A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Sunday, March 13, 1960, with an umbral magnitude of 1.5145. It was a central lunar eclipse, in which part of the Moon passed through the center of the Earth's shadow. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon's near side entirely passes into the Earth's umbral shadow. 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. A total lunar eclipse can last up to nearly two hours, while a total solar eclipse lasts only a few minutes at any given place, because the Moon's shadow is smaller. Occurring about 5.9 days before perigee (on March 19, 1960, at 7:10 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
This eclipse afforded astrophysicist Richard W. Shorthill the opportunity to make the first infrared pyrometric temperature scans of the lunar surface, and led to his discovery of the first lunar "hot spot" observed from Earth. Shorthill found that the temperature of the floor of the Tycho crater was 216° Kelvin (—57°C), significantly higher than the 160K (—113°C) in the area around the crater.F. Link, Eclipse Phenomena in Astronomy (Springer, 2012) p119
Visibility The eclipse was completely visible over North America and the central and eastern Pacific Ocean, seen rising over east and northeast Asia and Australia and setting over 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.
+March 13, 1960 Lunar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Penumbral Magnitude 2.54151 Umbral Magnitude 1.51449 Gamma −0.17990 Sun Right Ascension 23h33m28.3s Sun Declination -02°52'01.0" Sun Semi-Diameter 16'05.3" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.8" Moon Right Ascension 11h33m15.8s Moon Declination +02°42'09.5" Moon Semi-Diameter 15'39.9" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°57'29.4" ΔT 33.3 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 March 1960 March 13Ascending node (full moon) March 27Descending node (new moon) Total lunar eclipseLunar Saros 122 Partial solar eclipseSolar Saros 148
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1960 A total lunar eclipse on March 13. A partial solar eclipse on March 27. A total lunar eclipse on September 5. A partial solar eclipse on September 20.
Metonic Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 24, 1956 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of December 30, 1963
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of January 29, 1953 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 24, 1967
Half-Saros Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 7, 1951 Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 18, 1969
Tritos Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 13, 1949 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of February 10, 1971
Lunar Saros 122 Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 3, 1942 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 24, 1978
Inex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 2, 1931 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of February 20, 1989
Triad Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 12, 1873 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of January 12, 2047
Lunar eclipses of 1958–1962
Saros 122
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 129. March 7, 1951March 18, 1969
See also List of lunar eclipses List of 20th-century lunar eclipses
Notes
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