April 2015 lunar eclipse

April 2015 lunar eclipse

Total eclipse
Totality as viewed from Los Angeles, California, 12:00 UTC
Date	April 4, 2015
Gamma	0.4460
Magnitude	1.0019
Saros cycle	132 (30 of 71)
Totality	4 minutes, 43 seconds
Partiality	209 minutes, 1 second
Penumbral	357 minutes, 31 seconds
Contacts (UTC) P1 09:01:27 U1 10:15:45 U2 11:57:54 Greatest 12:00:15 U3 12:02:37 U4 13:44:46 P4 14:58:58
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A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Saturday, April 4, 2015,^[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.0019. 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 3.1 days after apogee (on April 1, 2015, at 9:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.^[2]

This lunar eclipse is the third of a tetrad, with four total lunar eclipses in series, the others being on April 15, 2014; October 8, 2014; and September 28, 2015.

This is the 30th member of Lunar Saros 132, and the first total eclipse of the series. The previous event was the March 1997 lunar eclipse, being slightly partial.