A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Wednesday, 8 October 2014, with an umbral magnitude of 1.1670. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon's near side entirely passes into the Earth's umbral shadow. Unlike a solar eclipse, which can only be viewed from a relatively small area of the world, a lunar eclipse may be viewed from anywhere on the night side of Earth. A total lunar eclipse can last up to nearly two hours, while a total solar eclipse lasts only a few minutes at any given place, because the Moon's shadow is smaller. Occurring about 2.2 days after perigee (on 6 October 2014, at 5:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.

This lunar eclipse is the second of a tetrad, with four total lunar eclipses in series, the others being on April 15, 2014; April 4, 2015; and September 28, 2015.

Background

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

The planet Uranus was near opposition (opposition on 7 October) during the eclipse, just over 1° from the eclipsed Moon. Shining at magnitude 5.7, Uranus should have been bright enough to identify in binoculars. Due to parallax, the position of Uranus relative to the Moon varied significantly depending on the viewing position on the surface of Earth.

Visibility and appearance

The eclipse was completely visible over northeast Asia, eastern Australia, the Pacific Ocean, and western North America, seen rising over Asia and much of Australia and setting over North and South America.

The eclipse was visible in its entirety over the Northern Pacific. Viewers in North America experienced the eclipse after midnight on Wednesday, 8 October, and the eclipse was visible from the Philippines, western Pacific, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, and eastern Asia after sunset on the evening of 8 October. Many areas of North America experienced a selenelion, able to see both the sun and the eclipsed moon at the same time.

The MESSENGER spacecraft from orbit at the planet Mercury which was 107 million kilometers away from Earth at the time also observed the eclipse, making it the first lunar eclipse in history to be observed from another planet.

Visibility map

Timing + Local times of contacts Time zoneadjustments fromUTC +8h +11h +13h -9h -8h -7h -6h -5h -4h -3h AWST AEDT NZDT HADT AKDT PDT MDT CDTPET EDTBOT ADTAMSTARTEventEvening 8 OctoberEvening 7 OctoberMorning 8 OctoberP1 Penumbral begins N/A† 7:16 pm 9:16 pm 11:16 pm 12:16 am 1:16 am 2:16 am 3:16 am 4:16 am 5:16 amU1 Partial begins N/A† 8:15 pm 10:15 pm 12:15 am 1:15 am 2:15 am 3:15 am 4:15 am 5:15 am 6:15 amU2 Total begins 6:25 pm 9:25 pm 11:25 pm1:25 am2:25 am3:25 am4:25 am5:25 am6:25 am7:25 am Greatest eclipse 6:55 pm 9:55 pm 11:55 pm 1:55 am 2:55 am 3:55 am 4:55 am 5:55 am 6:55 am SetU3 Total ends 7:24 pm 10:24 pm 12:24 am 2:24 am 3:24 am 4:24 am 5:24 am 6:24 am Set SetU4 Partial ends 8:34 pm 11:34 pm 1:34 am 3:34 am 4:34 am 5:34 am 6:34 am Set Set SetP4 Penumbral ends 9:34 pm 12:34 am 2:34 am 4:34 am 5:34 am 6:34 am Set Set Set Set

† The Moon was not visible during this part of the eclipse in this time zone.

Gallery

Composite from Aichi prefecture, JapanComposite from Coralville, IA, first contact to the greatest.Selenelion from Minneapolis, MN, with a partially eclipsed moon still up after sunrise, 12:26 UTC, seen by sunlight on foreground trees, right.

Eclipse details Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular lunar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.

+8 October 2014 Lunar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Penumbral Magnitude 2.14667 Umbral Magnitude 1.16698 Gamma 0.38267 Sun Right Ascension 12h55m34.3s Sun Declination -05°56'30.7" Sun Semi-Diameter 16'00.4" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.8" Moon Right Ascension 00h55m07.2s Moon Declination +06°18'26.7" Moon Semi-Diameter 16'20.3" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°59'57.9" ΔT 67.5 s

Eclipse season

This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.

+ Eclipse season of October 2014 October 8Descending node (full moon) October 23Ascending node (new moon) Total lunar eclipseLunar Saros 127 Partial solar eclipseSolar Saros 153

Related eclipses Eclipses in 2014 A total lunar eclipse on April 15. A non-central annular solar eclipse on April 29. A total lunar eclipse on 8 October. A partial solar eclipse on October 23.

Metonic Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of December 21, 2010 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of July 27, 2018

Tzolkinex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of August 28, 2007 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of November 19, 2021

Half-Saros Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 3, 2005 Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 14, 2023

Tritos Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of November 9, 2003 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of September 7, 2025

Lunar Saros 127 Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of September 27, 1996 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of October 18, 2032

Inex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of October 28, 1985 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of September 19, 2043

Triad Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of December 8, 1927 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of August 9, 2101

Lunar eclipses of 2013–2016

Saros 127

Tritos series

Inex series

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 134.

October 3, 2005October 14, 2023

See also April 2014 lunar eclipse List of lunar eclipses and List of 21st-century lunar eclipses

References

External links

Wake Up to October 8th's Total Lunar Eclipse (SkyandTelescope.com) Hermit eclipse: 2014-10-08 Total Lunar Eclipse, October 2014 InfoSite - Mattastro Animation of the October 8 2014 eclipse at shadowandsubstance.com