October 1968 lunar eclipse - Misplaced Pages

Total lunar eclipse October 6, 1968

October 1968 lunar eclipse

Total eclipse

The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left

Date

October 6, 1968

Gamma

0.3605

Magnitude

1.1691

Saros cycle

136 (17 of 72)

Totality

62 minutes, 58 seconds

Partiality

213 minutes, 56 seconds

Penumbral

352 minutes, 2 seconds

Contacts (UTC)
P1	8:45:58
U1	9:54:56
U2	11:10:26
Greatest	11:41:56
U3	12:13:24
U4	13:28:53
P4	14:38:00

← April 1968 April 1969 →

A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Sunday, October 6, 1968, with an umbral magnitude of 1.1691. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon's near side entirely passes into the Earth's umbral shadow. 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. A total lunar eclipse can last up to nearly two hours, while a total solar eclipse lasts only a few minutes at any given place, because the Moon's shadow is smaller. Occurring about 5.3 days before apogee (on October 11, 1968, at 18:05 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.

This lunar eclipse was the last of a tetrad, with four total lunar eclipses in series, the others being on April 24, 1967; October 18, 1967; and April 13, 1968.

Visibility

The eclipse was completely visible over northeast Asia, eastern Australia, northwestern North America and much of the Pacific Ocean, seen rising over most of Asia and western Australia and setting over North and South America.

Eclipse details

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

October 6, 1968 Lunar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter	Value
Penumbral Magnitude	2.22423
Umbral Magnitude	1.16913
Gamma	0.36054
Sun Right Ascension	12h48m51.9s
Sun Declination	-05°14'36.0"
Sun Semi-Diameter	16'00.2"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	08.8"
Moon Right Ascension	00h48m13.3s
Moon Declination	+05°32'13.0"
Moon Semi-Diameter	15'10.1"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	0°55'39.9"
ΔT	39.0 s

Eclipse season

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 1968

Lunar eclipses of 1966–1969

Lunar eclipse series sets from 1966–1969
Descending node				Ascending node
Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma	Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma
111	1966 May 4	Penumbral	1.05536	116	1966 Oct 29	Penumbral	−1.05999
121	1967 Apr 24	Total	0.29722	126	1967 Oct 18	Total	−0.36529
131	1968 Apr 13	Total	−0.41732	136	1968 Oct 6	Total	0.36054
141	1969 Apr 2	Penumbral	−1.17648	146	1969 Sep 25	Penumbral	1.06558

Last set	1965 Jun 14			Last set	1965 Dec 8

Next set	1970 Feb 21			Next set	1969 Aug 27

Saros 136

It was part of Saros series 136.

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 143.