A total

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 Earth ...

occurred on 15–16 May 2022, the first of two total lunar eclipses in 2022. the event occurred near lunar

perigee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion. General description There are two apsides in any ellip ...

; as a result, this event was referred to some in media coverage as a "super flower blood moon" and elsewhere as a "super blood moon", a supermoon that coincides with a total lunar eclipse. This was the longest total lunar eclipse visible from nearly all of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

since August 17, 1989 until the next eclipse on November 8. The eclipse was a dark one with the northern

limb Limb may refer to: Science and technology *Limb (anatomy), an appendage of a human or animal *Limb, a large or main branch of a tree *Limb, in astronomy, the curved edge of the apparent disk of a celestial body, e.g. lunar limb *Limb, in botany, ...

of the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

passing through the center of

Earth's shadow Earth's shadow (or Earth shadow) is the shadow that Earth itself casts through its atmosphere and into outer space, toward the antisolar point. During the twilight period (both early dusk and late dawn), the shadow's visible fringe – sometimes ...

. This was the first central eclipse of

Lunar Saros 131 Saros cycle series 131 for lunar eclipses occurs at the moon's descending node, repeats every 18 years 11 and 1/3 days. It contains 72 member events, with 15 total eclipses, starting in 1950 and ending in 2202. The series contains 57 umbral eclips ...

. This lunar eclipse was the third of an ''almost tetrad'', the others being 26 May 2021 (T), 19 Nov 2021 (P) and 08 Nov 2022 (T).

Visibility

The eclipse was 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. It was the longest eclipse in prime time on the US west coast this century. Because of thunderstorms, clouds covered regions of the US.

Observations

North and South America

File:Moon - May 15 2022 (52075561672).jpg, Los Angeles, CA at moonrise, 3:08 UTC File:Eclipse Lunar Total del 15-16.05.2022 00.26 hs.jpg,

Buenos Aires, Argentina Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, 3:26 UTC File:Lunar eclipse (52076935954).jpg, Minneapolis, MN, 3:34 UTC File:Total Eclipse (52077156290).jpg, San Antonio, TX, 3:36 UTC File:2022-05-15lunareclispesantaanaca.jpg,

Santa Ana, CA Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the 13th-m ...

at 4:13 UTC File:Eclipse Lunar Mayo 2022 03.jpg,

Mexico City, Mexico Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of Mex ...

, 4:15 UTC File:Lunarcloseup.png,

Greenville County, SC Greenville County is located in the state of South Carolina, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 525,534, making it the most populous county in the state. Its county seat is Greenville. The county is also home to the ...

, 4:15 UTC File:Mid Total Lunar Eclipse, 23 16 CDT, 15 May 2022 (52079708450).jpg, Houston, TX, 4:16 UTC File:Lunar Eclipse Rancho Cordova (52077363606).jpg, Sacramento, CA, 4:33 UTC File:May 2022 lunar eclipse animation, photographed using a Smartphone.gif, Animation from

Taubaté Taubaté is a medium-sized city in the State of São Paulo, in southeastern Brazil. Location Its strategic location between the two most important Brazilian cities (São Paulo away, and Rio de Janeiro away), connected to both by the Presiden ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

File:Eclipse Lunar Total 2022 - Luna de Sangre.webm, Video of eclipse from Iquique,

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

File:Phases of the May 2022 lunar eclipse as viewed from Linden Hills (52081906184).jpg, Eclipse progression as seen from Linden Hills, Minneapolis

Europe

File:Lunar Eclipse on May 16, 2022 from Italy (52077562292).jpg, Eclipse progression as seen from Oria, Italy File:Mondfinsternis.16.5.2022.Berlin.P1138973.jpg,

Berlin, Germany Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constituent ...

at moonset, 2:52 UTC File:Total Lunar Eclipse above Marseille (52075744692).jpg, Totality from

Marseille, France Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern France ...

File:Madrid May Super Flower Blood May Moon Eclipse 2022 time-lapse.gif, Animation from Madrid, Spain

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

Saros series

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 A total lunar eclipse took place on Tuesday 4 May 2004, the first of two total lunar eclipses in 2004, the second being on October 2004 lunar eclipse, 28 October 2004. Visibility It was visible throughout most of Europe and Asia, eastern Afr ...

. The next occurrence is

May 2040 lunar eclipse A total lunar eclipse will take place on May 26, 2040. The northern limb of the Moon will pass through the center of the Earth's shadow. This is the second central lunar eclipse of Saros series 131. This eclipse is a part of Saros cycle 131, a ...

Metonic series

This eclipse is the third of four

Metonic cycle The Metonic cycle or enneadecaeteris (from grc, ἐννεακαιδεκαετηρίς, from ἐννεακαίδεκα, "nineteen") is a period of almost exactly 19 years after which the lunar phases recur at the same time of the year. The recu ...

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.

Tritos

* Preceded: Lunar eclipse of June 15, 2011 * Followed: Lunar eclipse of April 14, 2033

Tzolkinex

* Preceded: Lunar eclipse of April 4, 2015 * Followed: Lunar eclipse of June 26, 2029

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 annular solar eclipses of

Solar Saros 138 Saros cycle series 138 for solar eclipses occurs at the Moon's descending node, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 70 events. 16 of these are partial solar eclipses. All eclipses in this series occurs at the Moon's descending node. T ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lunar eclipse 2022-05 2022-05 2022-05 2022 in science