■ There will be four eclipses in 2008, two of the Sun and two of the Moon. Solar
eclipses are visible only in certain areas and require eye protection to be viewed safely.
Lunar eclipses are technically visible from the entire night side of Earth, but during a
penumbral eclipse, the dimming of the Moon’s illumination is slight.
FEBRUARY 7: annular eclipse of the Sun. This AUGUST 16: partial eclipse of the Moon. This
eclipse will not be visible from North America. eclipse will not be visible from North America.
FEBRUARY 20–21: total eclipse of the Moon.
The entire eclipse can be seen from eastern
and central North America. The Moon enters 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Earth’s umbral shadow on February 20 at Jan. 22 10 30 19 9
8: 43 P.M. EST, and the eclipse becomes total Feb. 20 9 28 18 7 at 10:01 P.M. EST. Totality ends at 10: 52 P.M.
EST, and the umbral phase ends at 12:09 A.M. Mar. 21 10 29 19 8
EST on February 21. The penumbral phase Apr. 20 9 28 17 6
(only) will occur over western North Amer- May 19 9 27 17 5
ica, at the time of moonrise; it will be difficult June 18 7 26 15 4
to see changes in the Moon’s appearance. July 18 7 25 15 3
AUGUST 1: total eclipse of the Sun. In North Aug. 16 5 24 13 1& 31
America, totality will be visible only from Sept. 15 4 23 12 29
arctic Canada. The partial phase will be visi- Oct. 14 4 22 11 29
ble from extreme northeastern areas of North Nov. 13 2 21 10 28 America, where the Sun will rise partially eclipsed. Dec. 12 2& 31 21 10 28
Moon
PENUMBRA
Sun
UMBRA
Earth
PENUMBRA
In a lunar eclipse (above), Earth is between the Sun and the Moon. The umbra is the central
dark part of the shadow created during an eclipse. The penumbra is the area of partial dark-
ness surrounding the umbra. During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon passes through the umbra.
DATE
2009 July 22
2010 July 11
2012 November 13
2015 March 20
REGIONS WITH VISIBLE TOTALIT Y
India, China, central Pacific Ocean
South Pacific Ocean, southern South America
Northern Australia, South Pacific Ocean
References:
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