A total lunar eclipse took place on June 15, 2011. It was the first of two such eclipses in 2011. The second occurred on December 10, 2011. This was a relatively rare central lunar eclipse, in which the center point of Earth's shadow passes across the moon. The last time a lunar eclipse was closer to the center of the earth's shadow was on July 16, 2000. The next central total lunar eclipse will be on July 27, 2018 over South America, western Africa, and Europe, and setting over eastern Asia.