May 2022 Lunar Eclipse

The event occurred near lunar perigee; as a result, this event was referred to some in media coverage as a "super flower blood moon" and elsewhere as a "super blood moon", a supermoon that coincides with a total lunar eclipse. This was the longest total lunar eclipse visible from nearly all of North America since August 17, 1989 until the next eclipse on November 8.

May 2022 lunar eclipse

Total eclipse
From Irvine, California at 4:44 UTC
Date	16 May 2022
Gamma	−0.2532
Magnitude	1.4137
Saros cycle	131 (34 of 72)
Totality	84 minutes, 53 seconds
Partiality	207 minutes, 14 seconds
Penumbral	318 minutes, 40 seconds
Contacts (UTC) P1 01:32:07 U1 02:27:53 U2 03:29:03 Greatest 04:11:28 U3 04:53:56 U4 05:55:07 P4 06:50:48
← November 2021 November 2022 →

The eclipse was a dark one with the northern limb of the Moon passing through the center of Earth's shadow. This was the first central eclipse of Lunar Saros 131.

This lunar eclipse was the third of an almost tetrad, the others being 26 May 2021 (T), 19 Nov 2021 (P) and 08 Nov 2022 (T).

The eclipse was completely visible over most of North and South America, seen rising over Northwest North America, and the Pacific Ocean, and setting over Africa and Europe. It was the longest eclipse in prime time on the US west coast this century. Because of thunderstorms, clouds covered regions of the US.

	Hourly motion shown right to left
Visibility map

North and South America

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  Spring Hill, FL 10:45 UTC
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  Los Angeles, CA at moonrise, 3:08 UTC
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  Buenos Aires, Argentina, 3:26 UTC
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  Minneapolis, MN, 3:34 UTC
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  San Antonio, TX, 3:36 UTC
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  Santa Ana, CA at 4:13 UTC
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  Mexico City, Mexico, 4:15 UTC
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  Greenville County, SC, 4:15 UTC
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  Houston, TX, 4:16 UTC
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  Sacramento, CA, 4:33 UTC
•  
  Animation from Taubaté, Brazil
• Video of eclipse from Iquique, Chile
•  
  Eclipse progression as seen from Linden Hills, Minneapolis

Europe

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  Eclipse progression as seen from Oria, Italy
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  Berlin, Germany at moonset, 2:52 UTC
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  Totality from Marseille, France
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  Animation from Madrid, Spain

Eclipses of 2022

• A partial solar eclipse on 30 April.
• A total lunar eclipse on 16 May.
• A partial solar eclipse on 25 October.
• A total lunar eclipse on 8 November.

Lunar year series

Lunar eclipse series sets from 2020–2023
Descending node					Ascending node
Saros	Date	Type Viewing	Gamma		Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma
111	2020 Jun 05	Penumbral	1.24063		116	2020 Nov 30	Penumbral	−1.13094
121	2021 May 26	Total	0.47741		126	2021 Nov 19	Partial	−0.45525
131	2022 May 16	Total	−0.25324		136	2022 Nov 08	Total	0.25703
141	2023 May 05	Penumbral	−1.03495		146	2023 Oct 28	Partial	0.94716
Last set	2020 Jul 05				Last set	2020 Jan 10
Next set	2024 Mar 25				Next set	2024 Sep 18

Saros series

Lunar Saros series 131, has 72 lunar eclipses. Solar Saros 138 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.

This eclipse series began in AD 1427 with a partial eclipse at the southern edge of the Earth's shadow when the Moon was close to its descending node. Each successive Saros cycle, the Moon's orbital path is shifted northward with respect to the Earth's shadow, with the first total eclipse occurring in 1950. For the following 252 years, total eclipses occur, with the central eclipse being predicted to occur in 2078. The first partial eclipse after this is predicted to occur in the year 2220, and the final partial eclipse of the series will occur in 2707. The total lifetime of the lunar Saros series 131 is 1280 years. Solar Saros 138 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.

Because of the ⅓ fraction of days in a Saros cycle, the visibility of each eclipse will differ for an observer at a given fixed locale. For the lunar Saros series 131, the first total eclipse of 1950 had its best visibility for viewers in Eastern Europe and the Middle East because mid-eclipse was at 20:44 UT. The following eclipse in the series occurred approximately 8 hours later in the day with mid-eclipse at 4:47 UT, and was best seen from North America and South America. The third total eclipse occurred approximately 8 hours later in the day than the second eclipse with mid-eclipse at 12:43 UT, and had its best visibility for viewers in the Western Pacific, East Asia, Australia and New Zealand. This cycle of visibility repeats from the initiation to termination of the series, with minor variations. Solar Saros 138 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.

Lunar Saros series 131, repeating every 18 years and 11 days, has a total of 72 lunar eclipse events including 57 umbral lunar eclipses (42 partial lunar eclipses and 15 total lunar eclipses). Solar Saros 138 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.

Greatest	First
The greatest eclipse of the series will occur on 2094 Jun 28, lasting 102 minutes.	Penumbral	Partial	Total	Central
	1427 May 10	1553 July 25	1950 Apr 2	2022 May 16
	Last
	Central	Total	Partial	Penumbral
	2148 Jul 31	2202 Sep 3	2563 Apr 9	2707 Jul 7

1901–2100

1914 Mar 12		1932 Mar 22		1950 Apr 2
1968 Apr 13		1986 Apr 24		2004 May 4
2022 May 16		2040 May 26		2058 Jun 6
2076 Jun 17		2094 Jun 28

This is the first of the series that passes through the center of the Earth's shadow. The last occurrence was on May 2004 lunar eclipse. The next occurrence is May 2040 lunar eclipse.

Metonic series

This eclipse is the third of four Metonic cycle lunar eclipses on the same date, 15–16 May, each separated by 19 years.

The Moon's path through the Earth's shadow near its descending node progresses southward through each sequential eclipse. The second and third are total eclipses.

The Metonic cycle repeats nearly exactly every 19 years and represents a Saros cycle plus one lunar year. Because it occurs on the same calendar date, the Earth's shadow will be in nearly the same location relative to the background stars.

1984 May 15.19 - penumbral (111) 2003 May 16.15 - total (121) 2022 May 16.17 - total (131) 2041 May 16.03 - penumbral (141)	1984 Nov 08.75 - penumbral (116) 2003 Nov 09.05 - total (126) 2022 Nov 08.46 - total (136) 2041 Nov 08.19 - partial (146) 2060 Nov 08.17 - penumbral (156)

Tritos

• Preceded: Lunar eclipse of June 15, 2011

• Followed: Lunar eclipse of April 14, 2033

Tzolkinex

• Preceded: Lunar eclipse of April 4, 2015

• Followed: Lunar eclipse of June 26, 2029

Half-Saros cycle

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros). This lunar eclipse is related to two annular solar eclipses of Solar Saros 138.

10 May 2013	21 May 2031

• List of lunar eclipses and List of 21st-century lunar eclipses