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October 1986 lunar eclipse

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October 1986 lunar eclipse
Total eclipse
The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left
DateOctober 17, 1986
Gamma0.3189
Magnitude1.2455
Saros cycle136 (18 of 72)
Totality73 minutes, 41 seconds
Partiality216 minutes, 48 seconds
Penumbral353 minutes, 12 seconds
Contacts (UTC)
P116:21:26
U117:29:33
U218:41:07
Greatest19:17:59
U319:54:48
U421:06:22
P422:14:38

A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Friday, October 17, 1986,[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.2455. 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 5.5 days before apogee (on October 23, 1986, at 6:35 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.[2]

This lunar eclipse was the last of a tetrad, with four total lunar eclipses in series, the others being on May 4, 1985; October 28, 1985; and April 24, 1986.

Visibility

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The eclipse was completely visible over east Africa, eastern Europe, and Asia, seen rising over northeastern North America, eastern South America, western Europe, and west Africa and setting over Australia, northeast Asia, and the western Pacific Ocean.[3]

Eclipse details

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Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[4]

October 17, 1986 Lunar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter Value
Penumbral Magnitude 2.30082
Umbral Magnitude 1.24545
Gamma 0.31887
Sun Right Ascension 13h29m20.1s
Sun Declination -09°21'26.2"
Sun Semi-Diameter 16'03.1"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.8"
Moon Right Ascension 01h28m47.0s
Moon Declination +09°37'14.9"
Moon Semi-Diameter 15'12.6"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°55'49.1"
ΔT 55.2 s

Eclipse season

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See also: Eclipse cycle

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 October 1986
October 3
Descending node (new moon)
 October 17
Ascending node (full moon)
Hybrid solar eclipse
Solar Saros 124		 Total lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 136
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Eclipses in 1986

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Metonic

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Tzolkinex

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Half-Saros

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Tritos

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Lunar Saros 136

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Inex

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Triad

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Lunar eclipses of 1984–1987

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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 eclipse on June 13, 1984 occurs in the previous lunar year eclipse set.

Lunar eclipse series sets from 1984 to 1987
Descending node   Ascending node
Saros Date
Viewing 		Type
Chart 		Gamma Saros Date
Viewing 		Type
Chart 		Gamma
111 1984 May 15
 Penumbral
 1.1131 116 1984 Nov 08
 Penumbral
 −1.0900
121 1985 May 04
 Total
 0.3520 126 1985 Oct 28
 Total
 −0.4022
131 1986 Apr 24
 Total
 −0.3683 136 1986 Oct 17
 Total
 0.3189
141 1987 Apr 14
 Penumbral
 −1.1364 146 1987 Oct 07
 Penumbral
 1.0189

Metonic series

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The Metonic cycle repeats nearly exactly every 19 years and represents a Saros cycle plus one lunar year. Because it occurs on the same calendar date, the Earth's shadow will in nearly the same location relative to the background stars.

Metonic lunar eclipse sets 1948–2005
Descending node   Ascending node
Saros Date Type Saros Date Type
111 1948 Apr 23 Partial 116 1948 Oct 18 Penumbral
121 1967 Apr 24 Total 126 1967 Oct 18 Total
131 1986 Apr 24 Total 136 1986 Oct 17 Total
141 2005 Apr 24 Penumbral 146 2005 Oct 17 Partial

Saros 136

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This eclipse is a part of Saros series 136, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 72 events. The series started with a penumbral lunar eclipse on April 13, 1680. It contains partial eclipses from July 11, 1824 through September 14, 1932; total eclipses from September 26, 1950 through July 7, 2419; and a second set of partial eclipses from July 18, 2437 through October 3, 2563. The series ends at member 72 as a penumbral eclipse on June 1, 2960.

The longest duration of totality will be produced by member 35 at 101 minutes, 23 seconds on April 21, 2293. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.[6]

Greatest First
The greatest eclipse of the series will occur on 2293 Apr 21, lasting 101 minutes, 23 seconds.[7] Penumbral Partial Total Central
1680 Apr 13
 1824 Jul 11
 1950 Sep 26
 2022 Nov 08
Last
Central Total Partial Penumbral
2365 Jun 04
 2419 Jul 07
 2563 Oct 03
 2960 Jun 01

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.

Tritos series

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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
1801 Mar 30
(Saros 119) 		1812 Feb 27
(Saros 120) 		1823 Jan 26
(Saros 121) 		1833 Dec 26
(Saros 122) 		1844 Nov 24
(Saros 123)
1855 Oct 25
(Saros 124) 		1866 Sep 24
(Saros 125) 		1877 Aug 23
(Saros 126) 		1888 Jul 23
(Saros 127) 		1899 Jun 23
(Saros 128)
1910 May 24
(Saros 129) 		1921 Apr 22
(Saros 130) 		1932 Mar 22
(Saros 131) 		1943 Feb 20
(Saros 132) 		1954 Jan 19
(Saros 133)
1964 Dec 19
(Saros 134) 		1975 Nov 18
(Saros 135) 		1986 Oct 17
(Saros 136) 		1997 Sep 16
(Saros 137) 		2008 Aug 16
(Saros 138)
2019 Jul 16
(Saros 139) 		2030 Jun 15
(Saros 140) 		2041 May 16
(Saros 141) 		2052 Apr 14
(Saros 142) 		2063 Mar 14
(Saros 143)
2074 Feb 11
(Saros 144) 		2085 Jan 10
(Saros 145) 		2095 Dec 11
(Saros 146) 		2106 Nov 11
(Saros 147) 		2117 Oct 10
(Saros 148)
2128 Sep 09
(Saros 149) 		2139 Aug 10
(Saros 150) 		2150 Jul 09
(Saros 151) 		2161 Jun 08
(Saros 152) 		2172 May 08
(Saros 153)
2194 Mar 07
(Saros 155)

Half-Saros cycle

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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 total solar eclipses of Solar Saros 143.

October 12, 1977 October 24, 1995

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ "October 17–18, 1986 Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)". timeanddate. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  2. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  3. ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 1986 Oct 17" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  4. ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 1986 Oct 17". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "NASA - Catalog of Lunar Eclipses of Saros 136". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.
  7. ^ Listing of Eclipses of series 136
  8. ^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros
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