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February 2055 lunar eclipse

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February 2055 lunar eclipse
Total eclipse
The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left
DateFebruary 11, 2055
Gamma0.3526
Magnitude1.2258
Saros cycle134 (29 of 73)
Totality66 minutes, 0 seconds
Partiality198 minutes, 25 seconds
Penumbral312 minutes, 52 seconds
Contacts (UTC)
P120:08:07
U121:05:22
U222:11:35
Greatest22:44:34
U323:17:34
U40:23:47
P41:20:59

A total lunar eclipse will occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Thursday, February 11, 2055,[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.2258. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon's near side entirely passes into the Earth's umbral shadow. Unlike a solar eclipse, which can only be viewed from a relatively small area of the world, a lunar eclipse may be viewed from anywhere on the night side of Earth. A total lunar eclipse can last up to nearly two hours, while a total solar eclipse lasts only a few minutes at any given place, because the Moon's shadow is smaller. Occurring only about 15 hours before perigee (on February 12, 2055, at 13:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter will be larger.[2]

This lunar eclipse will be the third of an almost tetrad, with the others being on February 22, 2054 (total); August 18, 2054 (total); and August 7, 2055 (partial).

Visibility

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The eclipse will be completely visible over Africa, Europe, and west, central, and south Asia, seen rising over much of North and South America and setting over east Asia and western Australia.[3]

Eclipse details

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Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[4]

February 11, 2055 Lunar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter Value
Penumbral Magnitude 2.19816
Umbral Magnitude 1.22577
Gamma 0.35264
Sun Right Ascension 21h42m03.5s
Sun Declination -13°47'10.8"
Sun Semi-Diameter 16'12.3"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9"
Moon Right Ascension 09h42m24.2s
Moon Declination +14°08'09.1"
Moon Semi-Diameter 16'39.9"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 1°01'09.9"
ΔT 88.5 s

Eclipse season

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This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.

Eclipse season of August–September 2055
January 27
Descending node (new moon)
February 11
Ascending node (full moon)
Partial solar eclipse
Solar Saros 122
Total lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 134
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Eclipses in 2055

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Metonic

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Tzolkinex

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Half-Saros

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Tritos

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Lunar Saros 134

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Inex

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Triad

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Lunar eclipses of 2053–2056

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Lunar eclipse series sets from 2053–2056
Ascending node   Descending node
Saros Date
Viewing
Type
Chart
Saros Date
Viewing
Type
Chart
114 2053 Mar 04
Penumbral
119 2053 Aug 29
Penumbral
124 2054 Feb 22
Total
129 2054 Aug 18
Total
134 2055 Feb 11
Total
139 2055 Aug 07
Partial
144 2056 Feb 01
Penumbral
149 2056 Jul 26
Partial
Last set 2052 Apr 14 Last set 2052 Oct 08
Next set 2056 Dec 22 Next set 2056 Jun 27

Tritos series

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The tritos series repeats 31 days short of 11 years at alternating nodes. Sequential events have incremental Saros cycle indices.

This series produces 23 total eclipses between June 22, 1880 and August 9, 2120.

Tritos eclipse series (subset 1901–2100)
Ascending node   Descending node
Saros Date
Viewing
Type
chart
Saros Date
Viewing
Type
chart
120 1902 Apr 22
Total
121 1913 Mar 22
Total
122 1924 Feb 20
Total
123 1935 Jan 19
Total
124 1945 Dec 19
Total
125 1956 Nov 18
Total
126 1967 Oct 18
Total
127 1978 Sep 16
Total
128 1989 Aug 17
Total
129 2000 Jul 16
Total
130 2011 Jun 15
Total
131 2022 May 16
Total
132 2033 Apr 14
Total
133 2044 Mar 13
Total
134 2055 Feb 11
Total
135 2066 Jan 11
Total
136 2076 Dec 10
Total
137 2087 Nov 10
Total
138 2098 Oct 10
Total

Inex series

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The inex series repeats eclipses 20 days short of 29 years, repeating on average every 10571.95 days. This period is equal to 358 lunations (synodic months) and 388.5 draconic months. Saros series increment by one on successive Inex events and repeat at alternate ascending and descending lunar nodes.

This period is 383.6734 anomalistic months (the period of the Moon's elliptical orbital precession). Despite the average 0.05 time-of-day shift between subsequent events, the variation of the Moon in its elliptical orbit at each event causes the actual eclipse time to vary significantly. It is a part of Lunar Inex series 35.

Series events from 1500–2500
Descending node Ascending node Descending node Ascending node
Saros Date
Chart
Saros Date
Chart
Saros Date
Chart
Saros Date
Chart
115 1505 Feb 18
116 1534 Jan 30
117 1563 Jan 9 118 1591 Dec 30
119 1620 Dec 9 120 1649 Nov 19 121 1678 Oct 29 122 1707 Oct 11
123 1736 Sep 20 124 1765 Aug 30 125 1794 Aug 11 126 1823 Jul 23
127 1852 Jul 1 128 1881 Jun 12 129 1910 May 24
130 1939 May 3
131 1968 Apr 13
132 1997 Mar 24
133 2026 Mar 3
134 2055 Feb 11
135 2084 Jan 22
136 2113 Jan 2 137 2141 Dec 13 138 2170 Nov 23
139 2199 Nov 2 140 2228 Oct 14 141 2257 Sep 24 142 2286 Sep 3
143 2315 Aug 16 144 2344 Jul 26 145 2373 Jul 5 146 2402 Jun 16
147 2431 May 27 148 2460 May 5
149 2489 Apr 16

Half-Saros cycle

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A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).[5] This lunar eclipse is related to two total solar eclipses of Solar Saros 141.

February 5, 2046 February 17, 2064

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ "February 11–12, 2055 Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)". timeanddate. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  2. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  3. ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 2055 Feb 11" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  4. ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 2055 Feb 11". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  5. ^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros
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