A penumbral lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Saturday, September 15, 1951, with an umbral magnitude of −0.1927. 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 3.6 days after perigee (on September 11, 1951, at 21:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
This eclipse was the last of four penumbral lunar eclipses in 1951, with the others occurring on February 21, March 23, and August 17.
Visibility The eclipse was completely visible over east and northeast Asia, Australia, and northwestern North America, seen rising over central and south Asia and setting over much of North America and western South America.
Eclipse details Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
+September 15, 1951 Lunar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Penumbral Magnitude 0.80351 Umbral Magnitude −0.19267 Gamma 1.11865 Sun Right Ascension 11h30m04.6s Sun Declination +03°13'56.1" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'54.4" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.7" Moon Right Ascension 23h27m58.3s Moon Declination -02°16'28.5" Moon Semi-Diameter 15'58.0" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°58'36.0" ΔT 29.8 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 August–September 1951 August 17Ascending node (full moon) September 1Descending node (new moon) September 15Ascending node (full moon) Penumbral lunar eclipseLunar Saros 108 Annular solar eclipseSolar Saros 134 Penumbral lunar eclipseLunar Saros 146
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1951 A penumbral lunar eclipse on February 21. An annular solar eclipse on March 7. A penumbral lunar eclipse on March 23. A penumbral lunar eclipse on August 17. An annular solar eclipse on September 1. A penumbral lunar eclipse on September 15.
Metonic Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of November 28, 1947
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of August 4, 1944 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of October 27, 1958
Half-Saros Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 10, 1942 Followed by: Solar eclipse of September 20, 1960
Tritos Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of October 16, 1940 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of August 15, 1962
Lunar Saros 146 Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of September 4, 1933 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of September 25, 1969
Inex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of October 6, 1922 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of August 26, 1980
Triad Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of November 13, 1864 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of July 16, 2038
Lunar eclipses of 1948–1951
Saros 146
Tritos series
Series members between 1801 and 2060 1809 Oct 23(Saros 133) 1820 Sep 22(Saros 134) 1831 Aug 23(Saros 135) 1842 Jul 22(Saros 136) 1853 Jun 21(Saros 137) 1864 May 21(Saros 138) 1875 Apr 20(Saros 139) 1886 Mar 20(Saros 140) 1897 Feb 17(Saros 141) 1908 Jan 18(Saros 142) 1918 Dec 17(Saros 143) 1929 Nov 17(Saros 144) 1940 Oct 16(Saros 145) 1951 Sep 15(Saros 146) 1962 Aug 15(Saros 147) 1973 Jul 15(Saros 148) 1984 Jun 13(Saros 149) 2060 Nov 08(Saros 156)
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 153. September 10, 1942September 20, 1960
See also List of lunar eclipses List of 20th-century lunar eclipses
Notes
External links