Total lunar eclipse April 2015

There was a total lunar eclipse this evening, Saturday 4 April 2015. I saw it in Phuket, south Thailand. It was visible from North America, the Pacific, East Asia, Australia and New Zealand. It was also a full moon - the first full moon of the spring season (northern hemisphere). And the festivals of Easter and the Passover.

15 days ago on 20th March 2015 there was a total solar eclipse, seen across the far Northern regions of Europe and the Artic. The next one won't be until 2026. Apparently when there is a total solar eclipse, a total lunar eclipse occurs 15 days after.

As I was at the beach, I watched the sun set on Sat 4th evening -

The last sunset photo was taken at 6.32 pm. It was 7.12 pm when I  saw the moon and it was almost totally eclipsed. Just the lower left part was showing -

Earth's shadow consists of two parts: a faint outer region, called the penumbra, and a much darker inner shadow called the umbra. The moon will enter the penumbra at 15.01 Thai time (0901 GMT), though the effect will not become evident to most eyes until about 55 minutes later. To spot the penumbra, look for a faint bit of darkness, a "soiled" or "smudgy" appearance on the left rim of the moon.

The duration of totality, or total eclipse, was (apparently) extremely short. But there was  a very long partial eclipse - the time from when the moon first touches the dark umbra until the moment totality begins is abnormally long, running 102 minutes.

7.15pm

7.20 pm

7.38

7.45 pm

7.47 pm (with a cable in front of the moon as I was sat having dinner!)

7.48 and 7.52

 

 By 8.15 the eclipse was almost over, just the top right corner of the moon was still covered -

The last photo was taken 8.20 pm.

From www.timeanddate.com