August 1961 lunar eclipse - Misplaced Pages

Partial lunar eclipse August 26, 1961

August 1961 lunar eclipse

Partial eclipse

The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left

Date

August 26, 1961

Gamma

−0.4895

Magnitude

0.9863

Saros cycle

137 (25 of 81)

Partiality

185 minutes, 58 seconds

Penumbral

301 minutes, 22 seconds

Contacts (UTC)
P1	0:37:36
U1	1:35:18
Greatest	3:08:17
U4	4:41:16
P4	5:38:58

← March 1961 February 1962 →

A partial lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Saturday, August 26, 1961, with an umbral magnitude of 0.9863. 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. Occurring only about 7.5 hours after perigee (on August 25, 1961, at 19:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.

This nearly total lunar eclipse of Lunar Saros 137 preceded the first total eclipse on September 6, 1979. It was also the largest partial lunar eclipse since October 28, 1939, making it the second largest partial lunar eclipse of the 20th century.

Visibility

The eclipse was completely visible over eastern North America, South America, west Africa, western Europe, and Antarctica, seen rising over western and central North America and the eastern Pacific Ocean and setting over much of Europe, central and east Africa, and west and central Asia.

Eclipse details

Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.

August 26, 1961 Lunar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter	Value
Penumbral Magnitude	1.93301
Umbral Magnitude	0.98626
Gamma	−0.48947
Sun Right Ascension	10h18m26.0s
Sun Declination	+10°31'58.9"
Sun Semi-Diameter	15'49.7"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	08.7"
Moon Right Ascension	22h18m58.5s
Moon Declination	-11°00'55.6"
Moon Semi-Diameter	16'43.1"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	1°01'21.5"
ΔT	33.8 s

Eclipse season

Related eclipses

Lunar eclipses of 1958–1962

Lunar eclipse series sets from 1958–1962
Ascending node				Descending node
Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma	Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma
102	1958 Apr 04	Penumbral	-1.53805
112	1959 Mar 24	Partial	-0.87571	117	1959 Sep 17	Penumbral	1.02963
122	1960 Mar 13	Total	-0.17990	127	1960 Sep 05	Total	0.24219
132	1961 Mar 02	Partial	0.55406	137	1961 Aug 26	Partial	-0.48947
142	1962 Feb 19	Penumbral	1.25115	147	1962 Aug 15	Penumbral	-1.22104

Last set	1958 May 03			Last set	1958 Oct 27

Next set	1963 Jan 09			Next set	1962 Jul 17

Saros 137

It is part of Saros series 137.

Half-Saros cycle

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros). This lunar eclipse is related to two total solar eclipses of Solar Saros 144.