EDT). The moon-Earth distance measures 405,480 kilometers (251,953.59 miles).

The takeaways for the partial lunar eclipse July 16 or July 17, 2019, are that the year’s second of two lunar eclipses disfavors North America and the Arctic Ocean and that the year’s only partial lunar eclipse shares July with the year’s only total solar eclipse.

Earth as viewed from the center of the moon during July 2019’s partial 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 partial lunar eclipse Tuesday, July 16, to Wednesday, July 17, 2019: Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC Emeritus, via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2019Jul16P.pdf

Earth as viewed from the center of the moon during July 2019’s partial 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-2019Jul16.png

For further information:

Espenak, Fred. “Partial Lunar Eclipse of 2019 Jul 16.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Eclipses of the Moon > Decade Lunar Eclipse Tables > 2011-2020.
Available @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2019Jul16P.pdf

Espenak, Fred. “Glossary of Lunar Eclipse Terms.” EclipseWise > Lunar Eclipses.
Available @ http://www.eclipsewise.com/lunar/LEhelp/LEglossary.html

Espenak, Fred. “Lunar Eclipses of Saros Series 1 to 180.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Lunar Eclipses > Catalog of Lunar Eclipse Saros Series.
Available @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEsaros/LEsaroscat.html

Espenak, Fred. “Lunar Eclipses of Saros Series -29 to 190.” EclipseWise > Lunar Eclipses > Saros Catalog of Lunar Eclipses.
Available @ http://www.eclipsewise.com/lunar/LEsaros/LEsaroscat.html

Espenak, Fred. “Partial Lunar Eclipse of July 16.” EclipseWise > Lunar Eclipses > Recent and Upcoming Lunar Eclipses > Eclipses During 2019 > Total Lunar Eclipse of January 21.
Available @ http://www.eclipsewise.com/oh/ec2019.html

Espenak, Fred. “Partial Lunar Eclipse of 2019 Jul 16.” EclipseWise > Lunar Eclipses > Recent and Upcoming Lunar Eclipses.
Available @ http://www.eclipsewise.com/lunar/LEprime/2001-2100/LE2019Jul16Pprime.html

Espenak, Fred. “Total Solar Eclipse of 2019 Jul 02.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Eclipses of the Sun > Decade Solar Eclipse Tables > 2011-2020.
Available @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEplot/SEplot2001/SE2019Jul02T.GIF

Marriner, Derdriu. “Jan. 20-21, 2019, Total Lunar Eclipse Belongs to Saros Cycle 134.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/01/jan-20-21-2019-total-lunar-eclipse.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “July 27, 2018, Total Lunar Eclipse Belongs to Saros Cycle 129.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, July 25, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/07/july-27-2018-total-lunar-eclipse.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Partial Solar Eclipse Jan. 5-6 Is First of Three 2019 Solar Eclipses.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, January 2, 2019.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/01/partial-solar-eclipse-jan-5-6-is-first.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Second 2018 Total Lunar Eclipse Occurs Friday, July 27.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/07/second-2018-total-lunar-eclipse-occurs.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Total Lunar Eclipse Jan. 20-21 Is First of Two 2019 Lunar Eclipses.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/01/total-lunar-eclipse-jan-20-21-is-first.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Total Solar Eclipse July 2 Is Second of Three 2019 Solar Eclipses." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, June 26, 2019.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/06/total-solar-eclipse-july-2-is-second-of.html