Where was the most recent solar eclipse?

Answer 1

The last total lunar eclipse was on December 20, 2010. There are also a number of partial and penumbral eclipses between these dates.

Before this there was a total lunar eclipse on February 20, 2008.

If you would like to see a list of all recent past and future lunar eclipses, follow the Related Link below.

Answer 2

A lunar eclipse does not happen in a specific place, or even in a limited area on Earth. A lunar eclipse is an alignment of the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon, in that order, such that the Moon passes through the earth's shadow. So the "location" of a lunar eclipse is on this line between the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon.

Perhaps the "where" in the question was meant to refer not to the location of the event itself, but to the location, on the Earth's surface, from which the lunar eclipse was visible. This would mean something if we were talking about a solareclipse. You see, because the sun is so much larger than the moon, the moon casts a very small shadow. When a solar eclipse occurs, even a "full solar eclipse", the moon completely blocks out the sun only over a small percentage of the Earth's surface area. The rest of the planet sees either only a partial eclipse, or no eclipse at all.

Now, the Earth's shadow is quite a bit larger than the moon's. And so, it is possible for the moon to fall completely within the Earth's shadow. But that's not really relevant here. You see, when we see a solar eclipse, we are viewing it from the surface on which the shadow is being cast. But when we see a lunar eclipse, we are viewing it from the body that is casting the shadow. And it will look the same, regardless of where on that shadow-caster we are standing (assuming we can see it at all, which we can't, if we're on the sun side during the eclipse). And so, it is pointless to ask where, on the Earth's surface, a lunar eclipse is visible from, because it is equally visible from all locations that are on the night side of the Earth (unless, of course, you want the trivial answer, "the entire night side of the Earth").

It may help you to conduct a little experiment. On a sunny day, hold your hand between you and the sun and move it back and forth, and observe the shadow of your hand on your body. That shadow will cover only a small part of your body at any given time. If that part of your body happens to include your eyes, you will "see" the solar eclipse caused by your hand. But if the shadow is cast on your foot, you won't be able to see it, because your eyes are not on that part of your body, though, if an ant happened to be crawling on your foot, he would see the eclipse. By the same token, an ant on your foot would not be able to see the solar eclipse that your eyes saw previously.

Now, turn your back to the sun and put your hand in front of you so that it is in your shadow. You can easily see this lunar eclipse, right? Now, if that same ant was still crawling on your foot, and he looked up at your hand, would he see the eclipse? Would he see that your hand was in your shadow, or would he see that your hand was in the sunlight? Of course, he would see the same hand that you saw, and it would look identically shaded. Now you might have your hand only partially within your shadow, so that you would be viewing only a partial lunar eclipse. But the point is, regardless of the degree to which the eclipse occurs, it would appear the same no matter where you were looking at it from.

Answer 3

I presume that you mean a total lunar eclipse. There have been three penumbral lunar eclipses so far in 2009, none of which have been visible to the naked eye.

February 21, 2008, visible from western Africa and Europe, and most of the Americas.

Answer 4

Just like all others ever since, it happened on the surface of the moon, where the sun

became invisible for a few hours when the earth blocked it from view.

Answer 5

Astronomers generally agree that the last one has not happened yet,

and there are still several more to come.

Answer 6

July 2011

it says where not when