A partial lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Saturday, February 21, 1970, with an umbral magnitude of 0.0464. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A partial lunar eclipse occurs when one part of the Moon is in the Earth's umbra, while the other part is in 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 2.4 days after apogee (on February 18, 1970, at 23:05 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
Visibility The eclipse was completely visible over northeast Asia, North America, and northwestern South America, seen rising over east Asia and Australia and setting over much of South America, western Europe, and west Africa.
Eclipse details Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular lunar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
+February 21, 1970 Lunar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Penumbral Magnitude 1.14027 Umbral Magnitude 0.04639 Gamma 0.96198 Sun Right Ascension 22h17m07.7s Sun Declination -10°39'28.9" Sun Semi-Diameter 16'10.2" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9" Moon Right Ascension 10h18m43.4s Moon Declination +11°26'05.5" Moon Semi-Diameter 14'47.0" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°54'15.2" ΔT 40.3 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 February–March 1970 February 21Descending node (full moon) March 7Ascending node (new moon) Partial lunar eclipseLunar Saros 113 Total solar eclipseSolar Saros 139
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1970 A partial lunar eclipse on February 21. A total solar eclipse on March 7. A partial lunar eclipse on August 17. An annular solar eclipse on August 31.
Metonic Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 4, 1966 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of December 10, 1973
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of January 9, 1963 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 4, 1977
Half-Saros Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 15, 1961 Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 26, 1979
Tritos Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 24, 1959 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of January 20, 1981
Lunar Saros 113 Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of February 11, 1952 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 3, 1988
Inex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 13, 1941 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of January 31, 1999
Triad Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 22, 1883 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of December 22, 2056
Lunar eclipses of 1969–1973
Metonic series
Saros 113
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 total solar eclipses of Solar Saros 120.
February 15, 1961February 26, 1979
See also List of lunar eclipses List of 20th-century lunar eclipses
Notes
External links