A total eclipse of the Moon occurred on Friday 31 May, 1844 UT (19 May, 1844 Old Style), with maximum eclipse at 22:50 UT. The Moon was plunged into darkness for 1 hour and 17 minutes, in a deep total eclipse which saw the Moon 33% of its diameter inside the Earth's umbral shadow. The visual effect of this depends on the state of the Earth's atmosphere, but the Moon may have been stained a deep red colour. The partial eclipse lasted for 3 hours and 22 minutes in total.

The penumbral eclipse lasted for 5 hours and 12 minutes. The partial eclipse lasted for 3 hours and 22 minutes. The total eclipse lasted for 1 hour and 17 minutes. Maximum eclipse was at 22:50:37 UT.

During this eclipse the Moon was at perigee, making it extremely large. At maximum eclipse it was 0.566° in apparent diameter, which is 6.5% larger than average. The statistics page has information on the ranges of the sizes of the Sun and Moon, and the Moon data page displays detailed information on the Moon's key dates.

Interactive Map

This map shows the visibility of the eclipse at maximum eclipse, when it was visible within the bright area on the map. Note that the map is approximate, and if you were near the edge of the area of visibility, the moon was very close to the horizon and may not have been practically visible.

You can use the zoom controls to zoom in and out, and pan to see areas of interest. The green marker in the centre shows where the Moon will be directly overhead at maximum eclipse.

The interactive map is currently not available.

Overview Map

This map sourced from NASA Goddard Space flight Center: GSFC Eclipse Web SiteGSFC Eclipse Web Site
The primary source of all the information on eclipses presented here at Hermit Eclipse. (NASA Goddard Space flight Center)
https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse.html
shows the visibility of the eclipse. (Click on it for the full-sized version.)

Eclipse Season and Saros Series

This eclipse season contains 2 eclipses:

This was the 42nd eclipse in lunar Saros series 118.The surrounding eclipses in this Saros series are:

This Saros series, lunar Saros series 118, is linked to solar Saros series 125. The nearest partner eclipses in that series are:

Eclipse Parameters

UT Date/time (max) 22:50:37 on 31 May UT TDT Date/time (max) 22:50:43 on 31 May TDT
Saros Series 118 Number in Series 42
Penumbral Magnitiude 2.2706 Central Magnitiude 1.3255
Gamma -0.305 Path Width (km)
Delta T 0m06s Error ± 0m01s (95%)
Penumbral Duration 5h12m Partial Duration 3h22m
Total Duration 1h17m
Partial Rating Total Rating
Sun Distance 151762954 km (96.5%) Moon Distance 358139 km (3.5%)
Sun Diameter 0.526° Moon Diameter 0.556° - 0.566°
Perigee 07:43 on 31 May UT Apogee 02:02 on 13 Jun UT

Note that while all dates and times on this site (except where noted) are in UT, which is within a second of civil time, the dates and times shown in NASA's eclipse listingsGSFC Eclipse Web Site
The primary source of all the information on eclipses presented here at Hermit Eclipse. (NASA Goddard Space flight Center)
https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse.html
are in the TDT timescale.

The Sun and Moon distances are shown in km, and as a percentage of their minimum - maximum distances; hence 0% is the closest possible (Earth's perihelion, or the Moon's closest possible perigee) and 100% is the farthest (aphelion, the farthest apogee). The statistics page has information on the ranges of sizes of the Sun and Moon, and the Moon data page displays detailed information on the Moon's key dates.

Data last updated: 2015-06-21 22:11:46 UTC.