April 1986 lunar eclipse

A total lunar eclipse took place on Thursday, April 24, 1986, the first of two total lunar eclipses in 1986, the second being on October 17, 1986. The Moon was plunged into darkness for 1 hour, 3 minutes and 34.8 seconds, in a deep total eclipse which saw the Moon 20.217% of its diameter inside the Earth's umbral shadow. The visual effect of this depends on the state of the Earth's atmosphere, but the Moon may have been stained a deep red colour. The partial eclipse lasted for 3 hours, 18 minutes and 46.8 seconds in total. The Moon was just 1.2 days before perigee (Perigee on Friday, April 25, 1986), making it 5.3% larger than average.

It is seen rising over eastern Asia, the Pacific Ocean, and western North America and South America, the eclipse is also seen setting over the whole of Europe, Africa and Western Asia. The eclipse was seen very visible over the Philippines, it becomes the first lunar eclipse after the EDSA Revolution since the two lunar eclipses happened between May 4, 1985 and October 28, 1985 and the second followed on October 17, 1986. It also followed on February 20, 1989.

Eclipses in 1986 are:

Partial Solar eclipse of April 9, 1986

Total Lunar Eclipse of April 24, 1986

Hybrid Solar eclipse of October 3, 1986

Total Lunar Eclipse of October 17, 1986 (October 1986 lunar eclipse)

It also followed the passage of Halley's comet in the same year.

• A partial solar eclipse on April 9.
• A total lunar eclipse on April 24.
• A hybrid solar eclipse on October 3.
• A total lunar eclipse on October 17.

Lunar eclipse series sets from 1984–1987
Descending node					Ascending node
Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma		Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma
111	1984 May 15	Penumbral	1.11308		116	1984 Nov 08	Penumbral	−1.08998
121	1985 May 04	Total	0.35197		126	1985 Oct 28	Total	−0.40218
131	1986 Apr 24	Total	−0.36826		136	1986 Oct 17	Total	0.31887
141	1987 Apr 14	Penumbral	−1.13641		146	1987 Oct 07	Penumbral	1.01890
Last set	1984 Jun 13				Last set	1983 Dec 20
Next set	1988 Mar 03				Next set	1988 Aug 27

Lunar Saros series 131, has 72 lunar eclipses. Solar Saros 138 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.

This eclipse series began in AD 1427 with a partial eclipse at the southern edge of the Earth's shadow when the Moon was close to its descending node. Each successive Saros cycle, the Moon's orbital path is shifted northward with respect to the Earth's shadow, with the first total eclipse occurring in 1950. For the following 252 years, total eclipses occur, with the central eclipse being predicted to occur in 2078. The first partial eclipse after this is predicted to occur in the year 2220, and the final partial eclipse of the series will occur in 2707. The total lifetime of the lunar Saros series 131 is 1280 years. Solar Saros 138 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.

Because of the ⅓ fraction of days in a Saros cycle, the visibility of each eclipse will differ for an observer at a given fixed locale. For the lunar Saros series 131, the first total eclipse of 1950 had its best visibility for viewers in Eastern Europe and the Middle East because mid-eclipse was at 20:44 UT. The following eclipse in the series occurred approximately 8 hours later in the day with mid-eclipse at 4:47 UT, and was best seen from North America and South America. The third total eclipse occurred approximately 8 hours later in the day than the second eclipse with mid-eclipse at 12:43 UT, and had its best visibility for viewers in the Western Pacific, East Asia, Australia and New Zealand. This cycle of visibility repeats from the initiation to termination of the series, with minor variations. Solar Saros 138 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.

Lunar Saros series 131, repeating every 18 years and 11 days, has a total of 72 lunar eclipse events including 57 umbral lunar eclipses (42 partial lunar eclipses and 15 total lunar eclipses). Solar Saros 138 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.

Greatest	First
The greatest eclipse of the series will occur on 2094 Jun 28, lasting 102 minutes.[1]	Penumbral	Partial	Total	Central
	1427 May 10	1553 July 25	1950 Apr 2	2022 May 16
	Last
	Central	Total	Partial	Penumbral
	2148 Jul 31	2202 Sep 3	2563 Apr 9	2707 Jul 7

1901–2100

1914 Mar 12		1932 Mar 22		1950 Apr 2
1968 Apr 13		1986 Apr 24		2004 May 4
2022 May 16		2040 May 26		2058 Jun 6
2076 Jun 17		2094 Jun 28

It is the third total lunar eclipse of the series. The next occurrence will be on May 4, 2004. The previous occurrence was April 13, 1968.

This eclipse is the third of four Metonic cycle lunar eclipses on the same date, April 23–24, each separated by 19 years:

The Metonic cycle repeats nearly exactly every 19 years and represents a Saros cycle plus one lunar year. Because it occurs on the same calendar date, the Earth's shadow will in nearly the same location relative to the background stars.

Metonic lunar eclipse sets 1948–2005

Descending node				Ascending node
Saros	Date	Type		Saros	Date	Type
111	1948 Apr 23	Partial		116	1948 Oct 18	Penumbral
121	1967 Apr 24	Total		126	1967 Oct 18	Total
131	1986 Apr 24	Total		136	1986 Oct 17	Total
141	2005 Apr 24	Penumbral		146	2005 Oct 17	Partial

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).^[2] This lunar eclipse is related to two annular solar eclipses of Solar Saros 138.

April 18, 1977	April 29, 1995

• List of lunar eclipses
• List of 20th-century lunar eclipses
• Blood Moon
• Orbit of the Moon

• 1986 Apr 24 chart Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC

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