"The Dual Lunar Eclipses Of 2003!"

Scheduled air date: 2003 Apr 28-May 04

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Get ready for the first of two Total Lunar Eclipses this year!
On the night of May 15-16, the Earth will pass between the Sun and the Moon, and the Moon will pass through Earth's shadow, forming a Total Lunar Eclipse visible from all of North America (weather permitting)!  During the darker umbral phase, the Moon will turn a beautiful, dark orange-red, which shouldn't be missed!  Below are key event times for the primary North American time zones:

Total Lunar Eclipse — Night of 2003 May 15*

Event Pacific (PDT) Mountain (MDT) Central (CDT) Eastern (EDT) Atlantic (ADT)
Moon enters penumbra 6:05 PM 7:05 PM 8:05 PM 9:05 PM 10:05 PM
Moon enters umbra 7:03 PM 8:03 PM 9:03 PM 10:03 PM 11:03 PM
Totality begins 8:14 PM 9:14 PM 10:14 PM 11:14 PM 12:14 AM
Mid-eclipse 8:40 PM 9:40 PM 10:40 PM 11:40 PM 12:40 AM
Totality ends 9:06 PM 10:06 PM 11:06 PM 12:06 AM 1:06 AM
Moon exits umbra 10:17 PM 11:17 PM 12:17 AM 1:17 AM 2:17 AM
Moon exits penumbra 11:15 AM 12:15 AM 1:15 AM 2:15 AM 3:15 AM

*Times shown after midnight (AM) are the morning of 2003 May 16.

A second Total Lunar Eclipse visible from North America will occur later this year on the night of November 8-9.

If you wish to view illustrations for other episodes, please see our Star Gazer Illustrated directory.


Illustrations on this page were created using TheSky Astronomy Software, an advanced desktop planetarium program designed for Windows.

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