February 1989 lunar eclipse

February 1989 lunar eclipse
Total eclipse
The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left
DateFebruary 20, 1989
Gamma0.2935
Magnitude1.2747
Saros cycle123 (51 of 73)
Totality78 minutes, 31 seconds
Partiality223 minutes, 7 seconds
Penumbral367 minutes, 40 seconds
Contacts (UTC)
P112:31:33
U113:43:47
U214:56:06
Greatest15:35:22
U316:14:37
U417:26:55
P418:39:13

A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Monday, February 20, 1989,[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.2747. 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 3 days before apogee (on February 23, 1989, at 14:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.[2]

Visibility

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The eclipse was completely visible over the eastern half of Asia and Australia, seen rising over much of Africa, Europe, and west, central, and south Asia and setting over much of North America and the eastern Pacific Ocean.[3]

Eclipse details

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Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[4]

February 20, 1989 Lunar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter Value
Penumbral Magnitude 2.36514
Umbral Magnitude 1.27467
Gamma 0.29347
Sun Right Ascension 22h15m55.3s
Sun Declination -10°46'12.9"
Sun Semi-Diameter 16'10.4"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9"
Moon Right Ascension 10h16m24.6s
Moon Declination +11°00'28.8"
Moon Semi-Diameter 14'49.9"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°54'25.9"
ΔT 56.4 s

Eclipse season

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See also: Eclipse cycle

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 February–March 1989
February 20
Descending node (full moon)
 March 7
Ascending node (new moon)
Total lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 123		 Partial solar eclipse
Solar Saros 149
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Eclipses in 1989

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Metonic

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Tzolkinex

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Half-Saros

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Tritos

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Lunar Saros 123

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Inex

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Triad

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Lunar eclipses of 1988–1991

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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.[5]

The lunar eclipses on June 27, 1991 (penumbral) and December 21, 1991 (partial) occur in the next lunar year eclipse set.

Lunar eclipse series sets from 1988 to 1991
Descending node   Ascending node
Saros Date
Viewing 		Type
Chart 		Gamma Saros Date
Viewing 		Type
Chart 		Gamma
113 1988 Mar 03
 Penumbral
 0.9886 118 1988 Aug 27
 Partial
 −0.8682
123 1989 Feb 20
 Total
0.2935 128 1989 Aug 17
 Total
 −0.1491
133 1990 Feb 09
 Total
 −0.4148 138 1990 Aug 06
 Partial
 0.6374
143 1991 Jan 30
 Penumbral
 −1.0752 148 1991 Jul 26
 Penumbral
 1.4370

Metonic series

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This is the third of five Metonic lunar eclipses.

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 1951–2027
Descending node   Ascending node
Saros Date Type Saros Date Type
103 1951 Feb 21.88 Penumbral 108 1951 Aug 17.13 Penumbral
113 1970 Feb 21.35 Partial 118 1970 Aug 17.14 Partial
123 1989 Feb 20.64 Total 128 1989 Aug 17.13 Total
133 2008 Feb 21.14 Total 138 2008 Aug 16.88 Partial
143 2027 Feb 20.96 Penumbral 148 2027 Aug 17.30 Penumbral

Saros 123

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This eclipse is a part of Saros series 123, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 72 events. The series started with a penumbral lunar eclipse on August 16, 1087. It contains partial eclipses from May 2, 1520 through July 6, 1610; total eclipses from July 16, 1628 through April 4, 2061; and a second set of partial eclipses from April 16, 2079 through July 2, 2205. The series ends at member 72 as a penumbral eclipse on October 8, 2367.

The longest duration of totality was produced by member 37 at 105 minutes, 58 seconds on September 20, 1736. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.[6]

Greatest First
The greatest eclipse of the series occurred on 1736 Sep 20, lasting 105 minutes, 58 seconds.[7] Penumbral Partial Total Central
1087 Aug 16
 1520 May 02
 1628 Jul 16
 1682 Aug 18
Last
Central Total Partial Penumbral
1953 Jan 29
 2061 Apr 04
 2205 Jul 02
 2367 Oct 08

Eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.

Tritos series

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This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

Series members between 1801 and 2200
1803 Aug 03
(Saros 106) 		1814 Jul 02
(Saros 107) 		1825 Jun 01
(Saros 108) 		1836 May 01
(Saros 109) 		1847 Mar 31
(Saros 110)
1858 Feb 27
(Saros 111) 		1869 Jan 28
(Saros 112) 		1879 Dec 28
(Saros 113) 		1890 Nov 26
(Saros 114) 		1901 Oct 27
(Saros 115)
1912 Sep 26
(Saros 116) 		1923 Aug 26
(Saros 117) 		1934 Jul 26
(Saros 118) 		1945 Jun 25
(Saros 119) 		1956 May 24
(Saros 120)
1967 Apr 24
(Saros 121) 		1978 Mar 24
(Saros 122) 		1989 Feb 20
(Saros 123) 		2000 Jan 21
(Saros 124) 		2010 Dec 21
(Saros 125)
2021 Nov 19
(Saros 126) 		2032 Oct 18
(Saros 127) 		2043 Sep 19
(Saros 128) 		2054 Aug 18
(Saros 129) 		2065 Jul 17
(Saros 130)
2076 Jun 17
(Saros 131) 		2087 May 17
(Saros 132) 		2098 Apr 15
(Saros 133) 		2109 Mar 17
(Saros 134) 		2120 Feb 14
(Saros 135)
2131 Jan 13
(Saros 136) 		2141 Dec 13
(Saros 137) 		2152 Nov 12
(Saros 138) 		2163 Oct 12
(Saros 139) 		2174 Sep 11
(Saros 140)
2185 Aug 11
(Saros 141) 		2196 Jul 10
(Saros 142)

Half-Saros cycle

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A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).[8] This lunar eclipse is related to two total solar eclipses of Solar Saros 130.

February 16, 1980 February 26, 1998

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ "February 20–21, 1989 Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)". timeanddate. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  2. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  3. ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 1989 Feb 20" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  4. ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 1989 Feb 20". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  5. ^ van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  6. ^ "NASA - Catalog of Lunar Eclipses of Saros 123". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.
  7. ^ Listing of Eclipses of series 123
  8. ^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros
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