August 1971 lunar eclipse
| Total eclipse | |||||||||||||||||
 The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left | |||||||||||||||||
| Date | August 6, 1971 | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gamma | −0.0794 | ||||||||||||||||
| Magnitude | 1.7283 | ||||||||||||||||
| Saros cycle | 128 (38 of 71) | ||||||||||||||||
| Totality | 99 minutes, 25 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Partiality | 215 minutes, 30 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Penumbral | 327 minutes, 17 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
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A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Friday, August 6, 1971,[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.7283. It was a central lunar eclipse, in which part of the Moon passed through the center of the Earth's shadow. 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 2.3 days before perigee (on August 9, 1971, at 2:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[2]
Visibility
[edit]The eclipse was completely visible over central and east Africa, much of Asia, western Australia, and Antarctica, seen rising over central and eastern South America, Europe, and west Africa and setting over east and northeast Asia and eastern Australia.[3]
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Eclipse details
[edit]Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[4]
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Penumbral Magnitude | 2.69580 |
| Umbral Magnitude | 1.72830 |
| Gamma | −0.07944 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 09h04m36.6s |
| Sun Declination | +16°43'16.0" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 15'46.2" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.7" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 21h04m44.2s |
| Moon Declination | -16°47'39.7" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'17.9" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°59'49.1" |
| ΔT | 41.8 s |
Eclipse season
[edit]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. The first and last eclipse in this sequence is separated by one synodic month.
| July 22 Descending node (new moon) |
August 6 Ascending node (full moon) |
August 20 Descending node (new moon) |
|---|---|---|
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| Partial solar eclipse Solar Saros 116 |
Total lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 128 |
Partial solar eclipse Solar Saros 154 |
Related eclipses
[edit]Eclipses in 1971
[edit]- A total lunar eclipse on February 10.
- A partial solar eclipse on February 25.
- A partial solar eclipse on July 22.
- A total lunar eclipse on August 6.
- A partial solar eclipse on August 20.
Metonic
[edit]- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of October 18, 1967
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 25, 1975
Tzolkinex
[edit]- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 25, 1964
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of September 16, 1978
Half-Saros
[edit]- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 31, 1962
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 10, 1980
Tritos
[edit]- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of September 5, 1960
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of July 6, 1982
Lunar Saros 128
[edit]- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of July 26, 1953
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of August 17, 1989
Inex
[edit]- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of August 26, 1942
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of July 16, 2000
Triad
[edit]- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of October 4, 1884
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of June 6, 2058
Lunar eclipses of 1969–1973
[edit]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.[5]
The penumbral lunar eclipses on April 2, 1969 and September 25, 1969 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set, and the lunar eclipses on June 15, 1973 (penumbral) and December 10, 1973 (partial) occur in the next lunar year eclipse set.
| Lunar eclipse series sets from 1969 to 1973 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ascending node | Descending node | |||||||
| Saros | Date Viewing |
Type Chart |
Gamma | Saros | Date Viewing |
Type Chart |
Gamma | |
| 108 | 1969 Aug 27
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Penumbral
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−1.5407 | 113 | 1970 Feb 21
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Partial
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0.9620 | |
| 118 | 1970 Aug 17
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Partial
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−0.8053 | 123 | 1971 Feb 10
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Total
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0.2741 | |
| 128 | 1971 Aug 06
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Total
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−0.0794 | 133 | 1972 Jan 30
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Total
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−0.4273 | |
| 138 | 1972 Jul 26
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Partial
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0.7117 | 143 | 1973 Jan 18
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Penumbral
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−1.0845 | |
| 148 | 1973 Jul 15
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Penumbral
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1.5178 | |||||
Saros 128
[edit]This eclipse is a part of Saros series 128, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a penumbral lunar eclipse on June 18, 1304. It contains partial eclipses from September 2, 1430 through May 11, 1827; total eclipses from May 21, 1845 through October 21, 2097; and a second set of partial eclipses from November 2, 2115 through May 17, 2440. The series ends at member 71 as a penumbral eclipse on August 2, 2566.
The longest duration of totality was produced by member 37 at 100 minutes, 43 seconds on July 26, 1953. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.[6]
| Greatest | First | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The greatest eclipse of the series occurred on 1953 Jul 26, lasting 100 minutes, 43 seconds.[7] |
Penumbral | Partial | Total | Central |
| 1304 Jun 18 |
1430 Sep 02 |
1845 May 21 |
1899 Jun 23 | |
| Last | ||||
| Central | Total | Partial | Penumbral | |
2007 Aug 28
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2097 Oct 21
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2440 May 17 |
2566 Aug 02 | |
Eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.
