October 2014 lunar eclipse
A total lunar eclipse took place on October 8, 2014. It is the second of two total lunar eclipses in 2014, and the second in a tetrad. Other eclipses in the tetrad are those of April 15, 2014, April 4, 2015, and September 28, 2015. Occurring only 2.1 days after perigee, the Moon's apparent diameter was larger, 1960.6 arcseconds.
This is the 42nd member of Lunar Saros 127. The previous event is the September 1996 lunar eclipse. The next event is October 2032 lunar eclipse.
Visibility and appearance
The eclipse was visible in its entirety over the Northern Pacific. Viewers in North America experienced the eclipse after midnight on Wednesday, October 8, and the eclipse was visible from the Western Pacific, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, and Eastern Asia after sunset on the evening of October 8. Many areas of North America experienced a selenelion, able to see both the sun and the eclipsed moon at the same time.Visibility |
Simulation of Earth from the Moon. |
Background
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes within Earth's umbra. As the eclipse begins, the Earth's shadow first darkens the Moon slightly. Then, the shadow begins to "cover" part of the Moon, turning it a dark red-brown color. The Moon appears to be reddish because of Rayleigh scattering and the refraction of that light by the Earth's atmosphere into its umbra.The following simulation shows the approximate appearance of the Moon passing through the earth's shadow. The Moon's brightness is exaggerated within the umbral shadow. The southern portion of the Moon was closest to the center of the shadow, making it darkest, and most red in appearance.
The planet Uranus was near opposition during the eclipse, just over 1° from the eclipsed Moon. Shining at magnitude 5.7, Uranus should have been bright enough to identify in binoculars. Due to parallax, the position of Uranus relative to the Moon varied significantly depending on the viewing position on the surface of Earth.
Gallery
Composite from Aichi prefecture, Japan | Composite from Coralville, IA, first contact to the greatest. | Selenelion from Minneapolis, MN, with a partially eclipsed moon still up after sunrise, 12:26 UTC, seen by sunlight on foreground trees, right. |
Timing
† The Moon was not visible during this part of the eclipse in this time zone.Related eclipses
Eclipses of 2014
- A total lunar eclipse on April 15.
- A non-central annular solar eclipse on April 29.
- A total lunar eclipse on October 8.
- A partial solar eclipse on October 23.
The lunar year series repeats after 12 lunations, or 354 days. Because of the date shift, Earth's shadow will be about 11° west in sequential events.
Half-Saros cycle
A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days. This lunar eclipse is related to two annular solar eclipses of solar saros 134.| October 3, 2005 | October 14, 2023 |