THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
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43.6667° N    70.2667° W  Altitude:  10 feet below sea level Founded January 1970
2021-2022: CXXII
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-Tom Snyder

THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Tuesday, May 10, 2022
Seeing the Lunar Eclipse

Today we continue our lunar eclipse "coverage" with the world map indicating regions of visibility for the May 15-16, 2022 total lunar eclipse. Please refer to the diagram below, compliments of eclipse wizard Fred Espenak:

FRED-ESPENAK-TOTAL-LUNAR-ECLIPSE-MAY-2022.png

We're going to divide this article into two sections.  First, we explain the meaning of the shaded bands to the right.  Secondly, we'll explain the shaded bands to the left.  

P1-U1:  the darker band just to the left of the darkest region.
U1-U2:  the band to the left of P1-U1
U2-U3:  the band to the left of U1-U2
U3-U4:  the band to the left of U2-U3
U4-P4:  the band to the left of U3-U4


  • P1 and U1:  the penumbral eclipse will be in progress when the moon sets.  You won't see much of anything
  • U1 and U2:  the umbral eclipse will be in progress when the moon sets.   You will start to see the dark shadow moving across the moon.  The closer you are to the U2 line, the larger the shadow will appear when it sets
  • U2 and U3:  the eclipse will be total when the moon sets.   
  • U3 and U4:  totality will have ended by the time the moon sets.   You will see the moon moving out of the umbra as it sets
  • U4 and P4: the moon will have completely left the umbra by the time it sets.    You will miss part of the penumbral eclipse:  i.e.  you won't miss anything at all.
P1-U1: the light colored band to the left of the white region (the region in which the entire eclipse is visible.)
U1-U2: the band to the left of P1-U1
U2-U3: the band to the left of U1-U2
U3-U4: the band to the left of U2-U3
U4-P4:  the band to the left of U3-U4
  • P1 and U1: the moon will be moving into the penumbra when it rises.   You won't miss anything at all
  • U1 and U2:   the moon will be moving into the umbra when it rises.  
  • U2 and U3:  the moon will be entirely in the umbra when it rises.  Totality will be in progress
  • U3 and U4:  the moon will have started leaving the umbra when it rises.   You will have missed totality. 
  • U4 and P4:  the moon will have left the umbra entirely by the time it rises.   You will have missed it, I'm afraid
We in New England will observe the entire eclipse.     Those in most ofAlaska will see none of it.   The event will be wholly visible everywhere in South America, but visible nowhere in Australia.     Because we're on the shadow-casting body, the eclipse will be visible to anyone in regions where the moon is above the horizon during the eclipse.     Consequently, many  more people have watched a lunar eclipse than a solar eclipse.   

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