April 2014 lunar eclipse

April 2014 lunar eclipse

Total eclipse
Totality as viewed from Lomita, California, 7:44 UTC
Date	April 15, 2014
Gamma	−0.3017
Magnitude	1.2918
Saros cycle	122 (56 of 75)
Totality	77 minutes, 48 seconds
Partiality	214 minutes, 43 seconds
Penumbral	343 minutes, 53 seconds
Contacts (UTC) P1 4:53:40 U1 5:58:19 U2 7:06:46 Greatest 7:45:39 U3 8:24:34 U4 9:33:02 P4 10:37:33
← October 2013 October 2014 →

A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Tuesday, April 15, 2014,^[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.2918. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon's near side entirely passes into the Earth's umbral shadow. Unlike a solar eclipse, which can only be viewed from a relatively small area of the world, a lunar eclipse may be viewed from anywhere on the night side of Earth. A total lunar eclipse can last up to nearly two hours, while a total solar eclipse lasts only a few minutes at any given place, because the Moon's shadow is smaller. The Moon's apparent diameter was near the average diameter because it occurred 6.9 days after apogee (on April 8, 2014, at 10:50 UTC) and 7.6 days before perigee (on April 22, 2014, at 20:20 UTC).^[2]

This lunar eclipse is the first of a tetrad, with four total lunar eclipses in series, the others being on October 8, 2014; April 4, 2015; and September 28, 2015.