October 2014 lunar eclipse

Total lunar eclipse^[1] October 8, 2014
Lomita, California, 10:56 UTC
The moon passes right to left through the Earth's shadow
Gamma	0.3827
Duration (hr:mn:sc)
Totality	0:58:50
Partial	3:19:33
Penumbral	5:18:10
Contacts (UTC)
P1	08:15:33
U1	09:14:48
U2	10:25:10
Greatest	10:54:36
U3	11:24:00
U4	12:34:21
P4	13:33:43

A total lunar eclipse took place on 8 October 2014. It is the second of two total lunar eclipses in 2014, and the second in a tetrad (four total lunar eclipses in series). Other eclipses in the tetrad are those of April 15, 2014, April 4, 2015, and September 28, 2015.

Visibility and appearance[edit]

The eclipse was visible in its entirety over the Northern Pacific. Viewers in North America experienced the eclipse after midnight on Wednesday, October 8, and the eclipse was visible from the Western Pacific, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, and Eastern Asia after sunset on the evening of October 8. Many areas of North America experienced a selenelion, able to see both the sun and the eclipsed moon at the same time.^[2]

Visibility

Background[edit]

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.^[3] 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.

Total eclipse with Uranus, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 10:46 UTC

Animation October 8 2014 lunar eclipse appearance.gif

The planet Uranus was near opposition (opposition on October 7^[4]) 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.

Gallery[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lunar eclipse of 2014 October 8.

Composite from Aichi prefecture, Japan	Composite from Coralville, Iowa, first contact to the greatest.	Selenelion from Minneapolis, Minnesota, with a partially eclipsed moon still up after sunrise, 12:25 UTC, seen by sunlight on foreground trees, right.

Earth simulated view from Moon at greatest eclipse
Lomita, California, 8:17 UTC, near P1
Lomita, California, 9:20 UTC, near U1
Minneapolis, 9:46 UTC, triple exposure
Before the start of total eclipse, Osaka, Japan, 9:44 UTC
Before the beginning of total eclipse, Valdosta, Georgia, 10:02 UTC
Aichi Prefecture, Japan, 10:25:37 UTC
Lomita, California, 10:28 UTC, near U2
Taichung, Taiwan, 10:38 UTC
Santa Clara County, California, 10:39 UTC
Lomita, California, 11:22 UTC, near U3
After the end of total eclipse, Fuzhou, China, 11:59 UTC
Partial phase of the eclipse, Hefei, China, 12:18 UTC
Near end of partial eclipse, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 12:24 UTC
Lomita, California, near U4, 12:32 UTC
Lomita, California, near P4, 13:19 UTC

Timing[edit]

Local times of contacts
Timezone adjustments from UTC		+8_h	+11_h	+13_h	-9_h	-8_h	-7_h	-6_h	-5_h	-4_h	-3_h
Timezone adjustments from UTC		AWST	AEDT	NZDT	HADT	AKDT	PDT	MDT	CDT PET	EDT BOT	ADT AMST ART
Event		Evening October 8			Evening October 7		Morning October 8
P1	Penumbral begins	4:16 pm	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 am
U1	Partial begins	5:15 pm	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 am
U2	Total begins	6:25 pm	9:25 pm	11:25 pm	1:25 am	2:25 am	3:25 am	4:25 am	5:25 am	6:25 am	7:25 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	7:55 am
U3	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	7:24 am	8:24 am
U4	Partial ends	8:34 pm	11:34 pm	1:34 am	3:34 am	4:34 am	5:34 am	6:34 am	7:34 am	8:34 am	9:34 am
P4	Penumbral ends	9:34 pm	12:34 am	2:34 am	4:34 am	5:34 am	6:34 am	7:34 am	8:34 am	9:34 am	10:34 am

Contact points relative to the earth's umbral and penumbral shadows, here with the moon near is descending node

The timing of total lunar eclipses are determined by its contacts:^[5]

P1 (First contact): Beginning of the penumbral eclipse. The Earth's penumbra touches the Moon's outer limb.

U1 (Second contact): Beginning of the partial eclipse. The Earth's umbra touches the Moon's outer limb.

U2 (Third contact): Beginning of the total eclipse. The Moon's surface is entirely within the Earth's umbra.

Greatest eclipse: The peak stage of the total eclipse. The Moon is at its closest to the center of the Earth's umbra.

U3 (Fourth contact): End of the total eclipse. The Moon's outer limb exits the Earth's umbra.

U4 (Fifth contact): End of the partial eclipse. The Earth's umbra leaves the Moon's surface.

P4 (Sixth contact): End of the penumbral eclipse. The Earth's penumbra no longer makes contact with the Moon.

Related eclipses[edit]

The eclipse is the one of four total lunar eclipses in a short-lived series at the descending node of the Moon's orbit.

The lunar year 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° west in sequential events.

Lunar eclipse series sets from 2013–2016
Saros	Viewing date	Type	Saros	Viewing date	Type
Ascending node			Descending node
112	2013 Apr 25	Partial	117	2013 Oct 18	Penumbral
122	2014 Apr 15	Total	127	2014 Oct 08	Total
132	2015 Apr 04	Total	137	2015 Sep 28	Total
142	2016 Mar 23	Penumbral	147	2016 Sep 16	Penumbral

Last set	2013 May 25		Last set	2012 Nov 28

Next set	2017 Feb 11		Next set	2016 Aug 08