A partial lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Thursday, May 24, 1956, with an umbral magnitude of 0.9647. 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 4.3 days before apogee (on May 28, 1956, at 22:10 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
This lunar eclipse was the first of an almost tetrad, with the others being on November 18, 1956 (total); May 13, 1957 (total); and November 7, 1957 (total).
This was the first eclipse of the last partial set in Lunar Saros 120.
Visibility The eclipse was completely visible over east Asia, Australia, and Antarctica, seen rising over central and east Africa, eastern Europe, and the western half of Asia and setting over the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Eclipse details Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
+May 24, 1956 Lunar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Penumbral Magnitude 2.01740 Umbral Magnitude 0.96473 Gamma −0.47260 Sun Right Ascension 04h05m33.5s Sun Declination +20°50'30.4" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'47.4" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.7" Moon Right Ascension 16h05m23.2s Moon Declination -21°16'24.6" Moon Semi-Diameter 15'00.0" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°55'03.0" ΔT 31.6 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 May–June 1956 May 24Ascending node (full moon) June 8Descending node (new moon) Partial lunar eclipseLunar Saros 120 Total solar eclipseSolar Saros 146
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1956 A partial lunar eclipse on May 24. A total solar eclipse on June 8. A total lunar eclipse on November 18. A partial solar eclipse on December 2.
Metonic Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of August 5, 1952 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 13, 1960
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 13, 1949 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of July 6, 1963
Half-Saros Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 20, 1947 Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 30, 1965
Tritos Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 25, 1945 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 24, 1967
Lunar Saros 120 Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 14, 1938 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of June 4, 1974
Inex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 15, 1927 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 4, 1985
Triad Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of July 23, 1869 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 25, 2043
Lunar eclipses of 1955–1958
Saros 120
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 127. May 20, 1947May 30, 1965
See also List of lunar eclipses List of 20th-century lunar eclipses
Notes
External links