May 1958 lunar eclipse

May 1958 lunar eclipse
Partial eclipse
The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left
DateMay 3, 1958
Gamma1.0188
Magnitude0.0092
Saros cycle140 (22 of 80)
Partiality21 minutes, 2 seconds
Penumbral242 minutes, 13 seconds
Contacts (UTC)
P110:11:48
U112:02:22
Greatest12:12:57
U412:23:24
P414:14:01

A partial lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Saturday, May 3, 1958,[1] with an umbral magnitude of 0.0092. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A partial lunar eclipse occurs when one part of the Moon is in the Earth's umbra, while the other part is in 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 1.2 days after perigee (on May 2, 1958, at 7:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[2]

Visibility

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The eclipse was completely visible over northeast Asia, Australia, and Antarctica, seen rising over east, southeast, and south Asia and setting over much of North America and western South America.[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]

May 3, 1958 Lunar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter Value
Penumbral Magnitude 0.96760
Umbral Magnitude 0.00919
Gamma 1.01884
Sun Right Ascension 02h40m25.8s
Sun Declination +15°36'27.0"
Sun Semi-Diameter 15'51.8"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.7"
Moon Right Ascension 14h41m19.7s
Moon Declination -14°35'56.8"
Moon Semi-Diameter 16'33.1"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 1°00'44.9"
ΔT 32.4 s

Eclipse season

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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 April–May 1958
April 4
Ascending node (full moon)
April 19
Descending node (new moon)
May 3
Ascending node (full moon)
Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 102
Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 128
Partial lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 140
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Eclipses in 1958

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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 140

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Inex

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Triad

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Lunar eclipses of 1955–1958

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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 penumbral lunar eclipse on January 8, 1955 occurs in the previous lunar year eclipse set, and the penumbral lunar eclipse on April 4, 1958 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.

Lunar eclipse series sets from 1955 to 1958
Ascending node   Descending node
Saros Date
Viewing
Type
Chart
Gamma Saros Date
Viewing
Type
Chart
Gamma
110 1955 Jun 05
Penumbral
−1.2384 115 1955 Nov 29
Partial
0.9551
120 1956 May 24
Partial
−0.4726 125 1956 Nov 18
Total
0.2917
130 1957 May 13
Total
0.3046 135 1957 Nov 07
Total
−0.4332
140 1958 May 03
Partial
1.0188 145 1958 Oct 27
Penumbral
−1.1571

Saros 140

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This eclipse is a part of Saros series 140, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 77 events. The series started with a penumbral lunar eclipse on September 25, 1597. It contains partial eclipses from May 3, 1958 through July 17, 2084; total eclipses from July 30, 2102 through May 21, 2589; and a second set of partial eclipses from June 2, 2607 through August 7, 2715. The series ends at member 77 as a penumbral eclipse on January 6, 2968.

The longest duration of totality will be produced by member 38 at 98 minutes, 36 seconds on November 4, 2264. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.[6]

Greatest First
The greatest eclipse of the series will occur on 2264 Nov 04, lasting 98 minutes, 36 seconds.[7] Penumbral Partial Total Central
1597 Sep 25
1958 May 03
2102 Jul 30
2156 Aug 30
Last
Central Total Partial Penumbral
2535 Apr 19
2589 May 21
2715 Aug 07
2968 Jan 06

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 2132
1805 Jul 11
(Saros 126)
1816 Jun 10
(Saros 127)
1827 May 11
(Saros 128)
1838 Apr 10
(Saros 129)
1849 Mar 09
(Saros 130)
1860 Feb 07
(Saros 131)
1871 Jan 06
(Saros 132)
1881 Dec 05
(Saros 133)
1892 Nov 04
(Saros 134)
1903 Oct 06
(Saros 135)
1914 Sep 04
(Saros 136)
1925 Aug 04
(Saros 137)
1936 Jul 04
(Saros 138)
1947 Jun 03
(Saros 139)
1958 May 03
(Saros 140)
1969 Apr 02
(Saros 141)
1980 Mar 01
(Saros 142)
1991 Jan 30
(Saros 143)
2001 Dec 30
(Saros 144)
2012 Nov 28
(Saros 145)
2023 Oct 28
(Saros 146)
2034 Sep 28
(Saros 147)
2045 Aug 27
(Saros 148)
2056 Jul 26
(Saros 149)
2067 Jun 27
(Saros 150)
2132 Dec 22
(Saros 156)

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 partial solar eclipses of Solar Saros 147.

April 28, 1949 May 9, 1967

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ "May 3, 1958 Partial Lunar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  2. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  3. ^ "Partial Lunar Eclipse of 1958 May 03" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  4. ^ "Partial Lunar Eclipse of 1958 May 03". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  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 140". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.
  7. ^ Listing of Eclipses of series 140
  8. ^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros
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