A penumbral lunar eclipse took place on Wednesday, February 21, 1951. This was 6.4 days after the Moon reached apogee.[1]
| Penumbral eclipse | |||||||||
 The Moon passed west to east (right to left) through the northern edge of the Earth's penumbral shadow. It was too small to be visually perceptible. | |||||||||
| Magnitude | 0.007 (penumbral magnitude) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saros cycle | 103 (83) | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Grazing penumbral eclipse edit
The magnitude of the eclipse was 0.007 or a miss depending on definitions of the penumbral shadow is defined. Bao-Lin Lui's Canon of lunar eclipses list it as the last eclipse of a saros cycle, with magnitude 0.007, while NASA lists February 10, 1933, as the final series event, with this one missing the shadow.[2]
As seen from the lunar south pole the sun missing the sphere of the earth, excluding the atmosphere.
Related lunar eclipses edit
Lunar year series edit
| Descending node | Ascending node | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saros | Date Viewing |
Type Chart |
Saros | Date Viewing |
Type Chart | |
| 103 | 1951 Feb 21
|
Penumbral
|
108 | 1951 Aug 17
|
Penumbral
| |
| 113 | 1952 Feb 11
|
Partial
|
118 | 1952 Aug 5
|
Partial
| |
| 123 | 1953 Jan 29
|
Total
|
128 | 1953 Jul 26
|
Total
| |
| 133 | 1954 Jan 19
|
Total
|
138 | 1954 Jul 16
|
Partial
| |
| 143 | 1955 Jan 8
|
Penumbral
| ||||
| Last set | 1951 Mar 23 | Last set | 1951 Sep 15 | |||
| Next set | 1955 Nov 29 | Next set | 1955 Jun 5 | |||
Metonic cycle (19 years) edit
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.
| 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 | |
|
| |||||
See also edit
Notes edit
References edit
- Bao-Lin Lui, Alan D. Fiala, Canon of lunar eclipses 1500BC-3000AD, 1992, p. 157, no. 8397, magnitude 0.007.
External links edit
- NASA chart
- 1951 Feb 21 chart Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
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