| Series members 29–50 occur between 1801 and 2200: | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | 30 | 31 | |||
| 1809 Apr 30 | 1827 May 11 | 1845 May 21 | |||
| 32 | 33 | 34 | |||
| 1863 Jun 01 | 1881 Jun 12 | 1899 Jun 23 | |||
| 35 | 36 | 37 | |||
| 1917 Jul 04 | 1935 Jul 16 | 1953 Jul 26 | |||
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| 38 | 39 | 40 | |||
| 1971 Aug 06 | 1989 Aug 17 | 2007 Aug 28 | |||
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| 41 | 42 | 43 | |||
| 2025 Sep 07 | 2043 Sep 19 | 2061 Sep 29 | |||
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| 44 | 45 | 46 | |||
| 2079 Oct 10 | 2097 Oct 21 | 2115 Nov 02 | |||
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| 47 | 48 | 49 | |||
| 2133 Nov 12 | 2151 Nov 24 | 2169 Dec 04 | |||
| 50 | |||||
| 2187 Dec 15 | |||||
Tritos series
[edit]This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
| Series members between 1801 and 2200 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1807 Nov 15 (Saros 113) |
1818 Oct 14 (Saros 114) |
1829 Sep 13 (Saros 115) |
1840 Aug 13 (Saros 116) |
1851 Jul 13 (Saros 117) | |||||
| 1862 Jun 12 (Saros 118) |
1873 May 12 (Saros 119) |
1884 Apr 10 (Saros 120) |
1895 Mar 11 (Saros 121) |
1906 Feb 09 (Saros 122) | |||||
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| 1917 Jan 08 (Saros 123) |
1927 Dec 08 (Saros 124) |
1938 Nov 07 (Saros 125) |
1949 Oct 07 (Saros 126) |
1960 Sep 05 (Saros 127) | |||||
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| 1971 Aug 06 (Saros 128) |
1982 Jul 06 (Saros 129) |
1993 Jun 04 (Saros 130) |
2004 May 04 (Saros 131) |
2015 Apr 04 (Saros 132) | |||||
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| 2026 Mar 03 (Saros 133) |
2037 Jan 31 (Saros 134) |
2048 Jan 01 (Saros 135) |
2058 Nov 30 (Saros 136) |
2069 Oct 30 (Saros 137) | |||||
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| 2080 Sep 29 (Saros 138) |
2091 Aug 29 (Saros 139) |
2102 Jul 30 (Saros 140) |
2113 Jun 29 (Saros 141) |
2124 May 28 (Saros 142) | |||||
| 2135 Apr 28 (Saros 143) |
2146 Mar 28 (Saros 144) |
2157 Feb 24 (Saros 145) |
2168 Jan 24 (Saros 146) |
2178 Dec 24 (Saros 147) | |||||
| 2189 Nov 22 (Saros 148) |
2200 Oct 23 (Saros 149) | ||||||||
Inex series
[edit]The inex series repeats eclipses 20 days short of 29 years, repeating on average every 10571.95 days. This period is equal to 358 lunations (synodic months) and 388.5 draconic months. Saros series increment by one on successive Inex events and repeat at alternate ascending and descending lunar nodes.
This period is 383.6734 anomalistic months (the period of the Moon's elliptical orbital precession). Despite the average 0.05 time-of-day shift between subsequent events, the variation of the Moon in its elliptical orbit at each event causes the actual eclipse time to vary significantly. It is a part of Lunar Inex series 40.
All events in this series shown (from 1000 to 2500) are central total lunar eclipses.
| Descending node | Ascending node | Descending node | Ascending node | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saros | Date | Saros | Date | Saros | Date | Saros | Date |
| 95 | 1016 May 24 | 96 | 1045 May 3 | 97 | 1074 Apr 14 | 98 | 1103 Mar 25 |
| 99 | 1132 Mar 3 | 100 | 1161 Feb 12 | 101 | 1190 Jan 23 | 102 | 1219 Jan 2 |
| 103 | 1247 Dec 13 | 104 | 1276 Nov 23 | 105 | 1305 Nov 2 | 106 | 1334 Oct 13 |
| 107 | 1363 Sep 23 | 108 | 1392 Sep 2 | 109 | 1421 Aug 13 | 110 | 1450 Jul 24 |
| 111 | 1479 Jul 4 | 112 | 1508 Jun 13
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113 | 1537 May 24 | 114 | 1566 May 4 |
| 115 | 1595 Apr 24 | 116 | 1624 Apr 3 | 117 | 1653 Mar 14 | 118 | 1682 Feb 21 |
| 119 | 1711 Feb 3 | 120 | 1740 Jan 13 | 121 | 1768 Dec 23 | 122 | 1797 Dec 4 |
| 123 | 1826 Nov 14 | 124 | 1855 Oct 25 | 125 | 1884 Oct 4 | 126 | 1913 Sep 15
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| 127 | 1942 Aug 26
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128 | 1971 Aug 6
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129 | 2000 Jul 16
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130 | 2029 Jun 26
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| 131 | 2058 Jun 6
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132 | 2087 May 17
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133 | 2116 Apr 27 | 134 | 2145 Apr 7 |
| 135 | 2174 Mar 18 | 136 | 2203 Feb 26 | 137 | 2232 Feb 7 | 138 | 2261 Jan 17 |
| 139 | 2289 Dec 27 | 140 | 2318 Dec 9 | 141 | 2347 Nov 19 | 142 | 2376 Oct 28 |
| 143 | 2405 Oct 8 | 144 | 2434 Sep 18 | 145 | 2463 Aug 29 | 146 | 2492 Aug 8
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Half-Saros cycle
[edit]A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).[8] This lunar eclipse is related to two annular solar eclipses of Solar Saros 135.
| July 31, 1962 | August 10, 1980 |
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See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ "August 6–7, 1971 Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)". timeanddate. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
- ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
- ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 1971 Aug 06" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
- ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 1971 Aug 06". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
- ^ van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
- ^ "NASA - Catalog of Lunar Eclipses of Saros 128". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.
- ^ Listing of Eclipses of series 128
- ^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros
External links
[edit]- 1971 Aug 06 chart Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
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