A total
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
ascending 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 Friday, October 7, 1949, 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 1.2236. 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 total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon's near side entirely passes into the Earth's umbral shadow. 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. A total lunar eclipse can last up to nearly two hours, while a total solar eclipse lasts only a few minutes at any given place, because the Moon's
shadow
A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensio ...
is smaller. Occurring only about 15 hours before
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 October 7, 1949, at 18:10 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
This lunar eclipse was the second of a
tetrad
Tetrad ('group of 4') or tetrade may refer to:
* Tetrad (area), an area 2 km x 2 km square
* Tetrad (astronomy), four total lunar eclipses within two years
* Tetrad (chromosomal formation)
* Tetrad (general relativity), or frame field
** Tetra ...
, with four total lunar eclipses in series, the others being on
April 13, 1949;
April 2, 1950; and
September 26, 1950.
Visibility
The eclipse was completely visible over eastern
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
,
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
west Africa
West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...
, and
western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...
, seen rising over western North America and the eastern
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
and setting over much of
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 ...
,
central, 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 ...
.
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 1949
*
A total lunar eclipse on April 13.
*
A partial solar eclipse on April 28.
* A total lunar eclipse on October 7.
*
A partial solar eclipse on October 21.
Metonic
* Preceded by:
Lunar eclipse of December 19, 1945
* Followed by:
Lunar eclipse of July 26, 1953
Tzolkinex
* Preceded by:
Lunar eclipse of August 26, 1942
* Followed by:
Lunar eclipse of November 18, 1956
Half-Saros
* Preceded by:
Solar eclipse of October 1, 1940
A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Tuesday, October 1, 1940, with a magnitude of 1.0645. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of t ...
* Followed by:
Solar eclipse of October 12, 1958
A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Sunday, October 12, 1958, with a magnitude of 1.0608. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of t ...
Tritos
* Preceded by:
Lunar eclipse of November 7, 1938
* Followed by:
Lunar eclipse of September 5, 1960
Lunar Saros 126
* Preceded by:
Lunar eclipse of September 26, 1931
* Followed by:
Lunar eclipse of October 18, 1967
Inex
* Preceded by:
Lunar eclipse of October 27, 1920
* Followed by:
Lunar eclipse of September 16, 1978
Triad
* Preceded by:
Lunar eclipse of December 6, 1862
* Followed by:
Lunar eclipse of August 7, 2036
Lunar eclipses of 1948–1951
Saros 126
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 133.
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 1949-10
1949-10
1949 in science