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May 1956 lunar eclipse

Partial eclipse
The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left
Date	May 24, 1956
Gamma	−0.4726
Magnitude	0.9647
Saros cycle	120 (55 of 84)
Partiality	204 minutes, 27 seconds
Penumbral	348 minutes, 32 seconds
Contacts (UTC) P1 12:37:06 U1 13:49:05 Greatest 15:31:20 U4 17:13:32 P4 18:25:38
← November 1955November 1956 →

A partial lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Thursday, May 24, 1956, with an umbral magnitude of 0.9647. 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 about 4.3 days before apogee (on May 28, 1956, at 22:10 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.

This lunar eclipse was the first of an almost tetrad, with the others being on November 18, 1956 (total); May 13, 1957 (total); and November 7, 1957 (total).

This was the first eclipse of the last partial set in Lunar Saros 120.

Visibility

The eclipse was completely visible over east Asia, Australia, and Antarctica, seen rising over central and east Africa, eastern Europe, and the western half of Asia and setting over the eastern Pacific Ocean.

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, 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 May–June 1956

May 24 Ascending node (full moon)	June 8 Descending node (new moon)
Partial lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 120	Total solar eclipse Solar Saros 146

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 1956

• A partial lunar eclipse on May 24.
• A total solar eclipse on June 8.
• A total lunar eclipse on November 18.
• A partial solar eclipse on December 2.

Metonic

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of August 5, 1952
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 13, 1960

Tzolkinex

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 13, 1949
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of July 6, 1963

Half-Saros

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 20, 1947
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 30, 1965

Tritos

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 25, 1945
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 24, 1967

Lunar Saros 120

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 14, 1938
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of June 4, 1974

Inex

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 15, 1927
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 4, 1985

Triad

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of July 23, 1869
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 25, 2043

Lunar eclipses of 1955–1958

Lunar eclipse series sets from 1955–1958

Ascending node				Descending node
Saros	Date viewing	Type chart		Saros	Date viewing	Type chart
110	1955 Jun 5	Penumbral		115	1955 Nov 29	Partial
120	1956 May 24	Partial		125	1956 Nov 18	Total
130	1957 May 13	Total		135	1957 Nov 7	Total
140	1958 May 3	Partial		145	1958 Oct 27	Penumbral
Last set	1954 Jul 16			Last set	1955 Jan 8
Next set	1958 Apr 4			Next set	1959 Sep 17

Tritos series

The tritos series repeats 31 days short of 11 years at alternating nodes. Sequential events have incremental Saros cycle indices.

This series produces 20 total eclipses between April 24, 1967 and August 11, 2185, only being partial on November 19, 2021.

Tritos eclipse series (subset 1901–2087)
Descending node				Ascending node
Saros	Date Viewing	Type chart		Saros	Date Viewing	Type chart
115	1901 Oct 27	Partial		116	1912 Sep 26	Partial
117	1923 Aug 26	Partial		118	1934 Jul 26	Partial
119	1945 Jun 25	Partial		120	1956 May 24	Partial
121	1967 Apr 24	Total		122	1978 Mar 24	Total
123	1989 Feb 20	Total		124	2000 Jan 21	Total
125	2010 Dec 21	Total		126	2021 Nov 19	Partial
127	2032 Oct 18	Total		128	2043 Sep 19	Total
129	2054 Aug 18	Total		130	2065 Jul 17	Total
131	2076 Jun 17	Total		132	2087 May 17	Total
133	2098 Apr 15	Total

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 127.

May 20, 1947	May 30, 1965

See also

• List of lunar eclipses
• List of 20th-century lunar eclipses

Notes

1. "May 24–25, 1956 Partial Lunar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
2. "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
3. "Partial Lunar Eclipse of 1956 May 24" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
4. "Partial Lunar Eclipse of 1956 May 24". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
5. Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros

