September 1979 lunar eclipse

Total lunar eclipse September 6, 1979

Total eclipse

Date

6 September 1979

Gamma

−0.43050

Magnitude

1.09358

Saros cycle

137 (25 of 80)

Totality

44 minutes, 24.7 seconds

Partiality

191 minutes, 54.2 seconds

Penumbral

305 minutes, 15.4 seconds

Contacts (UTC)
P1	08:21:34.5
U1	09:18:14.6
U2	10:31:59.4
Greatest	10:54:11.9
U3	11:16:24.1
U4	12:30:08.8
P4	13:26:49.9

← March 1979

March 1980 →

A total lunar eclipse took place on Thursday, September 6, 1979, the second of two lunar eclipses in 1979. A shallow total eclipse saw the Moon in relative darkness for 44 minutes and 24.7 seconds. The Moon was 9.358% of its diameter into the Earth's umbral shadow, and should have been significantly darkened. The partial eclipse lasted for 3 hours, 11 minutes and 54.1 seconds in total.^[1]

This event followed the annular solar eclipse of August 22, 1979.

Visibility

Related lunar eclipses

Eclipses in 1979

A total solar eclipse on Monday, 26 February 1979.
A partial lunar eclipse on Tuesday, 13 March 1979.
An annular solar eclipse on Wednesday, 22 August 1979.
A total lunar eclipse on Thursday, 6 September 1979.

Lunar year series

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

Saros series

It is part of Saros series 137.

Half-Saros cycle

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).^[2] This lunar eclipse is related to two annular solar eclipses of Solar Saros 144.

August 31, 1970	September 11, 1988

Notes

^ Hermit Eclipse: Saros cycle 137
^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros

External links

1979 Sep 06 chart Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
September 6, 1979, a Lunar Eclipse

Lunar eclipses

Lists of lunar eclipses

Lunar eclipses
by era

Modern era
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Future
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Lunar eclipses
by saros series

Partial eclipses

Total eclipses

Penumbral eclipses

Partial	23 Mar 1940 22 Apr 1940 16 Oct 1940 1951 Feb 21 1951 Mar 23 1951 Aug 17 1951 Sep 15 1955 Jan 08 1955 Jun 05 1958 Apr 04 1958 Oct 27 1959 Sep 17 1962 Feb 19 1962 Jul 17 1962 Aug 15 1965 Dec 08 1966 May 04 1966 Oct 29 1969 Apr 02 1969 Aug 27 1969 Sep 25 1973 Jan 18 1973 Jun 15 1973 Jul 15 1976 Nov 06 1977 Sep 27 1980 Mar 01 1980 Jul 27 1980 Aug 26 1983 Dec 20 1984 May 15 1984 Jun 13 1984 Nov 08 1987 Apr 14 1987 Oct 07 1991 Jan 30 1991 Jun 27 1991 Jul 26 1994 Nov 18 1995 Oct 08 1998 Mar 13 1998 Aug 08 1998 Sep 06 2001 Dec 30 2002 May 26 2002 Jun 24 2002 Nov 20 2005 Apr 24 2009 Feb 09 2009 Jul 07 2009 Aug 06 2012 Nov 28 2013 May 25 2013 Oct 18 2016 Mar 23 2016 Aug 18 2016 Sep 16 2017 Feb 11 2020 Jan 10 2020 Jun 05 2020 Jul 05 2020 Nov 30 2023 May 05 2024 Mar 25 → 2027 Feb 20 2027 Jul 18 2027 Aug 17 2030 Dec 09 2031 May 07 2031 Jun 05 2031 Oct 30 2034 Apr 03 2035 Feb 22 2038 Jan 21 2038 Jun 17 2038 Jul 16 2038 Dec 11 2042 Apr 05 2042 Oct 28 2045 Mar 03 2045 Aug 27 2048 Dec 20 2049 May 17 2049 Jun 15 2049 Nov 09 2052 Apr 14 2053 Mar 04 2060 Nov 08 2107 May 7
Total	1963 Jan 09 1981 Jan 20 1988 Mar 03 1999 Jan 31 2006 Mar 14 → 2053 Aug 29 2070 Apr 25

Partial