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Total lunar eclipse
Total lunar eclipse
Watch the total lunar eclipse on 21 February
 
18 February 2008
The early morning of Thursday, 21 February is your last chance to see a complete lunar eclipse before December 2010. Visible across most of western Europe, the best time to see the eclipse is between 4:01 am and 4:51 am CET.
 
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth and the Moon are aligned and Earth casts its shadow over the Moon. You can watch the lunar eclipse with the naked eye without risk.

The upcoming eclipse will also be visible across majority of North America, South America and parts of Africa.

The exact timings of the different phases of the upcoming eclipse are given below, all times are in CET.  
 
Visibility of the total lunar eclipse, 20 Feb 2008
Visibility of the total lunar eclipse, 20 Feb 2008
01:36Penumbral eclipse begins
02:43Partial eclipse begins
04:01Total eclipse beings
04:26Mid-eclipse
04:51Total eclipse ends
06:09Partial eclipse ends
06:15Penumbral eclipse ends


The sub-lunar point will be located over Europe’s spaceport in French Guyana at mid-eclipse.
 
 
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Pictures from the lunar eclipse, courtesy of ESA astronomers
Read more
What is an eclipse?The science of eclipsesThe eclipse in history
 
 
 
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