April 1950 lunar eclipse
| Total eclipse | |||||||||||||||||
| File:Lunar eclipse chart close-1950Apr02.png The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left | |||||||||||||||||
| Date | April 2, 1950 | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gamma | −0.4599 | ||||||||||||||||
| Magnitude | 1.0329 | ||||||||||||||||
| Saros cycle | 131 (30 of 72) | ||||||||||||||||
| Totality | 26 minutes, 54 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Partiality | 189 minutes, 35 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Penumbral | 306 minutes, 32 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Sunday, April 2, 1950,[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.0329. 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 only about 23 hours before perigee (on April 3, 1950, at 20:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[2]
This lunar eclipse was the third of a tetrad, with four total lunar eclipses in series, the others being on April 13, 1949; October 7, 1949; and September 26, 1950.
This was the first total lunar eclipse of Lunar Saros 131.
Visibility
[edit | edit source]The eclipse was completely visible over much of Africa, Europe, and the western half of Asia, seen rising over South America and setting over east and northeast Asia and Australia.[3]
| File:Lunar eclipse from moon-1950Apr02.png File:Lunar eclipse chart close-1950Apr02.png |
Eclipse details
[edit | edit source]Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[4]
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Penumbral Magnitude | 1.99513 |
| Umbral Magnitude | 1.03288 |
| Gamma | −0.45987 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 00h46m07.6s |
| Sun Declination | +04°57'20.0" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 15'59.8" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.8" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 12h45m13.6s |
| Moon Declination | -05°21'58.0" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'37.5" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 1°01'00.8" |
| ΔT | 29.2 s |
Eclipse season
[edit | edit source]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.
| March 18 Ascending node (new moon) |
April 2 Descending node (full moon) |
|---|---|
| File:SE1950Mar18A.png | File:Lunar eclipse chart close-1950Apr02.png |
| Annular solar eclipse Solar Saros 119 |
Total lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 131 |
Related eclipses
[edit | edit source]Eclipses in 1950
[edit | edit source]- An annular solar eclipse on March 18.
- A total lunar eclipse on April 2.
- A total solar eclipse on September 12.
- A total lunar eclipse on September 26.
Metonic
[edit | edit source]- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 14, 1946
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of January 19, 1954
Tzolkinex
[edit | edit source]- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of February 20, 1943
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 13, 1957
Half-Saros
[edit | edit source]- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 27, 1941
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 8, 1959
Tritos
[edit | edit source]- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 3, 1939
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 2, 1961
Lunar Saros 131
[edit | edit source]- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 22, 1932
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 13, 1968
Inex
[edit | edit source]- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 22, 1921
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 13, 1979
Triad
[edit | edit source]- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 1, 1863
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of January 31, 2037
Lunar eclipses of 1948–1951
[edit | edit source]This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of lunar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.[5]
The penumbral lunar eclipses on February 21, 1951 and August 17, 1951 occur in the next lunar year eclipse set.
Saros 131
[edit | edit source]This eclipse is a part of Saros series 131, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 72 events. The series started with a penumbral lunar eclipse on May 10, 1427. It contains partial eclipses from July 25, 1553 through March 22, 1932; total eclipses from April 2, 1950 through September 3, 2202; and a second set of partial eclipses from September 13, 2220 through April 9, 2563. The series ends at member 72 as a penumbral eclipse on July 7, 2707.
The longest duration of totality will be produced by member 38 at 100 minutes, 36 seconds on June 28, 2094. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.[6]
| Greatest | First | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Lunar eclipse chart close-2094Jun28.png The greatest eclipse of the series will occur on 2094 Jun 28, lasting 100 minutes, 36 seconds.[7] |
Penumbral | Partial | Total | Central |
| 1427 May 10 |
1553 Jul 25 |
1950 Apr 02 File:Lunar eclipse chart close-1950Apr02.png |
2022 May 16 File:Lunar eclipse chart close-2022may16.png | |
| Last | ||||
| Central | Total | Partial | Penumbral | |
| 2148 Jul 31 |
2202 Sep 03 |
2563 Apr 09 |
2707 Jul 07 | |
Eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.
Tritos series
[edit | edit source]This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
Inex series
[edit | edit source]This eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
| Series members between 1801 and 2200 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1805 Jul 11 (Saros 126) |
1834 Jun 21 (Saros 127) |
1863 Jun 01 (Saros 128) | |||
| 1892 May 11 (Saros 129) |
1921 Apr 22 (Saros 130) |
1950 Apr 02 (Saros 131) | |||
| File:Lunar eclipse chart close-1921Apr22.png | File:Lunar eclipse from moon-1921Apr22.png | File:Lunar eclipse chart close-1950Apr02.png | File:Lunar eclipse from moon-1950Apr02.png | ||
| 1979 Mar 13 (Saros 132) |
2008 Feb 21 (Saros 133) |
2037 Jan 31 (Saros 134) | |||
| File:Lunar eclipse chart close-1979Mar13.png | File:Lunar eclipse from moon-1979Mar13.png | File:Lunar eclipse chart close-08feb20.png | File:Lunar eclipse from moon-2008Feb21.png | File:Lunar eclipse chart close-2037Jan31.png | File:Lunar eclipse from moon-2037Jan31.png |
| 2066 Jan 11 (Saros 135) |
2094 Dec 21 (Saros 136) |
2123 Dec 03 (Saros 137) | |||
| File:Lunar eclipse chart close-2066Jan11.png | File:Lunar eclipse from moon-2066Jan11.png | File:Lunar eclipse chart close-2094Dec21.png | File:Lunar eclipse from moon-2094Dec21.png | ||
| 2152 Nov 12 (Saros 138) |
2181 Oct 22 (Saros 139) | ||||
Half-Saros cycle
[edit | edit source]A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).[8] This lunar eclipse is related to two total solar eclipses of Solar Saros 138.
| March 27, 1941 | April 8, 1959 |
|---|---|
| File:SE1941Mar27A.png | File:SE1959Apr08A.png |
See also
[edit | edit source]Notes
[edit | edit source]- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Listing of Eclipses of series 131
- ^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros
External links
[edit | edit source]- 1950 Apr 02 chart Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
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