Total Lunar Eclipse of -0040 Aug 25 (0041 Aug 25 BCE)

Fred Espenak

Introduction

The Total Lunar Eclipse of -0040 Aug 25 (0041 Aug 25 BCE) is visible from the geographic regions shown on the map to the right. The diagram above the map depicts the Moon's path with respect to Earth's umbral and penumbral shadows. Click on the figure to enlarge it. For an explanation of the features appearing in the figure, see Key to Lunar Eclipse Figures.

The instant of greatest eclipse takes place on -0040 Aug 25 at 07:14:05 TD (04:11:60 UT1). This is 3.3 days after the Moon reaches perigee. During the eclipse, the Moon is in the constellation Pisces. The synodic month in which the eclipse takes place has a Brown Lunation Number of -24271.

The eclipse belongs to Saros 66 and is number 36 of 84 eclipses in the series. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node. The Moon moves southward with respect to the node with each succeeding eclipse in the series and gamma decreases.

This total eclipse is central meaning the Moon’s disk actually passes through the axis of Earth’s umbral shadow. It has an umbral eclipse magnitude of 1.8583, and Gamma has a value of -0.0011. Because they are so deep, such eclipses typically have the longest total phases. In this case, the duration of totality lasts 101.2 minutes. That qualifies the eclipse as a member of a select class of exceptionally long total eclipses with durations exceeding 100 minutes.

The total lunar eclipse of -0040 Aug 25 is preceded two weeks earlier by a partial solar eclipse on -0040 Aug 11, and it is followed two weeks later by a partial solar eclipse on -0040 Sep 09.

These eclipses all take place during a single eclipse season.

The eclipse predictions are given in both Terrestrial Dynamical Time (TD) and Universal Time (UT1). The parameter ΔT is used to convert between these two times (i.e., UT1 = TD - ΔT). ΔT has a value of 10925.3 seconds for this eclipse. The uncertainty in ΔT is 276.6 seconds corresponding to a standard error in longitude of the eclipse visibility zones of 1.16°.

The following links provide maps and data for the eclipse.

Eclipse Figure - eclipse geometry diagram and map of eclipse visibility
Saros 66 Table - data for all eclipses in the Saros series

The tables below contain detailed predictions and additional information on the Total Lunar Eclipse of -0040 Aug 25 .

Eclipse Data: Total Lunar Eclipse of -0040 Aug 25

Eclipse Characteristics
Parameter	Value
Penumbral Magnitude	2.85359
Umbral Magnitude	1.85832
Gamma	-0.00108
Epsilon	0.0011°

Opposition Times
Event	Calendar Date & Time	Julian Date
Greatest Eclipse	-0040 Aug 25 at 07:14:05.2 TD (04:11:59.9 UT1)	1706684.674999
Ecliptic Opposition	-0040 Aug 25 at 07:14:04.5 TD (04:11:59.2 UT1)	1706684.674991
Equatorial Opposition	-0040 Aug 25 at 07:14:01.7 TD (04:11:56.4 UT1)	1706684.674959

Geocentric Coordinates of Sun and Moon
-0040 Aug 25 at 07:14:05.2 TD (04:11:59.9 UT1)
Coordinate	Sun	Moon
Right Ascension	10h05m09.4s	22h05m09.5s
Declination	+11°54'32.6"	-11°54'36.1"
Semi-Diameter	15'57.3"	16'01.9"
Eq. Hor. Parallax	08.8"	0°58'50.1"

Geocentric Libration of Moon
Angle	Value
l	5.0°
b	-0.0°
c	-19.2°

Earth's Shadows
Parameter	Value
Penumbral Radius	1.2588°
Umbral Radius	0.7269°

Prediction Paramaters
Paramater	Value
Ephemerides	JPL DE406
ΔT	10925.3 s
Shadow Rule	Danjon
Shadow Enlargement	1.010
Saros Series	66 (36/84)

Explanation of Lunar Eclipse Data Tables

Eclipse Contacts: Total Lunar Eclipse of -0040 Aug 25

Lunar Eclipse Contacts
Eclipse Event	Contact	Time TD	Time UT1	Zenith Latitude	Zenith Longitude	Position Angle	Axis Distance
Penumbral Begins	P1	04:26:07.2	01:24:01.9	12°37.4'S	022°07.3'W	243.7°	1.5274°
Partial Begins	U1	05:24:37.3	02:22:32.0	12°22.5'S	036°15.5'W	243.6°	0.9950°
Total Begins	U2	06:23:27.9	03:21:22.6	12°07.5'S	050°28.8'W	243.6°	0.4600°
Greatest Eclipse	Greatest	07:14:05.2	04:11:59.9	11°54.6'S	062°42.9'W	153.7°	0.0011°
Total Ends	U3	08:04:41.4	05:02:36.1	11°41.6'S	074°56.8'W	63.8°	0.4595°
Partial Ends	U4	09:03:31.1	06:01:25.8	11°26.5'S	089°10.1'W	63.7°	0.9931°
Penumbral Ends	P4	10:02:09.2	07:00:03.9	11°11.4'S	103°20.7'W	63.7°	1.5245°

