A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Monday, May 3, 1920, with an umbral magnitude of 1.2194. 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 only about 3.8 days before apogee (on May 6, 1920, at 21:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
This lunar eclipse was the first of an almost tetrad, with the others being on October 27, 1920 (total); April 22, 1921 (total); and October 16, 1921 (partial).
Visibility The eclipse was completely visible over South America, west and southern Africa, western Europe, and Antarctica, seen rising over much of North America and the eastern Pacific Ocean and setting over eastern Europe, east Africa, and the western half of Asia.
Eclipse details Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
+May 3, 1920 Lunar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Penumbral Magnitude 2.28178 Umbral Magnitude 1.21939 Gamma −0.33118 Sun Right Ascension 02h39m30.8s Sun Declination +15°32'26.3" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'51.7" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.7" Moon Right Ascension 14h39m15.0s Moon Declination -15°50'11.0" Moon Semi-Diameter 14'55.8" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°54'47.6" ΔT 21.5 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 1920 May 3Ascending node (full moon) May 18Descending node (new moon) Total lunar eclipseLunar Saros 120 Partial solar eclipseSolar Saros 146
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1920 A total lunar eclipse on May 3. A partial solar eclipse on May 18. A total lunar eclipse on October 27. A partial solar eclipse on November 10.
Metonic Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of July 15, 1916 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of February 20, 1924
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 22, 1913 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of June 15, 1927
Half-Saros Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 28, 1911 Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 9, 1929
Tritos Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 4, 1909 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 2, 1931
Lunar Saros 120 Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 22, 1902 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 14, 1938
Inex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 23, 1891 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 13, 1949
Triad Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of July 2, 1833 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 3, 2007
Lunar eclipses of 1919–1922 This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of lunar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.
The penumbral lunar eclipse on March 13, 1922 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.
Lunar eclipse series sets from 1919 to 1922 Ascending node Descending node Saros DateViewing TypeChart Gamma Saros DateViewing TypeChart Gamma 110 1919 May 15Penumbral −1.0820 115 1919 Nov 07Partial 0.9246 120 1920 May 03Total −0.3312 125 1920 Oct 27Total 0.2502 130 1921 Apr 22Total 0.4269 135 1921 Oct 16Partial −0.4902 140 1922 Apr 11Penumbral 1.1228 145 1922 Oct 06Penumbral −1.2348
Saros 120
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 127. April 28, 1911May 9, 1929
See also List of lunar eclipses List of 20th-century lunar eclipses
Notes
External links