A penumbral lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Wednesday, October 7, 1987, with an umbral magnitude of −0.0095. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when part or all of the Moon's near side passes into 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 3.1 days after perigee (on October 4, 1987, at 1:35 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
Visibility The eclipse was completely visible over much of North America, South America, west Africa, and western Europe, seen rising over northwestern North America and the central Pacific Ocean and setting over much of Africa, Europe, 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.
+October 7, 1987 Lunar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Penumbral Magnitude 0.98640 Umbral Magnitude −0.00949 Gamma 1.01890 Sun Right Ascension 12h49m09.5s Sun Declination -05°16'24.7" Sun Semi-Diameter 16'00.1" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.8" Moon Right Ascension 00h47m14.4s Moon Declination +06°09'13.6" Moon Semi-Diameter 16'04.0" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°58'58.1" ΔT 55.6 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 September–October 1987 September 23Descending node (new moon) October 7Ascending node (full moon) Annular solar eclipseSolar Saros 134 Penumbral lunar eclipseLunar Saros 146
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1987 A hybrid solar eclipse on March 29. A penumbral lunar eclipse on April 14. An annular solar eclipse on September 23. A penumbral lunar eclipse on October 7.
Metonic Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of December 20, 1983 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of July 26, 1991
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of August 26, 1980 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of November 18, 1994
Half-Saros Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 2, 1978 Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 12, 1996
Tritos Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of November 6, 1976 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of September 6, 1998
Lunar Saros 146 Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of September 25, 1969 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of October 17, 2005
Inex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of October 27, 1958 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of September 16, 2016
Triad Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of December 6, 1900 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of August 7, 2074
Lunar eclipses of 1984–1987
Saros 146
Tritos series
Inex series
Half-Saros cycle A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros This lunar eclipse is related to two partial solar eclipses of Solar Saros 153. October 2, 1978October 12, 1996
See also List of lunar eclipses List of 20th-century lunar eclipses
Notes
External links