April 1969 lunar eclipse
| Penumbral eclipse | |||||||||
 The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left | |||||||||
| Date | April 2, 1969 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gamma | −1.1765 | ||||||||
| Magnitude | −0.3046 | ||||||||
| Saros cycle | 141 (21 of 73) | ||||||||
| Penumbral | 223 minutes, 41 seconds | ||||||||
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A penumbral lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Wednesday, April 2, 1969,[1] with an umbral magnitude of −0.3046. 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 about 4.2 days before perigee (on April 7, 1969, at 1:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[2]
Visibility
[edit]The eclipse was completely visible over east Africa, eastern Europe, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica, seen rising over western Europe and west Africa and setting over northeast Asia and the central Pacific Ocean.[3]
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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 | 0.70337 |
| Umbral Magnitude | −0.30462 |
| Gamma | −1.17648 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 00h47m14.1s |
| Sun Declination | +05°04'17.9" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 15'59.8" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.8" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 12h45m02.7s |
| Moon Declination | -06°04'31.4" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 15'52.2" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°58'14.5" |
| ΔT | 39.5 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.
| March 18 Ascending node (new moon) |
April 2 Descending node (full moon) |
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| Annular solar eclipse Solar Saros 129 |
Penumbral lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 141 |
Related eclipses
[edit]Eclipses in 1969
[edit]- An annular solar eclipse on March 18.
- A penumbral lunar eclipse on April 2.
- A penumbral lunar eclipse on August 27.
- An annular solar eclipse on September 11.
- A penumbral lunar eclipse on September 25.
Metonic
[edit]- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 14, 1965
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of January 18, 1973
Tzolkinex
[edit]- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of February 19, 1962
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 13, 1976
Half-Saros
[edit]- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 27, 1960
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 7, 1978
Tritos
[edit]- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 3, 1958
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 1, 1980
Lunar Saros 141
[edit]- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 23, 1951
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 14, 1987
Inex
[edit]- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 22, 1940
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 13, 1998
Triad
[edit]- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 1, 1882
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of February 1, 2056
Lunar eclipses of 1966–1969
[edit]This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of lunar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.[5]
The penumbral lunar eclipse on August 27, 1969 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.
| Lunar eclipse series sets from 1966 to 1969 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Descending node | Ascending node | |||||||
| Saros | Date Viewing |
Type Chart |
Gamma | Saros | Date Viewing |
Type Chart |
Gamma | |
| 111 | 1966 May 04
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Penumbral
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1.0554 | 116 | 1966 Oct 29
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Penumbral
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−1.0600 | |
| 121 | 1967 Apr 24
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Total
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0.2972 | 126 | 1967 Oct 18
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Total
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−0.3653 | |
| 131 | 1968 Apr 13
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Total
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−0.4173 | 136 | 1968 Oct 06
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Total
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0.3605 | |
| 141 | 1969 Apr 02
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Penumbral
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−1.1765 | 146 | 1969 Sep 25
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Penumbral
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1.0656 | |
Saros 141
[edit]This eclipse is a part of Saros series 141, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 72 events. The series started with a penumbral lunar eclipse on August 25, 1608. It contains partial eclipses from May 16, 2041 through July 20, 2149; total eclipses from August 1, 2167 through May 1, 2618; and a second set of partial eclipses from May 12, 2636 through July 16, 2744. The series ends at member 72 as a penumbral eclipse on October 11, 2888.
The longest duration of totality will be produced by member 39 at 104 minutes, 36 seconds on October 16, 2293. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.[6]
| Greatest | First | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The greatest eclipse of the series will occur on 2293 Oct 16, lasting 104 minutes, 36 seconds.[7] | Penumbral | Partial | Total | Central |
| 1608 Aug 25 |
2041 May 16
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2167 Aug 01 |
2221 Sep 02 | |
| Last | ||||
| Central | Total | Partial | Penumbral | |
| 2546 Mar 18 |
2618 May 01 |
2744 Jul 16 |
2888 Oct 11 | |
Eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.
| Series members 12–33 occur between 1801 and 2200: | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 13 | 14 | |||
| 1806 Dec 25 | 1825 Jan 04 | 1843 Jan 16 | |||
| 15 | 16 | 17 | |||
| 1861 Jan 26 | 1879 Feb 07 | 1897 Feb 17 | |||
| 18 | 19 | 20 | |||
| 1915 Mar 01 | 1933 Mar 12 | 1951 Mar 23 | |||
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| 21 | 22 | 23 | |||
| 1969 Apr 02 | 1987 Apr 14 | 2005 Apr 24 | |||
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| 24 | 25 | 26 | |||
| 2023 May 05 | 2041 May 16 | 2059 May 27 | |||
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| 27 | 28 | 29 | |||
| 2077 Jun 06 | 2095 Jun 17 | 2113 Jun 29 | |||
| 30 | 31 | 32 | |||
| 2131 Jul 10 | 2149 Jul 20 | 2167 Aug 01 | |||
| 33 | |||||
| 2185 Aug 11 | |||||
Tritos series
[edit]This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
| Series members between 1801 and 2132 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1805 Jul 11 (Saros 126) |
1816 Jun 10 (Saros 127) |
1827 May 11 (Saros 128) |
1838 Apr 10 (Saros 129) |
1849 Mar 09 (Saros 130) | |||||
| 1860 Feb 07 (Saros 131) |
1871 Jan 06 (Saros 132) |
1881 Dec 05 (Saros 133) |
1892 Nov 04 (Saros 134) |
1903 Oct 06 (Saros 135) | |||||
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| 1914 Sep 04 (Saros 136) |
1925 Aug 04 (Saros 137) |
1936 Jul 04 (Saros 138) |
1947 Jun 03 (Saros 139) |
1958 May 03 (Saros 140) | |||||
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| 1969 Apr 02 (Saros 141) |
1980 Mar 01 (Saros 142) |
1991 Jan 30 (Saros 143) |
2001 Dec 30 (Saros 144) |
2012 Nov 28 (Saros 145) | |||||
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| 2023 Oct 28 (Saros 146) |
2034 Sep 28 (Saros 147) |
2045 Aug 27 (Saros 148) |
2056 Jul 26 (Saros 149) |
2067 Jun 27 (Saros 150) | |||||
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| 2132 Dec 22 (Saros 156) | |||||||||
Half-Saros cycle
[edit]A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).[8] This lunar eclipse is related to two partial solar eclipses of Solar Saros 148.
| March 27, 1960 | April 7, 1978 |
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See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ "April 2–3, 1969 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
- ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
- ^ "Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of 1969 Apr 02" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
- ^ "Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of 1969 Apr 02". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
- ^ van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
- ^ "NASA - Catalog of Lunar Eclipses of Saros 141". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.
- ^ Listing of Eclipses of series 141
- ^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros
External links
[edit]- 1969 Apr 02 chart Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC