February 1971 lunar eclipse

In today's world, February 1971 lunar eclipse has become a topic of relevance and interest for people from different fields and profiles. Whether they are researchers, professionals, students or simply curious individuals, February 1971 lunar eclipse has captured attention and generated debate in different spaces. From its impact on society to its global implications, February 1971 lunar eclipse has proven to be a topic that deserves to be explored and analyzed in depth. In this article, we will delve into the different dimensions of February 1971 lunar eclipse to understand its importance and its repercussions on our reality.
February 1971 lunar eclipse
Total eclipse
The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left
DateFebruary 10, 1971
Gamma0.2741
Magnitude1.3082
Saros cycle123 (50 of 73)
Totality82 minutes, 11 seconds
Partiality224 minutes, 41 seconds
Penumbral369 minutes, 31 seconds
Contacts (UTC)
P14:39:55
U15:52:18
U27:03:33
Greatest7:44:40
U38:25:45
U49:36:59
P410:49:26

A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Wednesday, February 10, 1971,[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.3082. 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 2.8 days before apogee (on February 13, 1971, at 2:10 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.[2]

Visibility

The eclipse was completely visible over North America and northwestern South America, seen rising over east Asia and northeast Asia and Australia and setting over much of South America, Europe, and west and central Africa.[3]

Eclipse details

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

February 10, 1971 Lunar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter Value
Penumbral Magnitude 2.40262
Umbral Magnitude 1.30819
Gamma 0.27413
Sun Right Ascension 21h33m15.2s
Sun Declination -14°31'31.4"
Sun Semi-Diameter 16'12.5"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9"
Moon Right Ascension 09h33m40.7s
Moon Declination +14°45'05.5"
Moon Semi-Diameter 14'48.6"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°54'21.2"
ΔT 41.3 s

Eclipse season

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 February 1971
February 10
Descending node (full moon)
 February 25
Ascending node (new moon)
Total lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 123		 Partial solar eclipse
Solar Saros 149

Eclipses in 1971

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Lunar Saros 123

Inex

Triad

Lunar eclipses of 1969–1973

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
 Penumbral
 −1.5407 113 1970 Feb 21
 Partial
 0.9620
118 1970 Aug 17
 Partial
 −0.8053 123 1971 Feb 10
 Total
 0.2741
128 1971 Aug 06
 Total
 −0.0794 133 1972 Jan 30
 Total
 −0.4273
138 1972 Jul 26
 Partial
 0.7117 143 1973 Jan 18
 Penumbral
 −1.0845
148 1973 Jul 15
 Penumbral
 1.5178

Saros 123

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 123, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 72 events. The series started with a penumbral lunar eclipse on August 16, 1087. It contains partial eclipses from May 2, 1520 through July 6, 1610; total eclipses from July 16, 1628 through April 4, 2061; and a second set of partial eclipses from April 16, 2079 through July 2, 2205. The series ends at member 72 as a penumbral eclipse on October 8, 2367.

The longest duration of totality was produced by member 37 at 105 minutes, 58 seconds on September 20, 1736. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.[6]

Greatest First
The greatest eclipse of the series occurred on 1736 Sep 20, lasting 105 minutes, 58 seconds.[7] Penumbral Partial Total Central
1087 Aug 16
 1520 May 02
 1628 Jul 16
 1682 Aug 18
Last
Central Total Partial Penumbral
1953 Jan 29
 2061 Apr 04
 2205 Jul 02
 2367 Oct 08

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

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 May 21
(Saros 108) 		1818 Apr 21
(Saros 109) 		1829 Mar 20
(Saros 110) 		1840 Feb 17
(Saros 111) 		1851 Jan 17
(Saros 112)
1861 Dec 17
(Saros 113) 		1872 Nov 15
(Saros 114) 		1883 Oct 16
(Saros 115) 		1894 Sep 15
(Saros 116) 		1905 Aug 15
(Saros 117)
1916 Jul 15
(Saros 118) 		1927 Jun 15
(Saros 119) 		1938 May 14
(Saros 120) 		1949 Apr 13
(Saros 121) 		1960 Mar 13
(Saros 122)
1971 Feb 10
(Saros 123) 		1982 Jan 09
(Saros 124) 		1992 Dec 09
(Saros 125) 		2003 Nov 09
(Saros 126) 		2014 Oct 08
(Saros 127)
2025 Sep 07
(Saros 128) 		2036 Aug 07
(Saros 129) 		2047 Jul 07
(Saros 130) 		2058 Jun 06
(Saros 131) 		2069 May 06
(Saros 132)
2080 Apr 04
(Saros 133) 		2091 Mar 05
(Saros 134) 		2102 Feb 03
(Saros 135) 		2113 Jan 02
(Saros 136) 		2123 Dec 03
(Saros 137)
2134 Nov 02
(Saros 138) 		2145 Sep 30
(Saros 139) 		2156 Aug 30
(Saros 140) 		2167 Aug 01
(Saros 141) 		2178 Jun 30
(Saros 142)
2189 May 29
(Saros 143) 		2200 Apr 30
(Saros 144)

Half-Saros cycle

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 130.

February 5, 1962 February 16, 1980

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "February 9–10, 1971 Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)". timeanddate. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
  2. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
  3. ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 1971 Feb 10" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
  4. ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 1971 Feb 10". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 3 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 123". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.
  7. ^ Listing of Eclipses of series 123
  8. ^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros
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