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May 2040 lunar eclipse

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Total lunar eclipse
May 26, 2040
Ecliptic north up

The Moon’s northern limb will pass through the center of the Earth's shadow.
Saros (and member) 131 (35 of 72)
Gamma -0.1872
Magnitude 1.5348
Duration (hr:mn:sc)
Totality 1:32:12
Partial 3:30:42
Penumbral 5:21:26
Contacts (UTC)
P1 9:05:40
U1 10:01:01
U2 11:00:16
Greatest 11:46:22
U3 12:32:28
U4 13:31:43
P4 14:27:04

A total lunar eclipse will take place on May 26, 2040. The northern limb of the Moon will pass through the center of the Earth's shadow. This is the second central lunar eclipse of Saros series 131. This lunar event will occur near perigee, as a result, it will be referred to as a "super flower blood moon" or "super blood moon", though not quite as close to Earth as the eclipse of May 26, 2021.

This eclipse is a part of Saros cycle 131, and the second of the series that passes through the center of the Earth's shadow. The first central eclipse of this series took place on May 15-16, 2022.

Visibility

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It will be completely visible over Australia and the Pacific, seen rising over Eastern Asia, and setting over North and South America.

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Lunar year series (354 days)

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This eclipse is the third of four lunar year eclipses occurring at the Moon's ascending node.

The lunar year series repeats after 12 lunations or 354 days (Shifting back about 10 days in sequential years). Because of the date shift, the Earth's shadow will be about 11 degrees west in sequential events.

Lunar eclipse series sets from 2038-2042
Descending node   Ascending node
Saros Date
Viewing
Type
Chart
Saros Date
Viewing
Type
Chart
111 2038 Jun 17
Penumbral
116 2038 Dec 11
Penumbral
121 2039 Jun 06
Partial
126 2039 Nov 30
Partial
131 2040 May 26
Total
136 2040 Nov 18
Total
141 2041 May 16
Partial
146 2041 Nov 08
Partial
156 2042 Oct 28
Penumbral
Last set 2038 Jul 16 Last set 2038 Jan 21
Next set 2042 Apr 05 Next set 2042 Sep 29

Metonic series

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First eclipse: May 26, 2002. Second eclipse: May 26, 2021. Third eclipse: May 26, 2040. Fourth eclipse: May 27, 2059.

Half-Saros cycle

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A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).[1] This lunar eclipse is related to two annular solar eclipses of Solar Saros 138.

May 21, 2031 May 31, 2049

Saros series

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Lunar Saros series 131, has 72 lunar eclipses. Solar Saros 138 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.

This eclipse series began in AD 1427 with a partial eclipse at the southern edge of the Earth's shadow when the Moon was close to its descending node. Each successive Saros cycle, the Moon's orbital path is shifted northward with respect to the Earth's shadow, with the first total eclipse occurring in 1950. For the following 252 years, total eclipses occur, with the central eclipse being predicted to occur in 2078. The first partial eclipse after this is predicted to occur in the year 2220, and the final partial eclipse of the series will occur in 2707. The total lifetime of the lunar Saros series 131 is 1280 years. Solar Saros 138 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.

Because of the ⅓ fraction of days in a Saros cycle, the visibility of each eclipse will differ for an observer at a given fixed locale. For the lunar Saros series 131, the first total eclipse of 1950 had its best visibility for viewers in Eastern Europe and the Middle East because mid-eclipse was at 20:44 UT. The following eclipse in the series occurred approximately 8 hours later in the day with mid-eclipse at 4:47 UT, and was best seen from North America and South America. The third total eclipse occurred approximately 8 hours later in the day than the second eclipse with mid-eclipse at 12:43 UT, and had its best visibility for viewers in the Western Pacific, East Asia, Australia and New Zealand. This cycle of visibility repeats from the initiation to termination of the series, with minor variations. Solar Saros 138 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.

Lunar Saros series 131, repeating every 18 years and 11 days, has a total of 72 lunar eclipse events including 57 umbral lunar eclipses (42 partial lunar eclipses and 15 total lunar eclipses). Solar Saros 138 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.

Greatest First

The greatest eclipse of the series will occur on 2094 Jun 28, lasting 102 minutes.[2]
Penumbral Partial Total Central
1427 May 10 1553 July 25 1950 Apr 2 2022 May 16
Last
Central Total Partial Penumbral
2148 Jul 31 2202 Sep 3 2563 Apr 9 2707 Jul 7
1901–2100
1914 Mar 12 1932 Mar 22 1950 Apr 2
1968 Apr 13 1986 Apr 24 2004 May 4
2022 May 16 2040 May 26 2058 Jun 6
2076 Jun 17 2094 Jun 28

Inex series

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The inex series repeats eclipses 20 days short of 29 years, repeating on average every 10571.95 days. This period is equal to 358 lunations (synodic months) and 388.5 draconic months. Saros series increment by one on successive Inex events and repeat at alternate ascending and descending lunar nodes.

This period is 383.6734 anomalistic months (the period of the Moon's elliptical orbital precession). Despite the average 0.05 time-of-day shift between subsequent events, the variation of the Moon in its elliptical orbit at each event causes the actual eclipse time to vary significantly. It is a part of Lunar Inex series 39.

All events in this series listed below and more are total lunar eclipses.

Inex series from 1000 to 2500 AD
Ascending node Descending node Ascending node Descending node
Saros Date Saros Date Saros Date Saros Date
96 1027 Apr 23 97 1056 Apr 2 98 1085 Mar 14 99 1114 Feb 21
100 1143 Feb 1 101 1172 Jan 13 102 1200 Dec 22 103 1229 Dec 2
104 1258 Nov 12 105 1287 Oct 22 106 1316 Oct 2 107 1345 Sep 12
108 1374 Aug 22 109 1403 Aug 2 110 1432 Jul 13 111 1461 Jun 22
112 1490 Jun 2 113 1519 May 14 114 1548 Apr 22 115 1577 Apr 2
116 1606 Mar 24 117 1635 Mar 3 118 1664 Feb 11 119 1693 Jan 22
120 1722 Jan 2 121 1750 Dec 13 122 1779 Nov 23 123 1808 Nov 3
124 1837 Oct 13 125 1866 Sep 24 126 1895 Sep 4 127 1924 Aug 14
128 1953 Jul 26
129 1982 Jul 6
130 2011 Jun 15
131 2040 May 26
132 2069 May 6
133 2098 Apr 15
134 2127 Mar 28 135 2156 Mar 7
136 2185 Feb 14 137 2214 Jan 27 138 2243 Jan 7 139 2271 Dec 17
140 2300 Nov 27 141 2329 Nov 7 142 2358 Oct 18 143 2387 Sep 28
144 2416 Sep 7 145 2445 Aug 17 146 2474 Jul 29

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros
  2. ^ Listing of Eclipses of cycle 131
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References

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  • Bao-Lin Liu, Canon of Lunar Eclipses 1500 B.C.-A.D. 3000, 1992