Eclipse 2014

Lunar Eclipse Frequency and Future Eclipses

Penumbral eclipses are of little interest because they are hard to see. If we consider only partial and total lunar eclipses, how often do they occur?

During the five thousand year period from 2000 BCE through 3000 CE, there are 7,718 eclipses of the Moon (partial and total). This averages out to about one and a half eclipses each year. Actually, the number of lunar eclipses in a single year can range from 0 to 3. The last time that 3 total lunar eclipses occurred in one calendar year was in 1982. Partial eclipses slightly outnumber total eclipses by 7 to 6.

The table below lists every lunar eclipse from 2009 through 2015. Click on the eclipse Date to see a diagram of the eclipse and a world map showing where it is visible from. Although penumbral lunar eclipses are included in this list, they are usually hard to see because they are faint.

The Umbral Magnitude is the fraction on the Moon's diameter immersed in the umbra at maximum eclipse. For values greater than 1.0, it is a total eclipse. For negative values, it is a penumbral eclipse. The Eclipse Duration column lists the length of the partial eclipse in hours and minutes. If it is a total eclipse, two values are given. The first is the amount of time between the start and end of the partial phases while the second (in bold) is the length of the total eclipse.

Eclipses of the Moon: 2009 - 2015
Date	Eclipse Type	Umbral Magnitude	Eclipse Duration	Geographic Region of Eclipse Visibility
2009 Feb09	Penumbral	-0.088	-	e Europe, Asia, Aus., Pacific, w N.A.
2009 Jul07	Penumbral	-0.913	-	Aus., Pacific, Americas
2009 Aug06	Penumbral	-0.666	-	Americas, Europe, Africa, w Asia
2009 Dec31	Partial	0.076	01h02m	Europe, Africa, Asia, Aus.
2010 Jun26	Partial	0.537	02h43m	e Asia, Aus., Pacific, w Americas
2010 Dec21	Total	1.256	03h29m 01h12m	e Asia, Aus., Pacific, Americas, Europe
2011 Jun 15	Total	1.700	03h40m 01h40m	S.America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Aus.
2011 Dec 10	Total	1.106	03h32m 00h51m	Europe, e Africa, Asia, Aus., Pacific, N.A.
2012 Jun 04	Partial	0.370	02h07m	Asia, Aus., Pacific, Americas
2012 Nov 28	Penumbral	-0.187	-	Europe, e Africa, Asia, Aus., Pacific, N.A.
2013 Apr 25	Partial	0.015	00h27m	Europe, Africa, Asia, Aus.
2013 May 25	Penumbral	-0.934	-	Americas, Africa
2013 Oct 18	Penumbral	-0.272	-	Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia
2014 Apr 15	Total	1.291	03h35m 01h18m	Aus., Pacific, Americas
2014 Oct 08	Total	1.166	03h20m 00h59m	Asia, Aus., Pacific, Americas
2015 Apr 04	Total	1.001	03h29m 00h05m	Asia, Aus., Pacific, Americas
2015 Sep 28	Total	1.276	03h20m 01h12m	e Pacific, Americas, Europe, Africa, w Asia

Geographic abreviations (used above): n =north, s = south, e = east, w = west, c = central