Eclipse Durations
Eclipse Phase	Duration
Penumbral (P4 - P1)	05h36m02.0s
Partial (U4 - U1)	03h38m53.8s
Total (U3 - U2)	01h41m13.5s

Explanation of Lunar Eclipse Contacts Table

Polynomial Besselian Elements: Total Lunar Eclipse of -0040 Aug 25

Polynomial Besselian Elements
-0040 Aug 25 at 07:00:00.0 TD (=t0)
n	x	y	d	f1	f2	f3
0	-0.11423	-0.05769	0.2079	1.25885	0.72701	0.26721
1	0.48861	0.24167	-0.0003	-0.00041	-0.00041	-0.00011
2	-0.00025	-0.00004	-0.0000	-0.00000	-0.00000	-0.00000
3	-0.00001	-0.00000	-	-	-	-

At time t1 (decimal hours), each besselian element is evaluated by:

x = x0 + x1*t + x2*t² + x3*t³ (or x = Σ [xn*tⁿ]; n = 0 to 3)

where: t = t1 - t0 (decimal hours) and t0 = 7.000

Explanation of Besselian Elements

Links for the Total Lunar Eclipse of -0040 Aug 25 (0041 Aug 25 BCE)

Eclipse Figure - eclipse geometry diagram and map of eclipse visibility
Saros 66 Table - data for all eclipses in the Saros series
Total Lunar Eclipse of -0040 Aug 25 - Google search for links to this eclipse

Links to Additional Lunar Eclipse Information

Home - home page of EclipseWise with predictions for both solar and lunar eclipses

Lunar Eclipses - primary page for lunar eclipse predictions
Lunar Eclipse Links - detailed directory of links

Six Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses - covers the years -2999 to +3000 (3000 BCE to 3000 CE)
Saros Catalog of Lunar Eclipses - covers Saros series -29 through 190
Javascript Lunar Eclipse Explorer - calculate all lunar eclipses visible from a city

Thousand Year Canon of Lunar Eclipses 1501 to 2500 - link to the publication

MrEclipse.com - Eclipse resources and tips on photography
Lunar Eclipses for Beginners - a primer on solar eclipse basics
MrEclipse Photo Index - an index of lunar eclipse photographs

Calendar

The Gregorian calendar (also called the Western calendar) is internationally the most widely used civil calendar. It is named for Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in 1582. On this website, the Gregorian calendar is used for all calendar dates from 1582 Oct 15 onwards. Before that date, the Julian calendar is used. For more information on this topic, see Calendar Dates.

The Julian calendar does not include the year 0. Thus the year 1 BCE is followed by the year 1 CE (See: BCE/CE Dating Conventions). This is awkward for arithmetic calculations. Years in this catalog are numbered astronomically and include the year 0. Historians should note there is a difference of one year between astronomical dates and BCE dates. Thus, the astronomical year 0 corresponds to 1 BCE, and astronomical year -1 corresponds to 2 BCE, etc..

Eclipse Predictions

Predictions for the Total Lunar Eclipse of -0040 Aug 25 were generated using the JPL DE406 solar and lunar ephemerides. The lunar coordinates were calculated with respect to the Moon's Center of Mass. The predictions are given in both Terrestrial Dynamical Time (TD) and Universal Time (UT1). The parameter ΔT is used to convert between these two times (i.e., UT1 = TD - ΔT). ΔT has a value of 10925.3 seconds for this eclipse. The uncertainty in ΔT is 276.6 seconds corresponding to a standard error in longitude of the eclipse visibility zones of 1.16°.

Acknowledgments

Some of the content on this web site is based on the book Thousand Year Canon of Lunar Eclipses 1501 to 2500. All eclipse calculations are by Fred Espenak, and he assumes full responsibility for their accuracy.

Permission is granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment:

"Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, www.EclipseWise.com"

The use of diagrams and maps is permitted provided that they are NOT altered (except for re-sizing) and the embedded credit line is NOT removed or covered.