March 1942 lunar eclipse

March 1942 lunar eclipse
Total eclipse
The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left
DateMarch 3, 1942
Gamma−0.1545
Magnitude1.5612
Saros cycle122 (52 of 75)
Totality95 minutes, 54 seconds
Partiality219 minutes, 40 seconds
Penumbral344 minutes, 18 seconds
Contacts (UTC)
P121:29:16
U122:31:40
U223:33:32
Greatest0:21:28
U31:09:26
U42:11:19
P43:13:34

A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Tuesday, March 3, 1942,[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.5612. It was a central lunar eclipse, in which part of the Moon passed through the center of the Earth's shadow. 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 5.5 days before perigee (on March 8, 1942, at 11:50 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[2]

Visibility

The eclipse was completely visible over eastern South America, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, seen rising over North America and west and central South America and setting over much of Asia and western Australia.[3]

Eclipse details

Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[4]

March 3, 1942 Lunar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter Value
Penumbral Magnitude 2.58789
Umbral Magnitude 1.56118
Gamma −0.15453
Sun Right Ascension 22h52m50.5s
Sun Declination -07°08'24.4"
Sun Semi-Diameter 16'08.0"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9"
Moon Right Ascension 10h52m40.2s
Moon Declination +06°59'52.2"
Moon Semi-Diameter 15'42.8"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°57'40.1"
ΔT 25.4 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 March 1942
March 3
Ascending node (full moon)
March 16
Descending node (new moon)
Total lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 122
Partial solar eclipse
Solar Saros 148

Eclipses in 1942

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Lunar Saros 122

Inex

Triad

Lunar eclipses of 1940–1944

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 April 22, 1940 and October 16, 1940 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set, and the penumbral lunar eclipses on July 6, 1944 and December 29, 1944 occur in the next lunar year eclipse set.

Lunar eclipse series sets from 1940 to 1944
Ascending node   Descending node
Saros Date
Viewing
Type
Chart
Gamma Saros Date
Viewing
Type
Chart
Gamma
102 1940 Mar 23
Penumbral
−1.5034 107
112 1941 Mar 13
Partial
−0.8437 117 1941 Sep 05
Partial
0.9747
122 1942 Mar 03
Total
−0.1545 127 1942 Aug 26
Total
0.1818
132 1943 Feb 20
Partial
0.5752 137 1943 Aug 15
Partial
−0.5534
142 1944 Feb 09
Penumbral
1.2698 147 1944 Aug 04
Penumbral
−1.2843

Saros 122

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 122, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 74 events. The series started with a penumbral lunar eclipse on August 14, 1022. It contains partial eclipses from April 10, 1419 through June 24, 1545; total eclipses from July 5, 1563 through May 6, 2050; and a second set of partial eclipses from May 17, 2068 through July 21, 2176. The series ends at member 74 as a penumbral eclipse on October 29, 2338.

The longest duration of totality was produced by member 39 at 100 minutes, 5 seconds on October 11, 1707. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.[6]

Greatest First
The greatest eclipse of the series occurred on 1707 Oct 11, lasting 100 minutes, 5 seconds.[7] Penumbral Partial Total Central
1022 Aug 14
1419 Apr 10
1563 Jul 05
1617 Aug 16
Last
Central Total Partial Penumbral
1996 Apr 04
2050 May 06
2176 Jul 21
2338 Oct 29

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

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.

Series members between 1801 and 2200
1811 Mar 10
(Saros 110)
1822 Feb 06
(Saros 111)
1833 Jan 06
(Saros 112)
1843 Dec 07
(Saros 113)
1854 Nov 04
(Saros 114)
1865 Oct 04
(Saros 115)
1876 Sep 03
(Saros 116)
1887 Aug 03
(Saros 117)
1898 Jul 03
(Saros 118)
1909 Jun 04
(Saros 119)
1920 May 03
(Saros 120)
1931 Apr 02
(Saros 121)
1942 Mar 03
(Saros 122)
1953 Jan 29
(Saros 123)
1963 Dec 30
(Saros 124)
1974 Nov 29
(Saros 125)
1985 Oct 28
(Saros 126)
1996 Sep 27
(Saros 127)
2007 Aug 28
(Saros 128)
2018 Jul 27
(Saros 129)
2029 Jun 26
(Saros 130)
2040 May 26
(Saros 131)
2051 Apr 26
(Saros 132)
2062 Mar 25
(Saros 133)
2073 Feb 22
(Saros 134)
2084 Jan 22
(Saros 135)
2094 Dec 21
(Saros 136)
2105 Nov 21
(Saros 137)
2116 Oct 21
(Saros 138)
2127 Sep 20
(Saros 139)
2138 Aug 20
(Saros 140)
2149 Jul 20
(Saros 141)
2160 Jun 18
(Saros 142)
2171 May 19
(Saros 143)
2182 Apr 18
(Saros 144)
2193 Mar 17
(Saros 145)

Half-Saros cycle

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 129.

February 24, 1933 March 7, 1951

See also

References

  1. ^ "March 2–3, 1942 Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)". timeanddate. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  2. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  3. ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 1942 Mar 03" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  4. ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 1942 Mar 03". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  5. ^ van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  6. ^ "NASA - Catalog of Lunar Eclipses of Saros 122". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.
  7. ^ Listing of Eclipses of series 122
  8. ^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros

Information related to March 1942 lunar eclipse