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2000 Total Eclipse
Phases of the 2000 Total Lunar Eclipse
Totality is embraced by the partial phases of the 2000 total lunar eclipse.
The composite was assembled from three separate exposures using Adobe Photoshop.
The total lunar eclipse of 2000 Jan 20-21 was widely visible from the USA.
AstroPhysics 120 EDT Refractor (5" F/6) + AP 2X Barlow, Kogak Royal Gold 100, f/12
(click to see larger image)


Total Lunar Eclipse of 2000 Jan 20-21

Photo Gallery Part A

©2000 by Fred Espenak. All rights reserved.

A total lunar eclipse is a celestial event of great beauty.Unlike a total solar eclipse which can only be seen from a very tiny fraction of Earth's surface, a total lunar eclipse is visible to the entire night side of Earth.Few people have witnessed a total solar eclipse, but many have seen its lunar counterpart.

On the evening of Thursday, January 20-21, 2000, a total eclipse of the Moon was visible from all of North and South America including the USA and Canada. From start to finish, eclipse lasted nearly three and a half hours. The partial eclipse began as the Moon's eastern edge slowly moved into the Earth's umbral shadow. During the partial phases, it took just over an hour for the Moon's orbital motion to carry it entirely within the Earth's dark umbra. The Moon took on a vivid redish orange color during the 77 minute long total phase.After totality ended, the partial phases repeated themselves in reverse as the Moon gradually left the umbral shadow. This diagram shows the geometry of the Moon's path through Earth's shadows as well as the times of each phase of the eclipse.For more details about this event, see the NASA web site Total Lunar Eclipse: January 20-21, 2000.

I had just returned from a short trip to Iceland one day before the eclipse and I was looking forward to it with great anticipation. Unfortunately, the weather forecast called for several inches of snow on eclipse day. Sure enough, there were nearly six inches of fresh snow on the ground as I drove home from work that day. The sky was still overcast, but I noticed more and more holes developing as I got closer to home. It was clearing with just a few hours to spare!

After arriving home, I wolfed down a fast dinner and headed out to my concrete observing pad. I needed to shovel off all the snow before I could begin setting up my 5" AstroPhysics refractor and Losmandy G-11 equatorial mount. Working quickly, I managed to get everything ready as the last clouds vanished and the Full Moon rose.

It was a wonderful eclipse in a very cold (15° F), crystal clear sky. Below is a selection of photos taken that evening. I hope they inspire you to watch or photograph a total eclipse of the Moon for yourself.

For a second web page of photos, please visit: 2000 Jan 21 Lunar Eclipse Photo Gallery: Part B.




Click on each image to see a larger photo.

TLE2000-04n
Full Moon
(TLE2000-04w)

Full Moon (TLE2000-04w)

Although the penumbral phase of the eclipse began 17 minutes earlier (02:03 UT), there is no visible sign of this feeble shadow as a brilliant Full Moon lights up the winter sky. About 30% of the Moon now lies within the penumbra.

Total Lunar Eclipse of 2000 Jan 21 (Dunkirk, MD)
AstroPhysics 130 EDF + Nikon N70: Kodak Royal Gold 100, f/12, 1/250; 02:20 UT
Photo ©2000 by Fred Espenak

TLE2000-10n
Magnitude 0.059
(TLE2000-10w)

Magnitude 0.059 (TLE2000-10w)

At this early stage of the partial phases, 5.9% of the Moon (measured across the diameter) is immersed in Earth's umbra. This corresponds to an eclipse magnitude of 0.059.

Total Lunar Eclipse of 2000 Jan 21 (Dunkirk, MD)
AstroPhysics 130 EDF + Nikon N70: Kodak Royal Gold 100, f/12, 1/125; 03:05 UT
Photo ©2000 by Fred Espenak

TLE2000-16n
Magnitude 0.296
(TLE2000-16w)

Magnitude 0.296 (TLE2000-16w)

Well into the partial phases, 29.6% of the Moon (measured across the diameter) is immersed in Earth's umbra. This corresponds to an eclipse magnitude of 0.296.

Total Lunar Eclipse of 2000 Jan 21 (Dunkirk, MD)
AstroPhysics 130 EDF + Nikon N70: Kodak Royal Gold 100, f/12, 1/50; 03:20 UT
Photo ©2000 by Fred Espenak

TLE2000-22n
Magnitude 0.534
(TLE2000-22w)

Magnitude 0.534 (TLE2000-22w)

Over half of the Moon (53.4% measured across the diameter) is now within Earth's umbral shadow. This corresponds to an eclipse magnitude of 0.534.

Total Lunar Eclipse of 2000 Jan 21 (Dunkirk, MD)
AstroPhysics 130 EDF + Nikon N70: Kodak Royal Gold 100, f/12, 1/50; 03:35 UT
Photo ©2000 by Fred Espenak

TLE2000-28n
Magnitude 0.772
(TLE2000-28w)

Magnitude 0.772 (TLE2000-28w)

Three quarters of the Moon (77.2% measured across the diameter) is within Earth's umbral shadow. This corresponds to an eclipse magnitude of 0.772. Totality begins in just 14 minutes.

Total Lunar Eclipse of 2000 Jan 21 (Dunkirk, MD)
AstroPhysics 130 EDF + Nikon N70: Kodak Royal Gold 100, f/12, 1/20; 03:50 UT
Photo ©2000 by Fred Espenak

TLE2000-33+34n
Totality Begins
(TLE2000-33+34w)

Totality Begins (TLE2000-33+34w)

The total phase of the eclipse begins as the entire Moon slips into Earth's dark umbral shadow. The center of the shadow is darker than the edge, so the Moon appears to have a bright rim alond its western (right) edge.

