March 2016 lunar eclipse

March 2016 lunar eclipse
Penumbral eclipse
Date	23 March 2016
Gamma	1.1592
Magnitude	0.7748
Saros cycle	142 (18 of 73)
Penumbral	255 minutes, 21 seconds
P1
Contacts (UTC)
P1	09:39:29
Greatest	11:47:12
P4	13:54:50
	← September 2015 August 2016 →

A penumbral lunar eclipse took place on 23 March 2016, the first of three lunar eclipses in 2016. The Moon was just 2.1 days before apogee, making it very small, so this was a "Micromoon" penumbral lunar eclipse.

Visibility[edit]

It was visible from east Asia, Australia, and most of North America.


Visibility map

Related eclipses[edit]

Eclipses of 2016[edit]

A total solar eclipse on 9 March.
A penumbral lunar eclipse on 23 March.
A penumbral lunar eclipse on 18 August.
An annular solar eclipse on 1 September.
A penumbral lunar eclipse on 16 September.

This eclipse is the one of four lunar eclipses in a short-lived series at the ascending node of the Moon's orbit.

The lunar year series repeats after 12 lunations or 354 days (Shifting back about 10 days in sequential years). Because of the date shift, the Earth's shadow will be about 11 degrees west in sequential events.

Lunar eclipse series sets from 2013–2016
Ascending node				Descending node
Saros	Viewing date	Type	Gamma	Saros	Viewing date	Type	Gamma
112	2013 Apr 25	Partial	−1.0121	117	2013 Oct 18	Penumbral	1.1508
122	2014 Apr 15	Total	−0.3017	127	2014 Oct 08	Total	0.3827
132	2015 Apr 04	Total	0.4460	137	2015 Sep 28	Total	−0.3296
142	2016 Mar 23	Penumbral	1.1592	147	2016 Sep 16	Penumbral	−1.0549

Last set	2013 May 25			Last set	2012 Nov 28

Next set	2017 Feb 11			Next set	2016 Aug 18

Half-Saros cycle[edit]

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).^[1] This lunar eclipse is related to two partial solar eclipses of Solar Saros 149.