Eclipses Visible in the Philippines During 2011

I noticed that most of my frequent visitors were searching for the eclipses in the Philippines for 2011. Well then folks, I have listed below the eclipses that could be observed in the Philippines throughout the year.

Four partial solar and two total lunar eclipses will take place in 2011 but only the  lunar eclipses will be visible in the Philippines. These two are both total lunar eclipses which means that during these events, we can actually see the entire disk of the Moon being covered by the Earth’s umbra — thus we can observe a nice Reddish Moon.

Geometry of a Lunar Eclipse

Photo of the Dec. 20 total lunar eclipse from Cochranville, Pa. taken by Kevin R. Witman, using a Meade LX50 10" Schmidt Cassegrain telescope and a Canon XS DSLR camera.

Total lunar eclipses are pretty rare events  so be sure to plan your observation ahead of time and make the most out of this astronomical experience. (In the Philippines, the last one happened during May 5, 2004)

Enjoy!

June 15 Total Lunar Eclipse

It will be visible completely over Africa, and Central Asia, visible rising over South America, western Africa, and Europe, and setting over eastern Asia. In western Asia, Australia and the Philippines, the lunar eclipse will be visible just before sunrise on June 16. (View NASA Map and Eclipse Information)

June 15, 2011 Eclipse Chart: The moon passes right to left through the Earth's shadow.

View the eclipse animation

Below are the complete eclipse circumstances as well as predicted times of each eclipse phase (in PHT or UT+8) computed by Fred Espenak of NASA. Altitude and azimuth approximations were provided by the Astronomical League of the Philippines (ALP).
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	TIME  (PHT)	ALTITUDE	AZIMUTH
Moon Enters Penumbra	01:24:27am	45 deg	212 deg S
Moon Enters Umbra	02:22:57am	37 deg	225 deg S
Moon Enters Totality	03:22:29am	26 deg	234 deg SW
Maximum Totality	04:13:44am	16 deg	240 deg SW
Moon Exits Totality	05:02:42am	06 deg	244 deg SW
Moonset	05:30:00am	00 deg	246 deg SW
Moon Exits Umbra (not visible)	06:02:14am	———-	———–
Moon Exits Penumbra (not visible)	07:00:41am	———-	———–

Notes:

*The indicated times above are on June 16.

*Sunrise is at 05:26 AM.

According to the ALP, “this eclipse is particularly special because the Moon passes almost exactly in front of the center of the Earth’s shadow during totality phase thus giving us local viewers in the Philippines a long totality time of around 100 minutes” (1 hr 40 mins) .

The Moon will be located in the constellation Ophiuchus during this eclipse. Click to enlarge image.

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December 10 Total Lunar Eclipse

This eclipse will be visible from all of Asia and Australia, seen as rising over eastern Europe, and setting over northwest North America. (View NASA Eclipse Information)

December 10, 2011 Eclipse Chart: The moon passes right to left through the Earth's shadow.

Contact Times : (All in PHT= UT +8)

	TIME  (PHT)	ALTITUDE	AZIMUTH
Moon Enters Penumbra	19:33:36	31 deg	72 deg
Moon Enters Umbra	20:45:43	59 deg	72 deg
Moon Enters Totality	22:06:16	64 deg	67 deg
Maximum Totality	22:31:49	69 deg	63 deg
Moon Exits Totality	22:57:24	75 deg	55 deg
Moon Exits Umbra	00:17:58	79 deg	321 deg
Moon Exits Penumbra	01:29:57	65 deg	292 deg

Note: All eclipse stages are visible in the Philippines.

Because I got too excited for this, I created a video simulation of the entire eclipse using Stellarium. The Moon is at the constellation Taurus during this event.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes behind the earth so that the earth blocks the sun’s rays from striking the moon. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, there is always a full moon the night of a lunar eclipse.

Unlike observing solar eclipses wherein you need adequate eye protection, lunar eclipses are safe to watch with the naked eye.

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References:

• NASA Eclipse Website
• Stellarium Planetarium software
• ALP Website

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