May 15-16, 2022 Total Lunar Eclipse: Shadow View

  • Released Thursday, March 24, 2022
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Both movies and high-resolution still images are available for Eastern (above), Central, Mountain, and Pacific Daylight Time, as well as UTC. Also see the visibility map and Dial-a-Moon for this eclipse.

On May 16, 2022 (the night of May 15 in the Western Hemisphere), the Moon enters the Earth's shadow, creating a total lunar eclipse, the first since May of 2021. This animation shows the changing appearance of the Moon as it travels into and out of the Earth's shadow, along with times at various stages.

The penumbra is the part of the Earth’s shadow where the Sun is only partially covered by the Earth. The umbra is where the Sun is completely hidden. The Moon's appearance isn't affected much by the penumbra. The real action begins when the Moon starts to disappear as it enters the umbra at about 10:28 p.m. EDT on the 15th. An hour later, entirely within the umbra, the Moon is a ghostly copper color. Totality lasts for an hour and a half before the Moon begins to emerge from the central shadow. Throughout the eclipse, the Moon is moving throught the constellation Libra.



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Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

Release date

This page was originally published on Thursday, March 24, 2022.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, November 15, 2023 at 12:18 AM EST.


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