May 2022 lunar eclipse

May 2022 lunar eclipse
Total eclipse
Date	16 May 2022
Gamma	-0.2532
Magnitude	1.4137
Saros cycle	131 (34 of 72)
Totality	84 minutes, 53 seconds
Partiality	207 minutes, 14 seconds
Penumbral	318 minutes, 40 seconds
P1
Contacts (UTC)
P1	01:32:07
U1	02:27:53
U2	03:29:03
Greatest	04:11:28
U3	04:53:56
U4	05:55:07
P4	06:50:48
	← November 2021 November 2022 →

A total lunar eclipse will take place on 16 May 2022, the first of two total lunar eclipses in 2022. A second eclipse will happen on 8 November.

The eclipse will be a dark one with the northern tip of the Moon passing through the center of the Earth's shadow. This is the first central eclipse of Saros series 131.

Visibility[]

The eclipse will be completely visible over most of North and South America, seen rising over Northwest North America, and the Pacific Ocean, and setting over Africa, and Europe.

Related eclipses[]

Eclipses of 2022[]

A partial solar eclipse on 30 April.
A total lunar eclipse on 16 May.
A partial solar eclipse on 25 October.
A total lunar eclipse on 8 November.

Lunar year series[]

Lunar eclipse series sets from 2020–2023
Descending node				Ascending node
Saros	Date	Type Viewing	Gamma	Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma
111	2020 Jun 05	Penumbral	1.24063	116	2020 Nov 30	Penumbral	-1.13094
121	2021 May 26	Total	0.47741	126	2021 Nov 19	Partial	-0.45525
131	2022 May 16	Total	-0.25324	136	2022 Nov 08	Total	0.25703
141	2023 May 05	Penumbral	-1.03495	146	2023 Oct 28	Partial	0.94716

Last set	2020 Jul 05			Last set	2020 Jan 10

Next set	2024 Mar 25			Next set	2024 Sep 18

Saros series[]

Lunar Saros series 131, has 72 lunar eclipses. Solar Saros 138 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.

This eclipse series began in AD 1427 with a partial eclipse at the southern edge of the Earth's shadow when the Moon was close to its descending node. Each successive Saros cycle, the Moon's orbital path is shifted northward with respect to the Earth's shadow, with the first total eclipse occurring in 1950. For the following 252 years, total eclipses occur, with the central eclipse being predicted to occur in 2078. The first partial eclipse after this is predicted to occur in the year 2220, and the final partial eclipse of the series will occur in 2707. The total lifetime of the lunar Saros series 131 is 1280 years. Solar Saros 138 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.

Because of the ⅓ fraction of days in a Saros cycle, the visibility of each eclipse will differ for an observer at a given fixed locale. For the lunar Saros series 131, the first total eclipse of 1950 had its best visibility for viewers in Eastern Europe and the Middle East because mid-eclipse was at 20:44 UT. The following eclipse in the series occurred approximately 8 hours later in the day with mid-eclipse at 4:47 UT, and was best seen from North America and South America. The third total eclipse occurred approximately 8 hours later in the day than the second eclipse with mid-eclipse at 12:43 UT, and had its best visibility for viewers in the Western Pacific, East Asia, Australia and New Zealand. This cycle of visibility repeats from the initiation to termination of the series, with minor variations. Solar Saros 138 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.

Lunar Saros series 131, repeating every 18 years and 11 days, has a total of 72 lunar eclipse events including 57 umbral lunar eclipses (42 partial lunar eclipses and 15 total lunar eclipses). Solar Saros 138 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.

Greatest	First
The greatest eclipse of the series will occur on 2094 Jun 28, lasting 102 minutes.^[1]	Penumbral	Partial	Total	Central
	1427 May 10	1553 July 25	1950 Apr 2	2022 May 16
	Last
	Central	Total	Partial	Penumbral
	2148 Jul 31	2202 Sep 3	2563 Apr 9	2707 Jul 7

1901–2100
1914 Mar 12	1932 Mar 22	1950 Apr 2

1968 Apr 13	1986 Apr 24	2004 May 4

2022 May 16	2040 May 26	2058 Jun 6

2076 Jun 17	2094 Jun 28

This is the first of the series that passes through the center of the Earth's shadow. The last occurrence was on May 2004 lunar eclipse. The next occurrence is May 2040 lunar eclipse.

Metonic series[]

This eclipse is the third of four Metonic cycle lunar eclipses on the same date, 15–16 May, each separated by 19 years.

The Moon's path through the Earth's shadow near its descending node progresses southward through each sequential eclipse. The second and third are total eclipses.

The Metonic cycle repeats nearly exactly every 19 years and represents a Saros cycle plus one lunar year. Because it occurs on the same calendar date, the earth's shadow will be in nearly the same location relative to the background stars.

1984 May 15.19 - penumbral (111) 2003 May 16.15 - total (121) 2022 May 16.17 - total (131) 2041 May 16.03 - penumbral (141)	1984 Nov 08.75 - penumbral (116) 2003 Nov 09.05 - total (126) 2022 Nov 08.46 - total (136) 2041 Nov 08.19 - partial (146) 2060 Nov 08.17 - penumbral (156)

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 annular solar eclipses of Solar Saros 138.