A total lunar eclipse will occur at the MoonâÂÂs ascending node of orbit on Monday, May 6, 2069, with an umbral magnitude of 1.3242. It will be a central lunar eclipse, in which part of the Moon will pass through the center of the Earth's shadow. 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. Occurring about 2.3 days after apogee (on May 4, 2069, at 1:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter will be smaller.
This lunar eclipse will be the third of an almost tetrad, with the others being on May 17, 2068 (partial); November 9, 2068 (total); and October 30, 2069 (total).
This will be the first central eclipse of Lunar Saros 132.
The Moon will also occult the bright star Alpha Librae as seen from the southern hemisphere a few hours before greatest eclipse.
The eclipse will be completely visible over western North America, Antarctica, and the eastern Pacific Ocean, seen rising over east Asia and Australia and setting over central and eastern North America and South America.
Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight. The first and last eclipse in this sequence is separated by one synodic month.
A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros). This lunar eclipse is related to two total solar eclipses of Solar Saros 139.