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February 20–21, 1970 Partial Lunar Eclipse

This eclipse was visible in Washington DC - go to local timings and animation

What This Lunar Eclipse Looked Like

The curvature of the shadow's path and the apparent rotation of the Moon's disk is due to the Earth's rotation.

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Where the Eclipse Was Seen

Try our new interactive eclipse maps. Zoom in and search for accurate eclipse times and visualizations for any location.

Regions seeing, at least, some parts of the eclipse: Much of Europe, Much of Asia, Australia, North/West Africa, North America, South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic, Antarctica.

Expand for a list of selected cities where the partial eclipse was visible

This eclipse was visible in Washington DC - go to local timings and animation

Eclipse Map and Animation

The animation shows where this partial lunar eclipse is visible during the night (dark “wave” slowly moving across the Earth's surface).

Shades of darkness

Night, moon high up in sky.

Moon between 12 and 18 degrees above horizon.

Moon between 6 and 12 degrees above horizon. Make sure you have free line of sight.

Moon between 0 and 6 degrees above horizon. May be hard to see due to brightness and line of sight.

Day, moon and eclipse both not visible.

Note: Twilight will affect the visibility of the eclipse, as well as weather.

Eclipse was visible.

Only partial phase was visible. Missed partial phase.

Eclipse was not visible at all.

Note: Areas with lighter shadings left (West) of the center will experience the eclipse after moonrise/sunset. Areas with lighter shadings right (East) of the center will experience the eclipse until moonset/sunrise. Actual eclipse visibility depends on weather conditions and line of sight to the Moon.

When the Eclipse Happened Worldwide — Timeline

Lunar eclipses can be visible from everywhere on the night side of the Earth, if the sky is clear. From some places the entire eclipse will be visible, while in other areas the Moon will rise or set during the eclipse.

Eclipse Stages WorldwideUTC TimeLocal Time in Washington DC*Visible in Washington DC
Penumbral Eclipse beganFeb 21 at 06:00:46Feb 21 at 1:00:46 amYes
Partial Eclipse beganFeb 21 at 08:03:52Feb 21 at 3:03:52 amYes
Maximum EclipseFeb 21 at 08:30:06Feb 21 at 3:30:06 amYes
Partial Eclipse endedFeb 21 at 08:56:21Feb 21 at 3:56:21 amYes
Penumbral Eclipse endedFeb 21 at 10:59:22Feb 21 at 5:59:22 amYes

* The Moon was above the horizon during this eclipse, so with good weather conditions in Washington DC, the entire eclipse was visible.

Quick Facts About This Eclipse

DataValueComments
Magnitude0.046Fraction of the Moon’s diameter covered by Earth’s umbra
Obscuration1.4%Percentage of the Moon's area covered by Earth's umbra
Penumbral magnitude1.140Fraction of the Moon's diameter covered by Earth's penumbra
Overall duration4 hours, 59 minutesPeriod between the beginning and end of all eclipse phases
Duration of partial phase52 minutesPeriod between the beginning and end of the partial phase
Duration of penumbral phases4 hours, 6 minutesCombined period of both penumbral phases

Eclipse calculations usually accurate to a few seconds

How Many People Can See This Eclipse?

Number of People Seeing...Number of People*Fraction of World Population
At least some of the penumbral phase1,450,000,00039.31%
At least some of the partial phase474,000,00012.83%
All of partial phase372,000,00010.07%
The entire eclipse from beginning to end271,000,0007.36%

* The number of people refers to the resident population (as a round number) in areas where the eclipse is visible. timeanddate has calculated these numbers using raw population data provided by the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) at Columbia University. The raw data is based on population estimates from the year 2000 to 2020.

An Eclipse Never Comes Alone!

A solar eclipse always occurs about two weeks before or after a lunar eclipse.

Usually, there are two eclipses in a row, but other times, there are three during the same eclipse season.

All eclipses 1900 — 2199

This is the first eclipse this season.

Second eclipse this season: March 7, 1970 — Total Solar Eclipse