The total lunar eclipse of July 16 2000 was visible over the Pacific, Australia, and East Asia.
The penumbral eclipse -- the least exciting, and hardest to see part -- began at 10:46:38 UT and ended at 17:04:31 UT.
The partial eclipse began at 11:57:17 UT and ended just under 4 hours later at 15:53:55 UT. The total eclipse lasted for over 1½ hours; it began at 13:02:05 UT and ended at 14:49:06 UT, with the moment of greatest eclipse at 13:55:35 UT. It was visible over the Pacific, Australasia and south-east Asia.
More information on this eclipse may be found at Fred Espenak's site.
The following map shows the areas where the partial eclipse was visible:
Visibility of the partial eclipse.
This map shows the position of the Moon (the cross in the centre) at the time of maximum eclipse. The darkened area sees the whole partial eclipse; the pink areas to the right see only the beginning; and the blue areas on the left see the end.
The following map shows the areas where the total eclipse was visible:
Visibility of the total eclipse.
This map shows the position of the Moon (the cross in the centre) at the time of maximum eclipse. The darkened area sees the whole total eclipse; the pink areas to the right see only the beginning; and the blue areas on the left see the end.
In North America, the total eclipse will only be visible in western Alaska. The bulk of the US is pretty unlucky, as the zone of visibility just misses land.
However, in the extreme west of the Pacific US states, the Moon will still be visible, just as it sets (around 6:00 am), seconds before the total eclipse begins. This should give viewers in this area (such as me!) an interesting spectacle of the Moon, gradually becoming more and more eclipsed, then stained with red, as it finally sinks into the sea.
Here's what the sky will look like from San Francisco, at 13:01:50 UT (06:01:50 PDT), 15 seconds before totality:
Of course you'll have to get up in the middle of the night, but it should be worth it -- if the fog bank doesn't get in the way. See you on the Marin headlands?
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Copyright (C) 1995-2005 Ian Cameron Smith.
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