A total

lunar eclipse A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow. Such alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six months, during the full moon phase, when the Moon's orbital plane is closest to the plane of the Eart ...

took place on Friday, March 24, 1978, the first of two total lunar eclipses in 1978. The moon passed through the center of the Earth's shadow. The Moon was plunged into darkness for 1 hour, 30 minutes and 40.2 seconds, in a deep total eclipse which saw the Moon 45.179% of its diameter inside the Earth's umbral shadow. The visual effect of this depends on the state of the Earth's atmosphere, but the Moon may have been stained a deep red colour. The partial eclipse lasted for 3 hours, 38 minutes and 34.5 seconds in total. This is the 54th member of

Lunar Saros 122 Saros cycle series 122 for lunar eclipses occurs at the moon's ascending node, every 18 years 11 and 1/3 days. It contains 74 events. This lunar saros is linked to Solar Saros 129. See also * List of lunar eclipses There are several lists of ...

. The previous event is the

March 1960 lunar eclipse A total lunar eclipse took place on Sunday, March 13, 1960. The moon passed through the center of the Earth's shadow. This is the 53rd member of Lunar Saros 122. The next event is the March 1978 lunar eclipse. This eclipse afforded astrophysi ...

. The next event is the

April 1996 lunar eclipse A total lunar eclipse took place on Thursday, April 4, 1996, the first of two total lunar eclipses in 1996, the other being on Friday, September 27. The Moon passed through the center of the Earth's shadow. This was the last central member and ...

Visibility

It was seen completely over Asia and Australia, and rising over Africa and Europe. It was seen setting over Pacific Ocean on the morning of Friday 24 March, 1978. Lunar eclipse from moon-1978Mar24

Related lunar eclipses

Eclipses in 1978

* A total lunar eclipse on Friday, 24 March 1978. * A partial solar eclipse on Friday, 7 April 1978. * A total lunar eclipse on Saturday, 16 September 1978. * A partial solar eclipse on Monday, 2 October 1978.

Lunar year series

Tritos series

Half-Saros cycle

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, ''The half-saros'' This lunar eclipse is related to two solar eclipses of

Solar Saros 129 Saros cycle series 129 for solar eclipses occurs at the Moon's ascending node, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 80 events. All eclipses in this series occurs at the Moon's ascending node. This solar saros is linked to Lunar Saros 12 ...

Notes

External links

* 1978-03 1978-03 1978 in science March 1978 events {{lunar-eclipse-stub