September 1978 lunar eclipse

A total lunar eclipse took place on Saturday, September 16, 1978, the second of two total lunar eclipses in 1978. The Moon was plunged into darkness for 1 hour, 18 minutes and 39 seconds, in a deep total eclipse which saw the Moon 32.683% 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, 27 minutes and 11.6 seconds in total.[1]

September 1978 lunar eclipse
Total eclipse
Date16 September 1978
Gamma0.29510
Magnitude1.32683
Saros cycle127 (40 of 72)
Totality78 minutes, 39 seconds
Partiality207 minutes, 11.6 seconds
Penumbral323 minutes, 56.7 seconds
Contacts (UTC)
P116:22:15.7
U117:20:34.8
U218:24:51.5
Greatest19:04:11.9
U319:43:30.5
U420:47:46.4
P421:46:12.4

This is the 40th member of Lunar Saros 127. The previous event is the September 1960 lunar eclipse. The next event is the September 1996 lunar eclipse.

Visibility

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It was completely visible in east in South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia, seen rising over east in South America and setting over the Pacific (west of International Date Line), on September 17, 1978 local time.

 

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Eclipses in 1978

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Lunar year series

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Lunar eclipse series sets from 1977–1980
Ascending node   Descending node
Saros Date
viewing
Type
chart
Gamma Saros Date
viewing
Type
chart
Gamma
112 1977 Apr 04
 
Partial
 
−0.91483 117 1977 Sep 27
 
Penumbral
 
1.07682
122 1978 Mar 24
 
Total
 
−0.21402 127 1978 Sep 16
 
Total
 
0.29510
132 1979 Mar 13
 
Partial
 
0.52537 137 1979 Sep 06
 
Total
 
−0.43050
142 1980 Mar 01
 
Penumbral
 
1.22701 147 1980 Aug 26
 
Penumbral
 
−1.16082
Last set 1976 May 13 Last set 1976 Nov 06
Next set 1981 Jan 20 Next set 1980 Jul 27

Tritos series

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The tritos series repeats 31 days short of 11 years at alternating nodes. Sequential events have incremental Saros cycle indices.

This series produces 23 total eclipses between June 22, 1880 and August 9, 2120.

Tritos eclipse series (subset 1901–2100)
Ascending node   Descending node
Saros Date
Viewing
Type
chart
Saros Date
Viewing
Type
chart
120 1902 Apr 22
 
Total
 
121 1913 Mar 22
 
Total
 
122 1924 Feb 20
 
Total
 
123 1935 Jan 19
 
Total
 
124 1945 Dec 19
 
Total
 
125 1956 Nov 18
 
Total
 
126 1967 Oct 18
 
Total
 
127 1978 Sep 16
 
Total
 
128 1989 Aug 17
 
Total
 
129 2000 Jul 16
 
Total
 
130 2011 Jun 15
 
Total
 
131 2022 May 16
 
Total
 
132 2033 Apr 14
 
Total
 
133 2044 Mar 13
 
Total
 
134 2055 Feb 11
 
Total
 
135 2066 Jan 11
 
Total
 
136 2076 Dec 10
 
Total
 
137 2087 Nov 10
 
Total
 
138 2098 Oct 10
 
Total
 

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).[2] This lunar eclipse is related to two annular solar eclipses of Solar Saros 134.

September 11, 1969 September 23, 1987
   

Saros series

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Lunar saros series 127, repeating every 18 years and 11 days, has a total of 72 lunar eclipse events including 54 umbral lunar eclipses (38 partial lunar eclipses and 16 total lunar eclipses). Solar Saros 134 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 occurred on 1888 Jul 23, lasting 102 minutes.
Penumbral Partial Total Central
1275 Jul 09 1473 Nov 04 1798 May 29 1834 Jun 21
Last
Central Total Partial Penumbral
1960 Sep 05 2068 Nov 09 2429 Jun 17 2555 Sep 02
1901–2100
1906 Aug 04 1924 Aug 14 1942 Aug 26
           
1960 Sep 05 1978 Sep 16 1996 Sep 27
           
2014 Oct 08 2032 Oct 18 2050 Oct 30
           
2068 Nov 09
   

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Hermit Eclipse: Saros cycle 127
  2. ^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros
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