A partial lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Thursday, July 15 and Friday, July 16, 1954, with an umbral magnitude of 0.4054. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A partial lunar eclipse occurs when one part of the Moon is in the Earth's umbra, while the other part is in 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. The Moon's apparent diameter was near the average diameter because it occurred 6.6 days after apogee (on July 9, 1954, at 9:25 UTC) and 7.8 days before perigee (on July 23, 1954, at 19:30 UTC).
Visibility The eclipse was completely visible over eastern South America, Africa, Europe, and Antarctica, seen rising over northwestern South America and much of central and eastern North America and setting over eastern Europe, the western half of Asia, and western Australia.
Eclipse details Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular lunar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
+July 15–16, 1954 Lunar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Penumbral Magnitude 1.42024 Umbral Magnitude 0.40537 Gamma 0.78767 Sun Right Ascension 07h39m05.3s Sun Declination +21°29'36.6" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'44.2" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.7" Moon Right Ascension 19h38m14.9s Moon Declination -20°46'21.3" Moon Semi-Diameter 15'30.4" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°56'54.4" ΔT 30.9 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 June–July 1954 June 30Descending node (new moon) July 15–16Ascending node (full moon) Total solar eclipseSolar Saros 126 Partial lunar eclipseLunar Saros 138
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1954 An annular solar eclipse on January 5. A total lunar eclipse on January 19. A total solar eclipse on June 30. A partial lunar eclipse on July 15–16. An annular solar eclipse on December 25.
Metonic Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of September 26, 1950 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 3, 1958
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 3, 1947 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of August 26, 1961
Half-Saros Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 9, 1945 Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 20, 1963
Tritos Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of August 15, 1943 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of June 14, 1965
Lunar Saros 138 Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of July 4, 1936 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of July 26, 1972
Inex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of August 4, 1925 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of June 25, 1983
Triad Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of September 14, 1867 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 16, 2041
Lunar eclipses of 1951–1955
Saros 138
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 145.
July 9, 1945July 20, 1963
See also List of lunar eclipses List of 20th-century lunar eclipses
Notes
External links