A partial eclipse of the Moon occurred on Saturday 21 December, 1991 UT, with maximum eclipse at 10:33 UT. A tiny bite out of the Moon may have been visible at maximum, though just 9% of the Moon was shadowed in a partial eclipse which lasted for 1 hour and 4 minutes. A shading across the moon from the Earth's penumbral shadow should have been visible at maximum eclipse.

The penumbral eclipse lasted for 4 hours and 12 minutes. The partial eclipse lasted for 1 hour and 4 minutes. Maximum eclipse was at 10:33:02 UT.

During this eclipse the Moon was just a day before perigee, making it extremely large. At maximum eclipse it was 0.564° in apparent diameter, which is 6.2% 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 56th eclipse in lunar Saros series 115.The surrounding eclipses in this Saros series are:

This Saros series, lunar Saros series 115, is linked to solar Saros series 122. The nearest partner eclipses in that series are:

Eclipse Parameters

UT Date/time (max) 10:33:02 on 21 Dec UT TDT Date/time (max) 10:34:00 on 21 Dec TDT
Saros Series 115 Number in Series 56
Penumbral Magnitiude 1.0651 Central Magnitiude 0.0876
Gamma 0.9709 Path Width (km)
Delta T 0m58s Error ± 0m00s (95%)
Penumbral Duration 4h12m Partial Duration 1h04m
Total Duration
Partial Rating Total Rating
Sun Distance 147163687 km (1.4%) Moon Distance 359212 km (5.6%)
Sun Diameter 0.542° Moon Diameter 0.554° - 0.564°
Apogee 01:51 on 10 Dec UT Perigee 09:29 on 22 Dec 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.