First Total Lunar Eclipse 2011

**Zankapfel** · 06-15-2011, 05:12 PM

The first total eclipse of the Moon of 2011 occurs this Wednesday evening, 15 June 2011, and it will be the longest lunar eclipse in over a decade.

For this particular eclipse, the Moon will pass very deeply into the darker umbra, making this an especially dark –and long– eclipse.

There are several distinct phases of a lunar eclipse, as the Moon travels through the penumbra and umbra. For this lunar eclipse the total time during which the Moon is at least partially in the Earth’'s shadow is 219 minutes, and 100 minutes of this is spent entirely within the umbra, i.e. in total eclipse.

The phases of the 15 June 2011 total lunar eclipse [via NASA's eclipse website]

These phases are given the names: P1, the time when the Moon's disk enter the penumbra; U1, the time when the Moons disk enters the umbra; U2, the time when the entirety of the Moons disk is within the umbra; U3, the last time when the entirety of the Moon’s disk is within the umbra; U4, the last time when part of the Moon's disk is within the umbra; and P4, the last time when part of the Moon’s disk is within the penumbra.

The eclipse will be visible in Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, Norway, France, Sweden, Spain, Romania, Denmark, Holland, Portugal and other countries. There is an hour difference in the partial lunar eclipse between United Kingdom, Eastern Europe and Russia.

However the views from Europe will be constrained by the fact that the Moon will be below the horizon for much of the eclipse, and will rise fully eclipsed, or in some cases even coming out of eclipse. It’s still worth having a look though: just try to find somewhere with a very low and clear SE horizon, as this will be the direction in which the Moon will rise, and it will be in eclipse only while it is very low (only a few degrees above the horizon).

Here's a few timings of the lunar eclipse in Europe.

United Kingdom – London - Eclipse Time on June 15, 2011
Eclipse Begins at 18:23 hrs on June 15, 2011 (Local Time) – Not visible
Total Lunar Eclipse begins at 19:22 hrs – Not visible
Total Lunar Eclipse ends at 21:03 hrs – Visible
Eclipse Ends at 22:02 hrs on June 15, 2011 – Visible
NASA has given the same time for all places in England.

France – Paris
Eclipse Begins at 19:23 hrs on June 15, 2011 (Local Time) – Not visible
Total Lunar Eclipse begins at 20:22 hrs – Not visible
Total Lunar Eclipse ends at 22:03 hrs – Visible
Eclipse Ends at 23:02 hrs on June 15, 2011 – Visible

Germany – Frankfurt
Eclipse Begins at 19:23 hrs on June 15, 2011 (Local Time) – Not visible
Total Lunar Eclipse begins at 20:22 hrs – Not visible
Total Lunar Eclipse ends at 22:03 hrs – Visible
Eclipse Ends at 23:02 hrs on June 15, 2011 – Visible

Italy - Rome
Eclipse Begins at 19:23 hrs on June 15, 2011 (Local Time) – Not visible
Total Lunar Eclipse begins at 20:22 hrs – Visible
Total Lunar Eclipse ends at 22:03 hrs – Visible
Eclipse Ends at 23:02 hrs on June 15, 2011 – Visible

Russia - Moscow
Eclipse Begins at 21:23 hrs on June 15, 2011 (Local Time) – Visible
Total Lunar Eclipse begins at 22:22 hrs – Visible
Total Lunar Eclipse ends at 00:03 hrs – Visible
Eclipse Ends at 01:02 hrs on June 16, 2011 – Visible

A detailed information sheet for this eclipse is available [pdf file] on the NASA Eclipse website.

Yay!