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 ------------------- ---------------------- -------------------- | Jim Cobb | 540 Arapeen Dr. #100 | [EMAIL PROTECTED] | | Parametric | Salt Lake City, UT | (801)-588-4632 | | Technology Corp. | 84108-1202 | Fax (801)-588-4650 | ------------------- ---------------------- -------------------- I was walking in the forest the other day and a tree fell right next to me and I didn't even hear it. -- Steven Wright