A penumbral lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Tuesday, May 15, 1984, with an umbral magnitude of −0.1759. 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 days after perigee (on May 12, 1984, at 4:05 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
Visibility The eclipse was completely visible over much of North America, South America, and Antarctica, seen rising over northwestern North America and the central Pacific Ocean and setting over Africa and much of Europe.
Eclipse details Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular lunar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
+May 15, 1984 Lunar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Penumbral Magnitude 0.80710 Umbral Magnitude −0.17593 Gamma 1.11308 Sun Right Ascension 03h28m40.8s Sun Declination +18°54'19.8" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'49.2" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.7" Moon Right Ascension 15h30m13.7s Moon Declination -17°52'23.9" Moon Semi-Diameter 16'05.6" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°59'03.7" ΔT 54.0 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. The first and last eclipse in this sequence is separated by one synodic month.
+ Eclipse season of May–June 1984 May 15Descending node (full moon) May 30Ascending node (new moon) June 13Descending node (full moon) Penumbral lunar eclipseLunar Saros 111 Annular solar eclipseSolar Saros 137 Penumbral lunar eclipseLunar Saros 149
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1984 A penumbral lunar eclipse on May 15. An annular solar eclipse on May 30. A penumbral lunar eclipse on June 13. A penumbral lunar eclipse on November 8. A total solar eclipse on November 22.
Metonic Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of July 27, 1980 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 3, 1988
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 4, 1977 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of June 27, 1991
Half-Saros Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 11, 1975 Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 21, 1993
Tritos Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 15, 1973 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 15, 1995
Lunar Saros 111 Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 4, 1966 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 26, 2002
Inex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 5, 1955 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 25, 2013
Triad Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of July 14, 1897 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 16, 2071
Lunar eclipses of 1984–1987
Metonic series
Saros 111
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 118. May 11, 1975May 21, 1993
See also List of lunar eclipses List of 20th-century lunar eclipses
Notes
External links