April 1958 lunar eclipse
Penumbral eclipse | |||||||||
Date | April 4, 1958 | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gamma | −1.5381 | ||||||||
Magnitude | −0.9421 | ||||||||
Saros cycle | 102 (84 of 84) | ||||||||
Penumbral | 31 minutes, 2 seconds | ||||||||
| |||||||||
A penumbral lunar eclipse will occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Friday, April 4, 1958,[1] with an umbral magnitude of −0.9421. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when part or all of the Moon's near side passes into the Earth's penumbra. Unlike a solar eclipse, which can only be viewed from a relatively small area of the world, a lunar eclipse may be viewed from anywhere on the night side of Earth. Occurring only about 16.5 hours before perigee (on April 3, 1958, at 20:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[2]
This was the last penumbral lunar eclipse in Lunar Saros 102. In this extremely marginal eclipse, the Moon barely clipped the edge of the Earth's penumbral shadow. This caused a microscopic darkening of just 1% of the Moon's disc for about 31 minutes, which was essentially impossible to see.
Visibility
[edit]The eclipse was completely visible over North America, South America, most of Africa and western Europe.[3]
Eclipse details
[edit]Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[4]
Parameter | Value |
---|---|
Penumbral Magnitude | 0.01359 |
Umbral Magnitude | −0.94211 |
Gamma | −1.53805 |
Sun Right Ascension | 00h51m06.5s |
Sun Declination | +05°28'40.0" |
Sun Semi-Diameter | 15'59.5" |
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.8" |
Moon Right Ascension | 12h49m12.4s |
Moon Declination | -06°58'45.5" |
Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'43.9" |
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 1°01'24.6" |
ΔT | 32.4 s |
Eclipse season
[edit]This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight. The first and last eclipse in this sequence is separated by one synodic month.
April 4 Ascending node (full moon) |
April 19 Descending node (new moon) |
May 3 Ascending node (full moon) |
---|---|---|
Penumbral lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 102 |
Annular solar eclipse Solar Saros 128 |
Partial lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 140 |
Related eclipses
[edit]Eclipses in 1958
[edit]- A penumbral lunar eclipse on April 4.
- An annular solar eclipse on April 19.
- A partial lunar eclipse on May 3.
- A total solar eclipse on October 12.
- A penumbral lunar eclipse on October 27.
Tzolkinex
[edit]- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of February 21, 1951
Lunar Saros 102
[edit]- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 23, 1940
Lunar eclipses of 1958–1962
[edit]Ascending node | Descending node | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saros | Date Viewing |
Type Chart |
Gamma | Saros | Date Viewing |
Type Chart |
Gamma | |
102 | 1958 Apr 04 |
Penumbral |
-1.53805 | |||||
112 | 1959 Mar 24 |
Partial |
-0.87571 | 117 | 1959 Sep 17 |
Penumbral |
1.02963 | |
122 | 1960 Mar 13 |
Total |
-0.17990 | 127 | 1960 Sep 05 |
Total |
0.24219 | |
132 | 1961 Mar 02 |
Partial |
0.55406 | 137 | 1961 Aug 26 |
Partial |
-0.48947 | |
142 | 1962 Feb 19 |
Penumbral |
1.25115 | 147 | 1962 Aug 15 |
Penumbral |
-1.22104 | |
Last set | 1958 May 03 | Last set | 1958 Oct 27 | |||||
Next set | 1963 Jan 09 | Next set | 1962 Jul 17 |
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ "April 3–4, 1958 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
- ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
- ^ "Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of 1958 Apr 04" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
- ^ "Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of 1958 Apr 04". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
External links
[edit]- 1958 Apr 04 chart Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC