A total lunar eclipse will occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Thursday, February 11, 2055,[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.2258. 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 only about 15 hours before perigee (on February 12, 2055, at 13:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter will be larger.[2]
| Total eclipse | |||||||||||||||||
 The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left | |||||||||||||||||
| Date | February 11, 2055 | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gamma | 0.3526 | ||||||||||||||||
| Magnitude | 1.2258 | ||||||||||||||||
| Saros cycle | 134 (29 of 73) | ||||||||||||||||
| Totality | 66 minutes, 0 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Partiality | 198 minutes, 25 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Penumbral | 312 minutes, 52 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
This lunar eclipse will be the third of an almost tetrad, with the others being on February 22, 2054 (total); August 18, 2054 (total); and August 7, 2055 (partial).
Visibility
editThe eclipse will be completely visible over Africa, Europe, and west, central, and south Asia, seen rising over much of North and South America and setting over east Asia and western Australia.[3]
|
Eclipse details
editShown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[4]
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Penumbral Magnitude | 2.19816 |
| Umbral Magnitude | 1.22577 |
| Gamma | 0.35264 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 21h42m03.5s |
| Sun Declination | -13°47'10.8" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'12.3" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.9" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 09h42m24.2s |
| Moon Declination | +14°08'09.1" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'39.9" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 1°01'09.9" |
| ΔT | 88.5 s |
Eclipse season
editThis 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.
| January 27 Descending node (new moon) |
February 11 Ascending node (full moon) |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Partial solar eclipse Solar Saros 122 |
Total lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 134 |
Related eclipses
editEclipses in 2055
edit- A partial solar eclipse on January 27.
- A total lunar eclipse on February 11.
- A total solar eclipse on July 24.
- A partial lunar eclipse on August 7.
Metonic
edit- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 26, 2051
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of November 30, 2058
Tzolkinex
edit- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of January 1, 2048
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 25, 2062
Half-Saros
edit- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 5, 2046
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 17, 2064
Tritos
edit- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 13, 2044
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of January 11, 2066
Lunar Saros 134
edit- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of January 31, 2037
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of February 22, 2073
Inex
edit- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 3, 2026
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of January 22, 2084
Triad
edit- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 13, 1968
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of December 13, 2141
Lunar eclipses of 2053–2056
edit| Ascending node | Descending node | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saros | Date Viewing |
Type Chart |
Saros | Date Viewing |
Type Chart | |
| 114 | 2053 Mar 04
|
Penumbral
|
119 | 2053 Aug 29 |
Penumbral
| |
| 124 | 2054 Feb 22
|
Total
|
129 | 2054 Aug 18
|
Total
| |
| 134 | 2055 Feb 11
|
Total
|
139 | 2055 Aug 07
|
Partial
| |
| 144 | 2056 Feb 01
|
Penumbral
|
149 | 2056 Jul 26
|
Partial
| |
| Last set | 2052 Apr 14 | Last set | 2052 Oct 08 | |||
| Next set | 2056 Dec 22 | Next set | 2056 Jun 27 | |||
Tritos series
editThe tritos series repeats 31 days short of 11 years at alternating nodes. Sequential events have incremental Saros cycle indices.
This series produces 23 total eclipses between June 22, 1880 and August 9, 2120.
| Ascending node | Descending node | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saros | Date Viewing |
Type chart |
Saros | Date Viewing |
Type chart | |
| 120 | 1902 Apr 22
|
Total
|
121 | 1913 Mar 22
|
Total
| |
| 122 | 1924 Feb 20
|
Total
|
123 | 1935 Jan 19
|
Total
| |
| 124 | 1945 Dec 19
|
Total
|
125 | 1956 Nov 18
|
Total
| |
| 126 | 1967 Oct 18
|
Total
|
127 | 1978 Sep 16
|
Total
| |
| 128 | 1989 Aug 17
|
Total
|
129 | 2000 Jul 16
|
Total
| |
| 130 | 2011 Jun 15
|
Total
|
131 | 2022 May 16
|
Total
| |
| 132 | 2033 Apr 14
|
Total
|
133 | 2044 Mar 13
|
Total
| |
| 134 | 2055 Feb 11
|
Total
|
135 | 2066 Jan 11
|
Total
| |
| 136 | 2076 Dec 10
|
Total
|
137 | 2087 Nov 10
|
Total
| |
| 138 | 2098 Oct 10
|
Total
| ||||
Inex series
editThe inex series repeats eclipses 20 days short of 29 years, repeating on average every 10571.95 days. This period is equal to 358 lunations (synodic months) and 388.5 draconic months. Saros series increment by one on successive Inex events and repeat at alternate ascending and descending lunar nodes.
This period is 383.6734 anomalistic months (the period of the Moon's elliptical orbital precession). Despite the average 0.05 time-of-day shift between subsequent events, the variation of the Moon in its elliptical orbit at each event causes the actual eclipse time to vary significantly. It is a part of Lunar Inex series 35.
| Descending node | Ascending node | Descending node | Ascending node | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saros | Date Chart |
Saros | Date Chart |
Saros | Date Chart |
Saros | Date Chart |
| 115 | 1505 Feb 18
|
116 | 1534 Jan 30
|
117 | 1563 Jan 9 | 118 | 1591 Dec 30 |
| 119 | 1620 Dec 9 | 120 | 1649 Nov 19 | 121 | 1678 Oct 29 | 122 | 1707 Oct 11 |
| 123 | 1736 Sep 20 | 124 | 1765 Aug 30 | 125 | 1794 Aug 11 | 126 | 1823 Jul 23 |
| 127 | 1852 Jul 1 | 128 | 1881 Jun 12 | 129 | 1910 May 24
|
130 | 1939 May 3
|
| 131 | 1968 Apr 13
|
132 | 1997 Mar 24
|
133 | 2026 Mar 3
|
134 | 2055 Feb 11
|
| 135 | 2084 Jan 22
|
136 | 2113 Jan 2 | 137 | 2141 Dec 13 | 138 | 2170 Nov 23 |
| 139 | 2199 Nov 2 | 140 | 2228 Oct 14 | 141 | 2257 Sep 24 | 142 | 2286 Sep 3 |
| 143 | 2315 Aug 16 | 144 | 2344 Jul 26 | 145 | 2373 Jul 5 | 146 | 2402 Jun 16 |
| 147 | 2431 May 27 | 148 | 2460 May 5
|
149 | 2489 Apr 16
| ||
Half-Saros cycle
editA lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).[5] This lunar eclipse is related to two total solar eclipses of Solar Saros 141.
| February 5, 2046 | February 17, 2064 |
|---|---|
|
|
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ "February 11–12, 2055 Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)". timeanddate. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
- ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
- ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 2055 Feb 11" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
- ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 2055 Feb 11". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
- ^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros
External links
edit- 2055 Feb 11 chart Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC