A penumbral lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Wednesday, May 4, 1966, with an umbral magnitude of −0.0727. 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 2.75 days after perigee (on May 1, 1966, at 15:20 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
Visibility The eclipse was completely visible over Africa, Europe, the western half of Asia, and Antarctica, seen rising over South America and the Atlantic Ocean and setting over east Asia and Australia.
Eclipse details Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular lunar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
+May 4, 1966 Lunar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Penumbral Magnitude 0.91576 Umbral Magnitude −0.07272 Gamma 1.05536 Sun Right Ascension 02h45m54.8s Sun Declination +16°01'34.2" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'51.5" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.7" Moon Right Ascension 14h47m34.9s Moon Declination -15°04'18.1" Moon Semi-Diameter 16'02.6" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°58'52.9" ΔT 36.8 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.
+ Eclipse season of May 1966 May 4Descending node (full moon) May 20Ascending node (new moon) Penumbral lunar eclipseLunar Saros 111 Annular solar eclipseSolar Saros 137
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1966 A penumbral lunar eclipse on May 4. An annular solar eclipse on May 20. A penumbral lunar eclipse on October 29. A total solar eclipse on November 12.
Metonic Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of July 17, 1962 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of February 21, 1970
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 24, 1959 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of June 15, 1973
Half-Saros Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 30, 1957 Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 11, 1975
Tritos Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 5, 1955 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 4, 1977
Lunar Saros 111 Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 23, 1948 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 15, 1984
Inex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 25, 1937 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 15, 1995
Triad Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of July 3, 1879 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 4, 2053
Lunar eclipses of 1966–1969
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 solar eclipses of Solar Saros 118. April 30, 1957May 11, 1975
See also List of lunar eclipses List of 20th-century lunar eclipses
Notes
External links