A total and last eclipse of the Moon occurs during the early morning hours of December 21, 2010 (for observers in western North America and Hawaii, the eclipse actually begins on the evening of December 20).
You can fully view the total lunar eclipse from North America, Greenland and Iceland. The beginning stages of the eclipse is visible in Western Europe and the later stages after moonrise is visible in Western Asia.
Total Lunar Eclipse Timings
According to NASA “The Moon’s orbital trajectory takes it through the northern half of Earth’s umbral shadow. Although the eclipse is not central, the total phase still lasts 72 minutes”.
The timings of the major eclipse phases are listed below.
Penumbral Eclipse Begins 05:29:17 UT Partial Eclipse Begins 06:32:37 UT Total Eclipse Begins 07:40:47 UT Greatest Eclipse 08:16:57 UT Total Eclipse Ends 08:53:08 UT Partial Eclipse Ends 10:01:20 UT Penumbral Eclipse Ends 11:04:31 UT
The timings of the major eclipse phases are listed below.
Total Lunar Eclipse of December 21, 2010 |
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|
Europe |
North America |
Pacific |
|||||
Event |
GMT |
AST |
EST |
CST |
MST |
PST |
AKST |
HST |
Partial Eclipse Begins: |
06:33 am |
02:33 am |
01:33 am |
12:33 am |
11:33 pm* |
10:33 pm* |
09:33 pm* |
08:33 pm* |
Total Eclipse Begins: |
07:41 am |
03:41 am |
02:41 am |
01:41 am |
12:41 am |
11:41 pm* |
10:41 pm* |
09:41 pm* |
Mid-Eclipse: |
08:17 am |
04:17 am |
03:17 am |
02:17 am |
01:17 am |
12:17 am |
11:17 pm* |
10:17 pm* |
Total Eclipse Ends: |
08:53 am |
04:53 am |
03:53 am |
02:53 am |
01:53 am |
12:53 am |
11:53 pm* |
10:53 pm* |
Partial Eclipse Ends: |
10:01 am |
06:01 am |
05:01 am |
04:01 am |
03:01 am |
02:01 am |
01:01 am |
12:01 am |
Note: * Event occurs on evening of December 20, 2010
In India the Total Lunar Eclipse will take place between 13:10:47 and 14:23:08 on December 21st 2010.
Animation Of Total Lunar Eclipse
ShadowsAndSubstance website has a beautiful flash animation of December 21 2010 Total Lunar Eclipse and you can view it here
Image Credit : flickr/stargazer95050