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Total lunar eclipse April 13, 1968 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A total lunar eclipse took place on Saturday, April 13, 1968, the first of two total eclipses in 1968, the second being on October 6, 1968.
Penumbral Magnitude: 2.07253 (207.253%)
Umbral Magnitude: 1.11164 (111.164%)
Gamma: -0.41732
Epsilon: 0°25’24.96”
Greatest Eclipse = 1968 Apr 13 at 04:47:22.2 UTC
Ecliptic Opposition = 1968 Apr 13 at 04:51:39.2 UTC
Equatorial Opposition = 1968 Apr 13 at 05:09:48.0 UTC
Sun’s Equatorial Right Ascension = 1.439h
Sun’s Equatorial Declination = +9.06°
Sun’s Diameter = 1913.8 arcseconds
Sun’s Equatorial Horizontal Parallax = 17.6 arcseconds
Moon’s Equatorial Right Ascension = 13.426h
Moon’s Equatorial Declination = -9.44°
Moon’s Diameter = 1991.6 arcseconds
Moon’s Equatorial Horizontal Parallax = 7309.4 arcseconds
Earth’s Shadow’s Equatorial Right Ascension = 13.439h
Earth’s Shadow’s Equatorial Declination = -9.06°
Earth’s Penumbral Shadow’s Diameter = 9313.92 arcseconds
Earth’s Umbral Shadow’s Diameter = 5486.4 arcseconds
Saros 131 (31 of 72), Descending Node
P1: 1968 Apr 13 (Sat) at 02:12:33.3 UTC
U1: 1968 Apr 13 (Sat) at 03:10:18.4 UTC
U2: 1968 Apr 13 (Sat) at 04:23:07.6 UTC
Greatest: 1968 Apr 13 (Sat) at 04:47:22.2 UTC
U3: 1968 Apr 13 (Sat) at 05:11:38.3 UTC
U4: 1968 Apr 13 (Sat) at 06:24:28.0 UTC
P4: 1968 Apr 13 (Sat) at 07:22:09.1 UTC
The total duration of the eclipse was 5 hours, 9 minutes and 35.8 seconds.
The duration of the partial phases was 2 hours, 25 minutes and 38.9 seconds.
The duration of totality was 48 minutes and 30.7 seconds.
It was visible from North and South America, as well as Africa and western Europe.
| Lunar eclipse series sets from 1966–1969 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Descending node | Ascending node | |||||||
| Saros | Date Viewing |
Type Chart |
Gamma | Saros | Date Viewing |
Type Chart |
Gamma | |
| 111 | 1966 May 4 |
Penumbral |
1.05536 | 116 | 1966 Oct 29 |
Penumbral |
−1.05999 | |
| 121 | 1967 Apr 24 |
Total |
0.29722 | 126 | 1967 Oct 18 |
Total |
−0.36529 | |
| 131 | 1968 Apr 13 |
Total |
−0.41732 | 136 | 1968 Oct 6 |
Total |
0.36054 | |
| 141 | 1969 Apr 2 |
Penumbral |
−1.17648 | 146 | 1969 Sep 25 |
Penumbral |
1.06558 | |
| Last set | 1965 Jun 14 | Last set | 1965 Dec 8 | |||||
| Next set | 1970 Feb 21 | Next set | 1969 Aug 27 | |||||
It is the second total lunar eclipse of the series.
Lunar Saros series 131, has 72 lunar eclipses. Solar Saros 138 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.
This eclipse series began in AD 1427 with a partial eclipse at the southern edge of the Earth's shadow when the Moon was close to its descending node. Each successive Saros cycle, the Moon's orbital path is shifted northward with respect to the Earth's shadow, with the first total eclipse occurring in 1950. For the following 252 years, total eclipses occur, with the central eclipse being predicted to occur in 2078. The first partial eclipse after this is predicted to occur in the year 2220, and the final partial eclipse of the series will occur in 2707. The total lifetime of the lunar Saros series 131 is 1280 years. Solar Saros 138 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.
Because of the ⅓ fraction of days in a Saros cycle, the visibility of each eclipse will differ for an observer at a given fixed locale. For the lunar Saros series 131, the first total eclipse of 1950 had its best visibility for viewers in Eastern Europe and the Middle East because mid-eclipse was at 20:44 UT. The following eclipse in the series occurred approximately 8 hours later in the day with mid-eclipse at 4:47 UT, and was best seen from North America and South America. The third total eclipse occurred approximately 8 hours later in the day than the second eclipse with mid-eclipse at 12:43 UT, and had its best visibility for viewers in the Western Pacific, East Asia, Australia and New Zealand. This cycle of visibility repeats from the initiation to termination of the series, with minor variations. Solar Saros 138 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.
Lunar Saros series 131, repeating every 18 years and 11 days, has a total of 72 lunar eclipse events including 57 umbral lunar eclipses (42 partial lunar eclipses and 15 total lunar eclipses). Solar Saros 138 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.
| Greatest | First | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The greatest eclipse of the series will occur on 2094 Jun 28, lasting 102 minutes.[1] |
Penumbral | Partial | Total | Central |
| 1427 May 10 | 1553 July 25 | 1950 Apr 2 | 2022 May 16 | |
| Last | ||||
| Central | Total | Partial | Penumbral | |
| 2148 Jul 31 | 2202 Sep 3 | 2563 Apr 9 | 2707 Jul 7 | |
| 1914 Mar 12 | 1932 Mar 22 | 1950 Apr 2 | |||
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| 1968 Apr 13 | 1986 Apr 24 | 2004 May 4 | |||
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| 2022 May 16 | 2040 May 26 | 2058 Jun 6 | |||
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| 2076 Jun 17 | 2094 Jun 28 | ||||
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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 35.
| Descending node | Ascending node | Descending node | Ascending node | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saros | Date Chart |
Saros | Date Chart |
Saros | Date Chart |
Saros | Date Chart |
| 115 | 1505 Feb 18 |
116 | 1534 Jan 30 |
117 | 1563 Jan 9 | 118 | 1591 Dec 30 |
| 119 | 1620 Dec 9 | 120 | 1649 Nov 19 | 121 | 1678 Oct 29 | 122 | 1707 Oct 11 |
| 123 | 1736 Sep 20 | 124 | 1765 Aug 30 | 125 | 1794 Aug 11 | 126 | 1823 Jul 23 |
| 127 | 1852 Jul 1 | 128 | 1881 Jun 12 | 129 | 1910 May 24 |
130 | 1939 May 3 |
| 131 | 1968 Apr 13 |
132 | 1997 Mar 24 |
133 | 2026 Mar 3 |
134 | 2055 Feb 11 |
| 135 | 2084 Jan 22 |
136 | 2113 Jan 2 | 137 | 2141 Dec 13 | 138 | 2170 Nov 23 |
| 139 | 2199 Nov 2 | 140 | 2228 Oct 14 | 141 | 2257 Sep 24 | 142 | 2286 Sep 3 |
| 143 | 2315 Aug 16 | 144 | 2344 Jul 26 | 145 | 2373 Jul 5 | 146 | 2402 Jun 16 |
| 147 | 2431 May 27 | 148 | 2460 May 5 |
149 | 2489 Apr 16 | ||
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 138.
| April 8, 1959 | April 18, 1977 |
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