December 2001 lunar eclipse

December 2001 lunar eclipse

Penumbral eclipse
Hourly motion shown right to left
Date	December 30, 2001
Gamma	1.0731
Magnitude	−0.1141
Saros cycle	144 (15 of 71)
Penumbral	243 minutes, 32 seconds
Contacts (UTC) P1 8:27:35 Greatest 10:29:18 P4 12:31:07
← July 2001 May 2002 →

A penumbral lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Sunday, December 30, 2001,^[1] with an umbral magnitude of −0.1141. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when part or all of the Moon's near side passes into the Earth's penumbra. 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. Occurring about 3.7 days before perigee (on January 2, 2002, at 2:10 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.^[2]

The eclipse was completely visible over northeast Asia, the Pacific Ocean, and North America, seen rising over much of Asia and Australia and setting over South America.^[3]

The moon's hourly motion across the Earth's shadow in the constellation of Gemini.

Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.^[4]

December 30, 2001 Lunar Eclipse Parameters

Parameter	Value
Penumbral Magnitude	0.89477
Umbral Magnitude	−0.11407
Gamma	1.07318
Sun Right Ascension	18h38m16.3s
Sun Declination	-23°08'50.7"
Sun Semi-Diameter	16'15.9"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	08.9"
Moon Right Ascension	06h38m07.7s
Moon Declination	+24°12'18.7"
Moon Semi-Diameter	16'07.4"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	0°59'10.2"
ΔT	64.3 s

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 December 2001

December 14 Descending node (new moon)	December 30 Ascending node (full moon)
Annular solar eclipse Solar Saros 132	Penumbral lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 144

• A total lunar eclipse on January 9.
• A total solar eclipse on June 21.
• A partial lunar eclipse on July 5.
• An annular solar eclipse on December 14.
• A penumbral lunar eclipse on December 30.

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 13, 1998
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of October 17, 2005

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of November 18, 1994
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of February 9, 2009

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 24, 1992
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 4, 2011

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of January 30, 1991
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of November 28, 2012

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of December 20, 1983
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of January 10, 2020

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of January 18, 1973
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of December 9, 2030

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 1, 1915
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of October 30, 2088

Lunar eclipse series sets from 1998–2002
Descending node					Ascending node
Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma		Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma
109	1998 Aug 08	penumbral	1.4876		114	1999 Jan 31	penumbral	−1.0190
119	1999 Jul 28	partial	0.7863		124	2000 Jan 21	total	−0.2957
129	2000 Jul 16	total	0.0302		134	2001 Jan 09	total	0.3720
139	2001 Jul 05	partial	−0.7287		144	2001 Dec 30	penumbral	1.0732
149	2002 Jun 24	penumbral	−1.4440
Last set	1998 Sep 06				Last set	1998 Mar 13
Next set	2002 May 26				Next set	2002 Nov 20

Lunar Saros series 144, repeating every 18 years and 11 days, has a total of 71 lunar eclipse events including 20 total lunar eclipses.

First Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 1749 Jul 29

First Partial Lunar Eclipse: 2146 Mar 28

First Total Lunar Eclipse: 2308 Jul 04

First Central Lunar Eclipse: 2362 Aug 06

Greatest Eclipse of the Lunar Saros 144: 2416 Sep 07

Last Central Lunar Eclipse: 2488 Oct 20

Last Total Lunar Eclipse: 2651 Jan 28

Last Partial Lunar Eclipse: 2867 Jun 08

Last Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 3011 Sep 04

A 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 partial solar eclipses of Solar Saros 151.

December 24, 1992	January 4, 2011

• List of lunar eclipses
• List of 21st-century lunar eclipses

• Saros cycle 144
• 2001 Dec 30 chart: Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC