December 2028 lunar eclipse

Astronomical event

Total eclipse

The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left

Date

December 31, 2028

Gamma

0.3258

Magnitude

1.2479

Saros cycle

125 (49 of 72)

Totality

71 minutes, 20 seconds

Partiality

208 minutes, 49 seconds

Penumbral

336 minutes, 13 seconds

Contacts (UTC)
P1	14:03:49
U1	15:07:35
U2	16:16:19
Greatest	16:51:58
U3	17:27:40
U4	18:36:24
P4	19:40:02

← July 2028 June 2029 →

A total lunar eclipse will occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Sunday, December 31, 2028, with an umbral magnitude of 1.2479. 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 4.3 days before perigee (on January 4, 2029, at 23:15 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter will be larger.

This eclipse will occur during a blue moon and is the first such eclipse to happen on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day since December 2009, and the first total lunar eclipse on New Year's Day in history. The next such eclipse will be in December 2047 (though January 2048 for most timezones).

Visibility

The eclipse will be completely visible over eastern Europe, Asia, and Australia, seen rising over Africa and Europe and setting over the eastern Pacific Ocean and western North America.

Eclipse details

Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.

December 31, 2028 Lunar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter	Value
Penumbral Magnitude	2.27579
Umbral Magnitude	1.24785
Gamma	0.32583
Sun Right Ascension	18h45m53.7s
Sun Declination	-23°01'00.5"
Sun Semi-Diameter	16'15.9"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	08.9"
Moon Right Ascension	06h46m08.4s
Moon Declination	+23°19'37.5"
Moon Semi-Diameter	15'49.4"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	0°58'04.3"
ΔT	73.4 s

Eclipse season

Related eclipses

Lunar eclipses of 2027–2031

Lunar eclipse series sets from 2027–2031
Ascending node				Descending node
Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma	Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma
110	2027 Jul 18	Penumbral	-1.57589	115	2028 Jan 12	Partial	0.98177
120	2028 Jul 06	Partial	-0.79040	125	2028 Dec 31	Total	0.32583
130	2029 Jun 26	Total	0.01240	135	2029 Dec 20	Total	-0.38110
140	2030 Jun 15	Partial	0.75346	145	2030 Dec 09	Penumbral	-1.07315
150	2031 Jun 05	Penumbral	1.47322

Last set	2027 Aug 17			Last set	2027 Feb 20

Next set	2031 May 07			Next set	2031 Oct 30

Saros 125

Lunar saros series 125, repeating every 18 years and 11 days, has 26 total lunar eclipses. The first was on June 17, 1704 and the last will be on March 19, 2155. The longest totality occurrence of this series (7th) was on August 22, 1812 when totality lasted one hour and 42 minutes.

This is the 19th of 26 total lunar eclipses in series 125. The previous occurrence was on December 21, 2010 and the next will occur on January 12, 2047.

Half-Saros cycle

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 annular solar eclipses of Solar Saros 132.