Jump to content

March 1978 lunar eclipse

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.

March 1978 lunar eclipse
Total eclipse
The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left
DateMarch 24, 1978
Gamma−0.2140
Magnitude1.4518
Saros cycle122 (54 of 75)
Totality90 minutes, 40 seconds
Partiality218 minutes, 33 seconds
Penumbral344 minutes, 56 seconds
Contacts (UTC)
P113:29:51
U114:33:07
U215:37:03
Greatest16:22:22
U317:07:43
U418:11:40
P419:14:47

A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Friday, March 24, 1978,[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.4518. 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. The Moon's apparent diameter was near the average diameter because it occurred 7.1 days after apogee (on March 17, 1978, at 14:25 UTC) and 6.6 days before perigee (on March 31, 1978, at 5:45 UTC).[2]

This lunar eclipse was the first of an almost tetrad, with the others being on September 16, 1978 (total); March 13, 1979 (partial); and September 6, 1979 (total).

Visibility

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

Eclipse details

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

March 24, 1978 Lunar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter Value
Penumbral Magnitude 2.47900
Umbral Magnitude 1.45179
Gamma −0.21402
Sun Right Ascension 00h13m28.3s
Sun Declination +01°27'32.7"
Sun Semi-Diameter 16'02.4"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.8"
Moon Right Ascension 12h13m13.4s
Moon Declination -01°39'13.7"
Moon Semi-Diameter 15'36.9"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°57'18.4"
ΔT 48.8 s

Eclipse season

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 March–April 1978
March 24
Ascending node (full moon)
 April 7
Descending node (new moon)
Total lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 122		 Partial solar eclipse
Solar Saros 148

Eclipses in 1978

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Lunar Saros 122

Inex

Triad

Lunar eclipses of 1977–1980

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

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

This series produces 20 total eclipses between April 24, 1967 and August 11, 2185, only being partial on November 19, 2021.

Tritos eclipse series (subset 1901–2087)
Descending node   Ascending node
Saros Date
Viewing 		Type
chart 		Saros Date
Viewing 		Type
chart
115 1901 Oct 27
 Partial
 116 1912 Sep 26
 Partial
117 1923 Aug 26
 Partial
 118 1934 Jul 26
 Partial
119 1945 Jun 25
 Partial
 120 1956 May 24
 Partial
121 1967 Apr 24
 Total
 122 1978 Mar 24
 Total
123 1989 Feb 20
 Total
 124 2000 Jan 21
 Total
125 2010 Dec 21
 Total
 126 2021 Nov 19
 Partial
127 2032 Oct 18
 Total
 128 2043 Sep 19
 Total
129 2054 Aug 18
 Total
 130 2065 Jul 17
 Total
131 2076 Jun 17
 Total
 132 2087 May 17
 Total
133 2098 Apr 15
 Total

Half-Saros cycle

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).[5] This lunar eclipse is related to two solar eclipses of Solar Saros 129.

March 18, 1969 March 29, 1987

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "March 24–25, 1978 Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)". timeanddate. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  2. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  3. ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 1978 Mar 24" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  4. ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 1978 Mar 24". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  5. ^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros


Stub icon

This lunar eclipse-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=March_1978_lunar_eclipse&oldid=1267364223"