Total lunar eclipse over Central Europe
In my last post I told you about the total lunar eclipse taking place this summer over Central Europe. This post is about what you can see when and where for your evening planning on 27.07.2018. Evaluations have shown me that part of the inclined readership comes from Austria. Good news for you: You also have #MoFi2018. If you are traveling in Spain, Italy or France at this time, you are also lucky enough to be able to see the total lunar eclipse. That's what this article is about.
Phases of a total lunar eclipse
Science divides a lunar eclipse into several phases. My readership is also used to the fact that I like to share this clever knowledge and that there is so much text to read. This article is no different. 😛 And as usual, I also reveal the source of my knowledge. In this case, it's not Wikipedia. Rather, it is a website that first drew my attention to this topic. At Time & Date you can find many astronomical events with the right dates. Part of this article is based on the information from their article on the total lunar eclipse in the summer of 2018.
The phases of total lunar eclipse for different regions
In the following tables I show you the times of the individual phases for selected places. Visibility is also an important criterion. Here I provide you with the angles to the horizon (vertical angle) and the direction – not that you expect the moon in the south and Luna is in the north. 😉 I represent the cardinal points in "degrees". So that you do not have to search for which number of degrees stands for which direction, I have a small summary here:
- 0° = North (N)
- 22.5° = North Northeast (NNE)
- 45° = Northeast (NE)
- 67.5° = East Northeast (ONO)
- 90° = East (E)
- 112.5° = East Southeast (OSO)
- 135° = Southeast (SO)
- 157.5° = South Southeast (SSO)
- 180° = South (S)
- 202.5° = South Southwest (SSW)
- 225° = Southwest (SW)
- 247.5° = West Southwest (WSW)
- 270° = West (W)
- 292.5° = West Northwest (WNW)
- 315° = Northwest (NW)
- 337.5° = North Northwest (NNW)
The vertical angle indicates the angle at which the moon is to the horizon. Negative numbers mean that the moon is hiding behind the horizon. If you are missing places, please let me know via the comment function or via the social media channels. I'll try to find out for you.
- These phases will not be visible in the specified places, as the spectacle takes place behind the horizon.
| Location ⇒ | Direction / Vertical angle | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phase ⇓ | Time ⇓ Moonrise ⇒ | Berlin 8:58 pm | Munich 8:48 pm | Hamburg 9:16 pm | Cologne 9:17 pm |
| Penumbral eclipse begins | 7:14 pm* | 103° / -14,8° | 103° / -14,9° | 100° / -17,0° | 99° / -18,4° |
| Partial eclipse begins | 8:24 PM* | 116° / -5,2° | 115° / -4,3° | 113° / -7,4° | 111° / -8,2° |
| Moonrise | See City | 122° / -0,2° | 119° / -0,2° | 123° / -0,2° | 121° / -0,2° |
| Main phase begins | 21:30 p.m. | 128° / 3,3° | 127° / 5,0° | 126° / 1,2° | 123° / 1,2° |
| Maximum darkening | 10:21 pm | 139° / 8,7° | 137° / 11,2° | 136° / 6,6° | 133° / 7,1° |
| Main phase ends | 11:13 pm | 150° / 13,1° | 148° / 16,2° | 147° / 11,1° | 144° / 12,3° |
| Partial eclipse ends | 12:19 AM | 165° /16,8° | 163° / 20,7° | 162° / 15,2° | 159° / 17,1° |
| Penumbral eclipse ends | 01:28 hours | 182° / 17,9° | 180° / 22,3° | 179° / 16,9° | 175° / 19,4° |
In addition to the German cities, I picked out some places in Spain, Italy and France. In the following places, the differences in visibility can be seen very clearly. The further west you move on the globe (yes, it's a sphere), the less you can see the lunar eclipse, while in an easterly direction you get to see more. Due to the time zones, I have to include a third value – the local time – in this table.
