A penumbral
lunar eclipse
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow. Such alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six months, during the full moon phase, when the Moon's orbital plane is closest to the plane of the Eart ...
took place on 23 March 2016, the first of three lunar eclipses in 2016. The Moon was just 2.1 days before apogee, making it very small, so this was a "
Micromoon
A supermoon is a full moon or a new moon that nearly coincides with perigee—the closest that the Moon comes to the Earth in its elliptic orbit—resulting in a slightly larger-than-usual apparent size of the lunar disk as viewed from Ea ...
" penumbral lunar eclipse.
Visibility
It was visible from east Asia, Australia, and most of North America.
Related eclipses
Eclipses of 2016
*
A total solar eclipse on 9 March.
* A penumbral lunar eclipse on 23 March.
*
A penumbral lunar eclipse on 18 August.
*
An annular solar eclipse on 1 September.
*
A penumbral lunar eclipse on 16 September.
This eclipse is the one of four lunar eclipses in a short-lived series at the ascending node of the moon's orbit.
The
lunar year
A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases (synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based only directly on the solar year. The most commonly used calendar, the Gr ...
series repeats after 12 lunations or 354 days (Shifting back about 10 days in sequential years). Because of the date shift, the Earth's shadow will be about 11 degrees west in sequential events.
Half-Saros cycle
A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a
half saros).
[Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, ''The half-saros''] This lunar eclipse is related to two partial solar eclipses of
Solar Saros 149
Saros cycle series 149 for solar eclipse
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an ...
.
See also
*
August 2016 lunar eclipse, the second 2016 lunar eclipse (penumbral)
*
September 2016 lunar eclipse, the third 2016 lunar eclipse (penumbral)
*
List of lunar eclipses
There are several lists of lunar eclipses
On the Moon, by the Earth
; Type
* List of central lunar eclipses
* Total penumbral lunar eclipse
A total penumbral lunar eclipse is a lunar eclipse that occurs when the Moon becomes completely immersed ...
and
List of 21st-century lunar eclipses
There will be 230 lunar eclipses in the 21st century (2001–2100): 87 penumbral, 58 partial and 85 total.
Eclipses are listed in sets by lunar years, repeating every 12 months for each node. Ascending node eclipses are given a red background hi ...
References
External links
*
Hermit eclipse: 23 Mar 2016 - Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
2016-03
2016 in science
March 2016 events
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