A penumbral lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Friday, June 15, 1973, with an umbral magnitude of −0.6020. 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 only about 3 hours after apogee (on June 15, 1973, at 18:05 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
This eclipse was the second of four lunar eclipses in 1973, with the others occurring on January 18 (penumbral), July 15 (penumbral), and December 10 (partial).
Visibility The eclipse was completely visible over much of Africa, eastern Europe, the western half of Asia, and Antarctica, seen rising over much of South America, western Europe, and west Africa and setting over east Asia and Australia.
Eclipse details Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
+June 15, 1973 Lunar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Penumbral Magnitude 0.46852 Umbral Magnitude −0.60197 Gamma −1.32166 Sun Right Ascension 05h36m24.5s Sun Declination +23°19'56.0" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'44.6" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.7" Moon Right Ascension 17h36m42.3s Moon Declination -24°31'09.1" Moon Semi-Diameter 14'42.4" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°53'58.5" ΔT 43.8 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 June–July 1973 June 15Ascending node (full moon) June 30Descending node (new moon) July 15Ascending node (full moon) Penumbral lunar eclipseLunar Saros 110 Total solar eclipseSolar Saros 136 Penumbral lunar eclipseLunar Saros 148
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1973 An annular solar eclipse on January 4. A penumbral lunar eclipse on January 18. A penumbral lunar eclipse on June 15. A total solar eclipse on June 30. A penumbral lunar eclipse on July 15. A partial lunar eclipse on December 10. An annular solar eclipse on December 24.
Metonic Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of August 27, 1969 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 4, 1977
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 4, 1966 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of July 27, 1980
Half-Saros Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 10, 1964 Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 21, 1982
Tritos Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of July 17, 1962 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 15, 1984
Lunar Saros 110 Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 5, 1955 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of June 27, 1991
Inex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of July 6, 1944 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 26, 2002
Triad Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of August 14, 1886 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 15, 2060
Lunar eclipses of 1973–1976
Saros 110
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 117. June 10, 1964June 21, 1982
See also List of lunar eclipses List of 20th-century lunar eclipses
Notes
External links