A penumbral
lunar eclipse
A lunar eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six months, during the full moon phase, ...
occurred at the Moon’s
descending node
An orbital node is either of the two points where an orbit intersects a plane of reference to which it is inclined. A non-inclined orbit, which is contained in the reference plane, has no nodes.
Planes of reference
Common planes of referenc ...
of orbit on Saturday, November 6, 1976, with an umbral
magnitude
Magnitude may refer to:
Mathematics
*Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction
*Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object
*Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector
*Order of ...
of −0.2593. A lunar eclipse occurs when the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
moves into the
Earth's shadow
Earth's shadow (or Earth shadow) is the shadow that Earth itself casts through its atmosphere and into outer space, toward the antisolar point. During the twilight period (both early dusk and late dawn), the shadow's visible fringe – someti ...
, 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
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...
, which can only be viewed from a relatively small area of the world, a lunar eclipse may be viewed from anywhere on the
night
Night, or nighttime, is the period of darkness when the Sun is below the horizon. Sunlight illuminates one side of the Earth, leaving the other in darkness. The opposite of nighttime is daytime. Earth's rotation causes the appearance of ...
side of Earth. Occurring only about 8 hours after
apogee
An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values.
Apsides perta ...
(on November 6, 1976, at 14:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
Visibility
The eclipse was completely visible over
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
,
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
, and
west
West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...
and
central Asia
Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
, seen rising over
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
and
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
and setting over
east
East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...
,
northeast
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—eac ...
, and
south Asia
South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
and western
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
.
Eclipse details
Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
Eclipse season
This eclipse is part of an
eclipse season
An eclipse season is a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Eclipse seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of the Orbit of the Moon, Moon's orbital plane (orbital inclination, tilted five degrees to the ecliptic, Earth ...
, 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
A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term , meaning "" (or "fourteen days", since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights).
Astronomy and tides
In astronomy, a ''lunar fortnight'' is hal ...
.
Related eclipses
Eclipses in 1976
*
An annular solar eclipse on April 29.
*
A partial lunar eclipse on May 13.
*
A total solar eclipse on October 23.
* A penumbral lunar eclipse on November 6.
Metonic
* Preceded by:
Lunar eclipse of January 18, 1973
* Followed by:
Lunar eclipse of August 26, 1980
Tzolkinex
* Preceded by:
Lunar eclipse of September 25, 1969
* Followed by:
Lunar eclipse of December 20, 1983
Half-Saros
* Preceded by:
Solar eclipse of November 2, 1967
A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Thursday, November 2, 1967, with a magnitude of 1.0126. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image o ...
* Followed by:
Solar eclipse of November 12, 1985
A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's Lunar node, descending node of orbit on Tuesday, November 12, 1985, with a Magnitude of eclipse, magnitude of 1.0388. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby tota ...
Tritos
* Preceded by:
Lunar eclipse of December 8, 1965
* Followed by:
Lunar eclipse of October 7, 1987
Lunar Saros 145
* Preceded by:
Lunar eclipse of October 27, 1958
* Followed by:
Lunar eclipse of November 18, 1994
Inex
* Preceded by:
Lunar eclipse of November 28, 1947
* Followed by:
Lunar eclipse of October 17, 2005
Triad
* Preceded by:
Lunar eclipse of January 6, 1890
* Followed by:
Lunar eclipse of September 7, 2063
Lunar eclipses of 1973–1976
Saros 145
Tritos series
Inex 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 total solar eclipses of
Solar Saros 152.
See also
*
List of lunar eclipses
__NOTOC__
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened.
By type
* List of central lunar eclipses
* Total penumbral lunar eclipse
By classification
* List of saros series for lunar eclipse ...
*
List of 20th-century lunar eclipses
During the 20th century, there were 229 lunar eclipses of which 83 were Lunar eclipse#Types of lunar eclipse, penumbral, 65 were partial and 81 were total. Of the total eclipses, 33 were central, in the sense that the Moon passed through the ver ...
Notes
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lunar eclipse 1976-11
1976-11
1976 in science
November 1976