Earlier I wrote:
> According to the 2000 Astronomical Almanac, perigee occurs Jan 19 23 h
> UT.  According to Kepler an orbital body moves fastest near perigee
> (equal area rule).  The faster motion may outweigh the larger umbra--I
> don't know, though I suspect this to be the case.

On the web page
        http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEextra/TLE2000Jan20.html
I found this statement

        ... on July 16, 2000, Hawaii, Australia and Asia will see the
        longest total lunar eclipse in 140 years (since 1859). It will
        last 1 hour and 47 minutes.

Looking in my Astronomical Almanac, I see that apogee occurs July 15
16 h UT.  So I suspect that the longest eclipse times occur near
apogee (as I implied above).

Jim     40N45, 111W53
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