A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Sunday, April 2, 1950, with an umbral magnitude of 1.0329. 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 only about 23 hours before perigee (on April 3, 1950, at 20:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
This lunar eclipse was the third of a tetrad, with four total lunar eclipses in series, the others being on April 13, 1949; October 7, 1949; and September 26, 1950.
This was the first total lunar eclipse of Lunar Saros 131.
Visibility The eclipse was completely visible over much of Africa, Europe, and the western half of Asia, seen rising over South America and setting over east and northeast Asia and Australia.
Eclipse details Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
+April 2, 1950 Lunar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Penumbral Magnitude 1.99513 Umbral Magnitude 1.03288 Gamma −0.45987 Sun Right Ascension 00h46m07.6s Sun Declination +04°57'20.0" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'59.8" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.8" Moon Right Ascension 12h45m13.6s Moon Declination -05°21'58.0" Moon Semi-Diameter 16'37.5" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 1°01'00.8" ΔT 29.2 s
Eclipse season
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 1950 March 18Ascending node (new moon) April 2Descending node (full moon) Annular solar eclipseSolar Saros 119 Total lunar eclipseLunar Saros 131
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1950 A non-central annular solar eclipse on March 18. A total lunar eclipse on April 2. A total solar eclipse on September 12. A total lunar eclipse on September 26.
Metonic Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 14, 1946 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of January 19, 1954
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of February 20, 1943 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 13, 1957
Half-Saros Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 27, 1941 Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 8, 1959
Tritos Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 3, 1939 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 2, 1961
Lunar Saros 131 Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 22, 1932 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 13, 1968
Inex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 22, 1921 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 13, 1979
Triad Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 1, 1863 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of January 31, 2037
Lunar eclipses of 1948–1951
Saros 131
Tritos series
Inex series
Half-Saros cycle A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros This lunar eclipse is related to two total solar eclipses of Solar Saros 138. March 27, 1941April 8, 1959
See also List of lunar eclipses List of 20th-century lunar eclipses
Notes
External links