External links

• 1956 May 24 chart Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC

v t e Lunar eclipses
Lists of lunar eclipses	Central total eclipses Total penumbral eclipses Historically significant By century
Lunar eclipses by era	Modern era 20th 21st Future 22nd
Lunar eclipses by saros series	100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163
Partial eclipses	1903 Apr 1914 Mar 1916 Jul 1952 Feb 1952 Aug 1954 Jul 1955 Nov 1956 May 1958 May 1959 Mar 1961 Mar 1961 Aug 1963 Jul 1965 Jun 1970 Feb 1970 Aug 1972 Jul 1973 Dec 1974 Jun 1976 May 1977 Apr 1979 Mar 1981 Jul 1983 Jun 1988 Aug 1990 Aug 1991 Dec 1992 Jun 1994 May 1995 Apr 1997 Mar 1999 Jul 2001 Jul 2005 Oct 2006 Sep 2008 Aug 2009 Dec 2010 Jun 2012 Jun 2013 Apr 2017 Aug 2019 Jul 2021 Nov 2023 Oct 2024 Sep → 2026 Aug 2028 Jan 2028 Jul 2030 Jun 2034 Sep 2035 Aug 2037 Jul 2039 Jun 2039 Nov 2041 May 2041 Nov 2046 Jan 2046 Jul 2048 Jun 2052 Oct 2055 Aug 2075 Jun 2099 Apr
Total eclipses	1504 Mar 1910 May 1913 Sep 1920 May 1950 Apr 1950 Sep 1953 Jan 1953 Jul 1954 Jan 1956 Nov 1957 May 1957 Nov 1960 Mar 1960 Sep 1963 Dec 1964 Jun 1964 Dec 1967 Apr 1967 Oct 1968 Apr 1968 Oct 1971 Feb 1971 Aug 1972 Jan 1974 Nov 1975 May 1975 Nov 1978 Mar 1978 Sep 1979 Sep 1982 Jan 1982 Jul 1982 Dec 1985 May 1985 Oct 1986 Apr 1986 Oct 1989 Feb 1989 Aug 1990 Feb 1992 Dec 1993 Jun 1993 Nov 1996 Apr 1996 Sep 1997 Sep 2000 Jan 2000 Jul 2001 Jan 2003 May 2003 Nov 2004 May 2004 Oct 2007 Mar 2007 Aug 2008 Feb 2010 Dec 2011 Jun 2011 Dec 2014 Apr 2014 Oct 2015 Apr 2015 Sep 2018 Jan 2018 Jul 2019 Jan 2021 May 2022 May 2022 Nov → 2025 Mar 2025 Sep 2026 Mar 2028 Dec 2029 Jun 2029 Dec 2032 Apr 2032 Oct 2033 Apr 2033 Oct 2036 Feb 2036 Aug 2037 Jan 2040 May 2040 Nov 2043 Mar 2043 Sep 2044 Mar 2044 Sep 2047 Jan 2047 Jul 2048 Jan 2050 May 2050 Oct 2051 Apr 2051 Oct 2054 Feb 2054 Aug 2055 Feb 2058 Jun 2065 Jul 2069 May 2072 Aug 2076 Jun 2083 Jul 2084 Jan 2087 May 2090 Sep 2094 Jun 2123 Jun 2170 May
Penumbral eclipses	Partial 23 Mar 1940 22 Apr 1940 16 Oct 1940 1951 Feb 21 1951 Mar 23 1951 Aug 17 1951 Sep 15 1955 Jan 08 1955 Jun 05 1958 Apr 04 1958 Oct 27 1959 Sep 17 1962 Feb 19 1962 Jul 17 1962 Aug 15 1965 Dec 08 1966 May 04 1966 Oct 29 1969 Apr 02 1969 Aug 27 1969 Sep 25 1973 Jan 18 1973 Jun 15 1973 Jul 15 1976 Nov 06 1977 Sep 27 1980 Mar 01 1980 Jul 27 1980 Aug 26 1983 Dec 20 1984 May 15 1984 Jun 13 1984 Nov 08 1987 Apr 14 1987 Oct 07 1991 Jan 30 1991 Jun 27 1991 Jul 26 1994 Nov 18 1995 Oct 08 1998 Mar 13 1998 Aug 08 1998 Sep 06 2001 Dec 30 2002 May 26 2002 Jun 24 2002 Nov 20 2005 Apr 24 2009 Feb 09 2009 Jul 07 2009 Aug 06 2012 Nov 28 2013 May 25 2013 Oct 18 2016 Mar 23 2016 Aug 18 2016 Sep 16 2017 Feb 11 2020 Jan 10 2020 Jun 05 2020 Jul 05 2020 Nov 30 2023 May 05 2024 Mar 25 → 2027 Feb 20 2027 Jul 18 2027 Aug 17 2030 Dec 09 2031 May 07 2031 Jun 05 2031 Oct 30 2034 Apr 03 2035 Feb 22 2038 Jan 21 2038 Jun 17 2038 Jul 16 2038 Dec 11 2042 Apr 05 2042 Oct 28 2045 Mar 03 2045 Aug 27 2048 Dec 20 2049 May 17 2049 Jun 15 2049 Nov 09 2052 Apr 14 2053 Mar 04 2060 Nov 08 2107 May 7 Total 1963 Jan 09 1981 Jan 20 1988 Mar 03 1999 Jan 31 2006 Mar 14 → 2053 Aug 29 2070 Apr 25
Related	Danjon scale Eclipse cycle Eclipse season Eclipses in mythology and culture Gamma Solar eclipse
Category → symbol denotes next eclipse in series

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