A penumbral lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Wednesday, April 2, 1969, 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.
Visibility 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.
Eclipse details Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
+April 2, 1969 Lunar Eclipse Parameters 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
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.
+ Eclipse season of March–April 1969 March 18Ascending node (new moon) April 2Descending node (full moon) Annular solar eclipseSolar Saros 129 Penumbral lunar eclipseLunar Saros 141
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1969 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 Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 14, 1965 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of January 18, 1973
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of February 19, 1962 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 13, 1976
Half-Saros Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 27, 1960 Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 7, 1978
Tritos Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 3, 1958 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 1, 1980
Lunar Saros 141 Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 23, 1951 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 14, 1987
Inex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 22, 1940 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 13, 1998
Triad Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 1, 1882 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of February 1, 2056
Lunar eclipses of 1966–1969
Saros 141
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 partial solar eclipses of Solar Saros 148.
March 27, 1960April 7, 1978
See also List of lunar eclipses List of 20th-century lunar eclipses
Notes
External links