| Location ⇒ | Time direction / vertical angle | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phase ⇓ | Bologna (IT) | Palermo (IT) | Port de Pollença (ES) | Gáldar (ES) | Paris (FR) | Antalya (TR) | |||
| Penumbral darkness begins | 7:14 pm* 103° / -14.3° | 7:14 pm* 106° / -11.1° | 7:14 pm* 99° / -19.3° | 6:14 pm* 95° / -33° | 7:14 pm* 96° / -21.1° | 20:14 116° / 2.4° | |||
| Partial eclipse begins | 20:24* 115° / -2.0° | 20:24 116° / 1.6° | 20:24* 110° / -6.8° | 7:24 pm* 102° / -18.4° | 20:24* 108° / -10.2° | 21:24 128° / 13.6° | |||
| Moonrise | 20:37* 117° / -0.2° | 20:12* 114° / -0.2° | 20:59* 115° / -0.2° | 20:51* 111° / -0.2° | 21:29* 119° / -0.2° | 17:37 112° / -0.2° | |||
| Main phase begins | 9:30 pm 126° / 7.0° | 9:30 pm 127° / 12.0° | 9:30 pm 120° / 4.5° | 8:30 pm* 109° / – 5.0° | 9:30 pm 120° / -0.1° | 10:30 pm 140° / 22.8° | |||
| Maximum darkening (lunar eclipse) | 10:21 pm 136° / 13.7° | 10:21 pm 136° / 19.4° | 10:21 pm 129° / 12.3° | 21:21 115° / 5.4° | 10:21 pm 129° / 6.3° | 11:21 pm 152° / 28.4° | |||
| Main phase ends | 11:13 pm 147° / 19.2° | 11:13 pm 147° / 25.5° | 11:13 pm 139° / 7.2° | 10:13 pm 122° / 15.0° | 11:13 pm 140° / 12.1° | 00:13 165° / 32.1° | |||
| Partial eclipse ends | 00:19 162° / 24.1° | 00:19 162° / 30.7° | 00:19 153° / 26.1° | 11:19 pm 133° / 26.2° | 00:18 154° / 17.8° | 01:19 am 183° / 33.5° | |||
| Penumbral eclipse ends | 01:28 am 180° / 26.0° | 01:28 am 182° / 32.4° | 01:28 am 171° / 30.2° | 00:28 148° / 35.8° | 01:28 am 171° / 21.2° | 02:28 am 202° / 30.6° | |||
As you can see from the data from the second table, the visibility of the lunar eclipse is best in Turkey. However, I can imagine that the photographic highlights come from Paris. There the moon rises at the beginning of the main phase. In the introduction I referred to the inclined readership from Austria. Also with you you can see the lunar eclipse.
| Location ⇒ | Direction / Vertical angle | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phase ⇓ | Time ⇓ Moonrise ⇒ | Vienna 8:29 pm | Salzburg 8:41 pm | Innsbruck 20:46 hours | Klagenfurt 8:32 pm |
| Penumbral eclipse begins | 7:14 pm* | 106° / -11,9° | 104° / -13,9° | 103° / -14,9° | 105° / -12,8° |
| Partial eclipse begins | 8:24 PM* | 118° / -0,7° | 116° / -2,7° | 115° / -4,0° | 117° / -1,1° |
| Moonrise | See City | 119° / -0,2° | 119° / -0,2° | 118° / -0,2° | 118° / -0,2° |
| Main phase begins | 21:30 p.m. | 130° / 7,4° | 128° / 6,0° | 126° / 5,4° | 129° / 7,4° |
| Maximum darkening (lunar eclipse) | 10:21 pm | 141° / 13,2° | 138° / 12,1° | 136° / 11,7° | 139° / 13,5° |
| Main phase ends | 11:13 pm | 152° / 17,8° | 149° / 17,0° | 147° / 16,9° | 150° / 18,5° |
| Partial eclipse ends | 12:19 AM | 168° /21,4° | 164° / 21,3° | 163° / 21,5° | 166° / 22,6° |
| Penumbral eclipse ends | 01:28 hours | 185° / 22,1° | 182° / 22,6° | 180° / 23,2° | 183° / 23,8° |
I myself will be in Gran Canaria. The moon is already in the main phase when it rises. I will try to be on this in the mountains of the island, because my vertical angle to the horizon is then smaller and I can watch and photograph the rising moon with our friends and family. After these many words and numbers, I give your eyes some variety. On Pinterest, I've put together a series of images in a gallery. I'm sure you like one or the other picture.