August 2017 lunar eclipse

August 2017 lunar eclipse
Partial eclipse
	Kuwait City, Kuwait, 19:14 UTC
Date	7 August 2017
Gamma	0.8668
Magnitude	0.2464
Saros cycle	119 (62 of 83)
Partiality	115 minutes, 15 seconds
Penumbral	300 minutes, 54 seconds
P1
Contacts (UTC)
P1	15:50:02
U1	17:22:55
Greatest	18:20:28
U4	19:18:10
P4	20:50:56
	← February 2017 January 2018 →

A partial lunar eclipse took place at the Moon's descending node on the evening of 7 August and the morning pre-dawn on 8 August 2017, the second of two lunar eclipses in 2017. The Moon was only slightly covered by the Earth's umbral shadow at maximum eclipse. The Moon's apparent diameter was smaller because the eclipse occurred only 5 days after apogee (Apogee on 2 August 2017).

The moon inside the umbral shadow was a subtle red, but hard to see in contrast to the much brighter moon in the outer penumbral shadow. The moon looks red because it is illuminated by sunlight refracted through earth's atmosphere. The blue light is scattered and absorbed by the atmosphere, leaving red light to shine onto the lunar surface.^[1]

The solar eclipse of 21 August 2017, occurred fourteen days later, in the same eclipse season (Middle of the eclipse season occurred on 16 August 2017). It was the first total solar eclipse visible in the contiguous United States since the solar eclipse of 26 February 1979.

Visibility[]

It was visible over eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia with maximal visibility centered on Indian Ocean.


Visibility map

Gallery[]

Reggio Calabria, Italy, 17:36 UTC
Lysychansk, Ukraine, 17:54 UTC
Florence, Italy, 17:55 UTC
Lucerne, Switzerland, 18:16 UTC
Pune, India
At maximum, 18:20 UTC
Seoul, South Korea, 18:22 UTC
Omsk, Russia, 18:28 UTC
Constanța, Romania, 18:43 UTC
Gdańsk, Poland, 18:50 UTC
Farasan Island, Saudi Arabia, 18:53 UTC
Karviná, Czech Republic, 18:56 UTC
Helsinki, Finland, 18:57 UTC
Sayada, Tunisia, 19:01 UTC
Gaborone, Botswana, 19:02 UTC
Albershausen, Germany, 19:14 UTC
Rethymno, Greece, 19:21 UTC
Progression from Oria, Italy

Related eclipses[]

Eclipses of 2017[]

A penumbral lunar eclipse on 11 February.
An annular solar eclipse on 26 February.
A partial lunar eclipse on 7 August.
A total solar eclipse on 21 August.

Lunar year series[]

Lunar eclipse series sets from 2016–2020
Descending node				Ascending node
Saros	Date	Type Viewing	Gamma	Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma
109	2016 Aug 18	Penumbral	1.5641	114	2017 Feb 11	Penumbral	-1.0255
119	2017 Aug 07	Partial	0.8669	124	2018 Jan 31	Total	-0.3014
129	2018 Jul 27	Total	0.1168	134	2019 Jan 21	Total	0.3684
139	2019 Jul 16	Partial	-0.6430	144	2020 Jan 10	Penumbral	1.2406
149	2020 Jul 05	Penumbral	-1.3639

Last set	2016 Sep 16			Last set	2016 Mar 23

Next set	2020 Jun 05			Next set	2020 Nov 30

Saros series[]

It is part of Saros series 119 (member 61 of 82).

Half-Saros cycle[]

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).^[2] This lunar eclipse is related to two total solar eclipses of Solar Saros 126.

1 August 2008	12 August 2026

References[]

^ "Why does moon in total eclipse look red? | Astronomy Essentials | EarthSky". earthsky.org. January 18, 2019.
^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros

External links[]

2017 Aug 07 chart: Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
Hermit Eclipse: Partial Lunar Eclipse of 7 Aug, 2017 AD
Partial Lunar Eclipse 7 Aug, 2017 - Live Webcast
August's Lunar Eclipse APOD: Aug 9, 2017

[1] "Why does moon in total eclipse look red? | Astronomy Essentials | EarthSky". earthsky.org. January 18, 2019.

[2] Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros

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