Lunar eclipse

June 15th, 2011.

The lunar eclipse took place tonight, a central eclipse, with the Moon passing through the center of the Earth's shadow, which made the Moon appear very dark during the umbral (total) phase. Moreover, with the umbral phase lasting 100 minutes, this eclipse is among the longest eclipses that we will be seeing this century! By comparison, the longest lunar eclipse of this century happening on 27th July 2018 will be central and 103 minutes long.

The penumbral phase of the eclipse started at 7:25 PM and partial eclipse started at 8:23 PM. The Moon  lost its bright white color and slowly turned into a reddish/orangish color. Total eclipse began at 12:22 AM. The whole Moon was very dark and appeared a coppery red color for the 1 hour 40 minutes that the total phase lasted. Mid eclipse was reached at 10:13 PM and the eclipse will end at 1:01 AM.

Fortunately, where I live there were clear skies for the whole night. Unlike for solar eclipses, you were able to view it directly with the naked eye. If you are a photographer, send me your pictures and I will upload them here!

There is another lunar eclipse taking place at the end of the year on 10 December 2011. That eclipse starts at 4:34 PM and reaches mid eclipse at 4:32 PM, which doesn't make for as good viewing as the one this month.