Total Lunar Eclipse of 2000 Jan 21 (Dunkirk, MD)
AstroPhysics 130 EDF + Nikon N70: Kodak Royal Gold 400, f/12, 6 sec; 04:04 UT
Photo ©2000 by Fred Espenak

TLE2000-48+50n
Portrait of Totality
(TLE2000-48+50w)

Portrait of Totality (TLE2000-48+50w)

The continental U.S.A.'s most recent total lunar eclipse occurred on 2000 Jan 20-21. Many people managed to catch a glimpse of the event despite frigid temperatures and snow storms.During the total phase, the Moon's brighness dropped a thousand fold and took on a copper-orange color.This odd appearance is due to the fact that Earth's atmosphere filters out all the blue and green light so that only orange and red sunlight reaches the Moon.

Total Lunar Eclipse of 2000 Jan 21 (Dunkirk, MD)
AstroPhysics 130 EDF + Nikon N70: Kodak Royal Gold 400, f/12, 15 sec; 04:37 UT
Photo ©2000 by Fred Espenak

TLE2000-60+62n
Totality Ends
(TLE2000-60+62w)

Totality Ends (TLE2000-60+62w)

As the total phase reaches the end, the Moon's eastern limb grows brighter as it approaches the edge of the umbra.

Total Lunar Eclipse of 2000 Jan 21 (Dunkirk, MD)
AstroPhysics 130 EDF + Nikon N70: Kodak Royal Gold 400, f/12, 15 sec; 05:07 UT
Photo ©2000 by Fred Espenak

LE00-Trio2
Totality in Triplicate
(LE00-Trio2)

Totality in Triplicate (LE00-Trio2)

This trio of images captures the Moon at the beginning (right), middle (center) and end (left) of totality.The differences apparent in the Moon's color and brightness are due to variations in the Earth's umbral shadow.A 5" AstroPhysics refractor (130EDF) was used at f/12, with Kodak Royal Gold 400 color negative film.The individual images were then scanned into a Macintosh and the final composition was arranged with Adobe Photoshop.

Total Lunar Eclipse of 2000 Jan 21 (Dunkirk, MD)
AstroPhysics 130 EDF + Nikon N70: Kodak Royal Gold 400, f/12, 15 sec
Photo ©2000 by Fred Espenak

TLE2000-72n
Magnitude 0.801
(TLE2000-72w)

Magnitude 0.801 (TLE2000-72w)

Four fifths of the Moon (80.1% measured across the diameter) remains within Earth's umbral shadow. This corresponds to an eclipse magnitude of 0.801. Totality ended 13 minutes earlier.

Total Lunar Eclipse of 2000 Jan 21 (Dunkirk, MD)
AstroPhysics 130 EDF + Nikon N70: Kodak Royal Gold 100, f/12, 1/10; 05:35 UT
Photo ©2000 by Fred Espenak

TLE2000-78n
Magnitude 0.563
(TLE2000-78w)

Magnitude 0.563 (TLE2000-78w)

Just over half of the Moon (56.3% measured across the diameter) lies within Earth's umbral shadow.

Total Lunar Eclipse of 2000 Jan 21 (Dunkirk, MD)
AstroPhysics 130 EDF + Nikon N70: Kodak Royal Gold 100, f/12, 1/20; 05:50 UT
Photo ©2000 by Fred Espenak

TLE2000-84n
Magnitude 0.366
(TLE2000-84w)

Magnitude 0.366 (TLE2000-84w)

One third of the Moon (36.6% measured across the diameter) remains within Earth's umbral shadow. This corresponds to an eclipse magnitude of 0.366. The partial phases end in 20 minutes.

Total Lunar Eclipse of 2000 Jan 21 (Dunkirk, MD)
AstroPhysics 130 EDF + Nikon N70: Kodak Royal Gold 100, f/12, 1/60; 06:05 UT
Photo ©2000 by Fred Espenak

TLE2000-90n
Magnitude 0.089
(TLE2000-90w)

Magnitude 0.089 (TLE2000-90w)

The partial phases near an end with a mere 8.9% (measured across the diameter) of the Moon within Earth's umbral shadow. This corresponds to an eclipse magnitude of 0.089. The partial eclipse ends in 5 minutes.

Total Lunar Eclipse of 2000 Jan 21 (Dunkirk, MD)
AstroPhysics 130 EDF + Nikon N70: Kodak Royal Gold 100, f/12, 1/100; 06:20 UT
Photo ©2000 by Fred Espenak

TLE2000-96n
Full Moon Again
(TLE2000-96w)

Full Moon Again (TLE2000-96w)

Even though half of the Moon still lies within the penumbra, the eclipse is essentially over as far as the eye can tell.

Total Lunar Eclipse of 2000 Jan 21 (Dunkirk, MD)
AstroPhysics 130 EDF + Nikon N70: Kodak Royal Gold 100, f/12, 1/160; 06:50 UT
Photo ©2000 by Fred Espenak



For more photos, please visit:

2000 Total Lunar Eclipse Gallery B



Lunar Eclipse Photographs

Other Links

Copyright Notice

All photographs, text and web pages are © Copyright 2007 by Fred Espenak, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. They may not be reproduced, published, copied or transmitted in any form, including electronically on the Internet or WWW, without written permission of the author. The photos have been digitally watermarked.

The photographs may be licensed for commercial, editorial, and educational use. Contact Espenak (at MrEclipse) for photo use in print, web, video, CD and all other media.

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Last revised: 2008 Feb 01