A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Saturday, August 13, 1859, with an umbral magnitude of 1.8148. 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 about 1.1 days after apogee (on August 12, 1859, at 17:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller. The eclipse was obseved by the Aboriginal Australian Ngarrindjeri people, who feared it because they believed it to be the cause of Aboriginal sorcerers.
Totality for this eclipse lasted 106 minutes and 28 seconds, the longest duration since May 3, 459 (106 minutes and 32 seconds). A totality of this length will not occur again until August 19, 4753 (106 minutes and 35 seconds). During the totality of this eclipse, the moon was in the constellation of Capricornus.
Visibility The eclipse was completely visible over the eastern half of Asia, Australia, and Antarctica, seen rising over west and central Asia, Africa, and Europe and setting over northeast Asia and the central and 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.
+August 13, 1859 Lunar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Penumbral Magnitude 2.88768 Umbral Magnitude 1.81481 Gamma 0.00383 Sun Right Ascension 09h30m59.9s Sun Declination +14°43'05.3" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'47.6" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.7" Moon Right Ascension 21h30m59.5s Moon Declination -14°42'54.0" Moon Semi-Diameter 14'43.2" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°54'01.4" ΔT 7.3 s
Eclipse season
This eclipse was 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. The first and last eclipse in this sequence is separated by one synodic month.
+ Eclipse season of July–August 1859 July 29Descending node (new moon) August 13Ascending node (full moon) August 28Descending node (new moon) Partial solar eclipseSolar Saros 114 Total lunar eclipseLunar Saros 126 Partial solar eclipseSolar Saros 152
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1859 A partial solar eclipse on February 3. A total lunar eclipse on February 17. A partial solar eclipse on March 4. A partial solar eclipse on July 29. A total lunar eclipse on August 13. A partial solar eclipse on August 28.
Metonic Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of October 25, 1855 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of June 1, 1863
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of July 1, 1852 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of September 24, 1866
Half-Saros Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 7, 1850 Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 18, 1868
Tritos Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of September 13, 1848 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of July 12, 1870
Lunar Saros 126 Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of August 2, 1841 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of August 23, 1877
Inex Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of September 2, 1830 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of July 23, 1888
Triad Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of October 11, 1772 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of June 14, 1946
Lunar eclipses of 1857–1861 This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of lunar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.
The penumbral lunar eclipses on April 9, 1857 and October 3, 1857 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set, and the lunar eclipses on December 28, 1860 (penumbral), June 22, 1861 (penumbral), and December 17, 1861 (partial) occur in the next lunar year eclipse set.
Lunar eclipse series sets from 1857 to 1861 Ascending node Descending node Saros DateViewing TypeChart Gamma Saros DateViewing TypeChart Gamma 106 1857 Sep 04Penumbral −1.4376 111 1858 Feb 27Partial 0.8252 116 1858 Aug 24Partial −0.7446 121 1859 Feb 17Total 0.0950 126 1859 Aug 13Total 0.0038 131 1860 Feb 07Partial −0.5790 136 1860 Aug 01Partial 0.7551 141 1861 Jan 26Penumbral −1.2864 146 1861 Jul 21Penumbral 1.4659
Saros 126
Tritos series
Inex series
See also List of lunar eclipses Lunar Saros 126 List of 19th-century lunar eclipses
Notes
References