Planets and Moons  ID: 4614

January 31, 2018 Total Lunar Eclipse: Shadow View

In the early morning of January 31, 2018, the Moon enters the Earth's shadow, creating a total lunar eclipse, the first since September of 2015. This animation shows the changing appearance of the Moon as it travels into and out of the Earth's shadow, along with the times at various stages.

Alaska and Hawaii are in the best positions in the U.S. to observe the eclipse. Areas west of the Mississippi River see at least part of the total phase, while for those to the east, the Moon sets before the main event begins. Australia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, China, Mongolia, Russia, Japan, Korea, and India are all well-placed for viewing totality.

The penumbra is the part of the Earth’s shadow where the Sun is only partially covered by the Earth. The umbra is where the Sun is completely hidden. The Moon's appearance isn't affected much by the penumbra. The real action begins when the Moon starts to disappear as it enters the umbra at about 3:48 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. An hour later, entirely within the umbra, the Moon is a ghostly copper color, and this lasts for over an hour before the Moon begins to emerge from the central shadow.

The view in this animation is geocentric. Because of parallax, the Moon's position against the background stars will look a bit different for observers at different locations on the surface of the Earth. The Moon is in the constellation Cancer.
 

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Visualization Credits

Ernie Wright (USRA): Lead Visualizer
Michelle Handleman (USRA): Producer
Noah Petro (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4614

Mission:
LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter)

Data Used:
LRO/LROC/WAC 643nm High Sun Global Mosaic
Mosaic
JPL DE421 also referred to as: DE421
Ephemeris - NASA/JPL
LRO/LOLA/Digital Elevation Map also referred to as: DEM
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

This item is part of these series:
The Moon
LRO - Animations

Keywords:
SVS >> HDTV
SVS >> Lunar
SVS >> Moon
SVS >> Hyperwall
SVS >> LRO
SVS >> Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
SVS >> Eclipse
SVS >> Lunar Eclipse
NASA Science >> Planets and Moons
SVS >> 4K