December 1992 lunar eclipse
| Total eclipse | |||||||||||||||||
The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left | |||||||||||||||||
| Date | December 9, 1992 | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gamma | 0.3144 | ||||||||||||||||
| Magnitude | 1.2709 | ||||||||||||||||
| Saros cycle | 125 (47 of 72) | ||||||||||||||||
| Totality | 73 minutes, 53 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Partiality | 208 minutes, 45 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Penumbral | 334 minutes, 5 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Wednesday, December 9, 1992, with an umbral magnitude of 1.2709. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon's near side entirely passes into the Earth's umbral shadow. Unlike a solar eclipse, which can only be viewed from a relatively small area of the world, a lunar eclipse may be viewed from anywhere on the night side of Earth. A total lunar eclipse can last up to nearly two hours, while a total solar eclipse lasts only a few minutes at any given place, because the Moon's shadow is smaller. Occurring about 3.9 days before perigee (on December 13, 1992, at 21:05 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
According to Fred Espenak, this was the darkest eclipse in a decade, caused by the June 15, 1991 eruptions of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines.