A total lunar eclipse took place between 27 and 28 September 2015. It was seen on Sunday evening, 27 September, in the Americas; while in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, it was seen in the early hours of Monday morning, 28 September. It was the latter of two total lunar eclipses in 2015, and the final in a ''tetrad'' (four total lunar eclipses in series). Other eclipses in the tetrad are those of 15 April 2014, 8 October 2014, and 4 April 2015. The Moon appeared larger than normal, because the Moon was just 1 hour past its closest approach to Earth in 2015 at mid-eclipse, sometimes called a

supermoon 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 Angular diameter, apparent size of the lunar disk as v ...

. The Moon's

apparent diameter The angular diameter, angular size, apparent diameter, or apparent size is an angular distance describing how large a sphere or circle appears from a given point of view. In the vision sciences, it is called the visual angle, and in optics, it is ...

was larger than 34' viewed straight overhead, just off the coast of northeast

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 ...

. The total lunar eclipse was darker than expected, possibly due to ash left behind from eruptions of the Calbuco volcano in April 2015.

Background

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes within Earth's

umbra The umbra, penumbra and antumbra are three distinct parts of a shadow, created by any light source after impinging on an opaque object. Assuming no diffraction, for a collimated beam (such as a point source) of light, only the umbra is cast. T ...

(shadow). As the eclipse begins, Earth's shadow first darkens the Moon slightly. Then, the shadow begins to "cover" part of the Moon, turning it a dark red-brown color (typically – the color can vary based on atmospheric conditions). The Moon appears to be reddish because of

Rayleigh scattering Rayleigh scattering ( ), named after the 19th-century British physicist Lord Rayleigh (John William Strutt), is the predominantly elastic scattering of light or other electromagnetic radiation by particles much smaller than the wavelength of th ...

(the same effect that causes sunsets to appear reddish) and the refraction of that light by Earth's atmosphere into its umbra. The following simulation shows the approximate appearance of the Moon passing through Earth's shadow. The Moon's brightness is exaggerated within the umbral shadow. The northern portion of the Moon was closest to the center of the shadow, making it darkest, and most red in appearance.

Visibility

The eclipse was visible over Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and America.

Timing

† The Moon was not visible during this part of the eclipse in this time zone. * The penumbral phase of the eclipse changes the appearance of the Moon only slightly and is generally not noticeable.

Gallery

File:Eclipse Compilation smaller.jpg, The stages of the Lunar eclipse from Staffordshire, UK File:Lunareclipse - Måneformørkelse.png, Time-lapse images from

Oslo, Norway Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of i ...

File:Total Lunar Eclipse 28 09 2015.JPG, Time-lapse images from

Bregenz Bregenz (; gsw, label= Vorarlbergian, Breagaz ) is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost state of Austria. The city lies on the east and southeast shores of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switze ...

, Austria File:Moon-seq-6764-6780.gif, Warsaw, Poland, 2:01 - 2:16 UTC File:Supermoon Eclipse in Denver, Colorado.jpg,

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 2:15 UTC File:Luna roja en Fray.JPG, Fray Bentos, Uruguay 2:28 UTC File:9-27-15 Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon).jpg,

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, 2:30 UTC File:Lunar eclipse - September 28, 2015 (Edward Blake).jpg,

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, 2:36 UTC File:Blood moon.jpg,

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

, Poland, 2:36 UTC File:2015-09-28-Sangoluno (Foto Dietrich Michael Weidmann-023).jpg, Zürich, Switzerland, 2:36 UTC File:Lunar Eclipse 2015.JPG,

Coralville, Iowa Coralville is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is a suburb of Iowa City and part of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 22,318 at the 2020 census. History Coralville is the location of the Edgewat ...

, 2:52 UTC File:Mondfinsternis-München-20150928045527.jpg,

Munich, Germany Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, 2:55 UTC File:Bloody moon.jpg,

Sitia Sitia ( el, Σητεία) is a port town and a municipality in Lasithi, Crete, Greece. The town has 9,912 inhabitants (2011) and the municipality has 18,318 (2011). It lies east of Agios Nikolaos and northeast of Ierapetra. Sitia port is on the ...

, Greece, 3:01 UTC File:Lunar eclipse 28 September 2015.jpg, Berlin, Germany, 3:05 UTC File:September 2015 Lunar Eclipse (as seen from Marin County, CA).jpg, Mill Valley, California, 3:07 UTC File:Mondfinsternis-München-20150928052309.jpg, Munich, Germany, 3:23 UTC File:Lunar eclipse 2015-09-28 042428 UTC.png, Boston, Massachusetts, 3:24 UTC File:2015-09-28lunareclipse.jpg,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, 3:37 UTC File:Lunar eclipse of 2015 September 28 (as seen from Nièvre, France, 4.02 UTC).jpg,

Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire () is a commune in the Nièvre department in central France. The commune was formed in 1973 by the merger of the former communes Cosne-sur-Loire and Cours. Geography Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire lies on the right bank of the L ...

, France, 4:02 UTC File:September 2015 lunar eclipse.JPG,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, 4:07 UTC

Supermoon

This eclipsed moon appeared 12.9% larger in diameter than the

April 2015 lunar eclipse A total lunar eclipse took place on 4 April 2015. It is the former of two total lunar eclipses in 2015, and the third in a ''tetrad'' (four total lunar eclipses in series). Other eclipses in the tetrad are those of 15 April 2014, 8 October 201 ...

, measured as 29.66' and 33.47' in diameter from earth's center, as compared in these simulated images. A supermoon is the coincidence of a

full moon The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth's perspective. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon (when the ecliptic longitudes of the Sun and Moon differ by 180°). This means ...

or a new moon with the closest approach the Moon makes to the Earth on its elliptical orbit, resulting in the largest apparent size of the lunar disk as seen from Earth. This was the last supermoon lunar eclipse until 31 January 2018.

Related eclipses

Eclipses of 2015

* A total solar eclipse on 20 March. * A total lunar eclipse on 4 April. * A partial solar eclipse on 13 September. * A total lunar eclipse on 28 September. The eclipse was one of four lunar eclipses in a short-lived series at the descending 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, Earth's shadow will be about 11 degrees west in sequential events.

Saros series

It is part of Saros series 137.

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 144 Saros cycle series 144 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 ...

References

External links

*
Hermit eclipse: 2015-09-28
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lunar eclipse 2015-09 2015-09 2015 in science Articles containing video clips September 2015 events