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April 1949 lunar eclipse

Total eclipse
The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left
Date	April 13, 1949
Gamma	0.2474
Magnitude	1.4251
Saros cycle	121 (52 of 84)
Totality	84 minutes, 56 seconds
Partiality	205 minutes, 42 seconds
Penumbral	315 minutes, 50 seconds
Contacts (UTC) P1 1:33:02 U1 2:28:05 U2 3:28:28 Greatest 4:10:56 U3 4:53:24 U4 5:53:47 P4 6:48:52
← October 1948October 1949 →

A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Wednesday, April 13, 1949, with an umbral magnitude of 1.4251. 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 only about 19 hours after perigee (on April 12, 1949, at 9:35 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.

This lunar eclipse was the first of a tetrad, with four total lunar eclipses in series, the others being on October 7, 1949; April 2, 1950; and September 26, 1950.

Visibility

The eclipse was completely visible over central and eastern North America, South America, and Antarctica, seen rising over western North America and the central Pacific Ocean and setting over Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.

Eclipse details

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

Eclipse season

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 April 1949

April 13 Descending node (full moon)	April 28 Ascending node (new moon)
Total lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 121	Partial solar eclipse Solar Saros 147

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 1949

• A total lunar eclipse on April 13.
• A partial solar eclipse on April 28.
• A total lunar eclipse on October 7.
• A partial solar eclipse on October 21.

Metonic

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 25, 1945
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of January 29, 1953

Tzolkinex

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 3, 1942
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 24, 1956

Half-Saros

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 7, 1940
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 19, 1958

Tritos

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 14, 1938
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 13, 1960

Lunar Saros 121

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 2, 1931
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 24, 1967

Inex

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 3, 1920
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 24, 1978

Triad

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 12, 1862
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of February 11, 2036

Lunar eclipses of 1948–1951

Lunar eclipse series sets from 1947–1951

Descending node				Ascending node
Saros	Date viewing	Type chart		Saros	Date viewing	Type chart
111	1948 Apr 23	Partial		116	1948 Oct 18	Penumbral
121	1949 Apr 13	Total		126	1949 Oct 07	Total
131	1950 Apr 02	Total		136	1950 Sep 26	Total
141	1951 Mar 23	Penumbral		146	1951 Sep 15	Penumbral

Half-Saros cycle

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros). This lunar eclipse is related to two total solar eclipses of Solar Saros 128.

April 7, 1940	April 19, 1958

See also

• List of lunar eclipses
• List of 20th-century lunar eclipses

Notes

1. "April 12–13, 1949 Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)". timeanddate. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
2. "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
3. "Total Lunar Eclipse of 1949 Apr 13" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
4. "Total Lunar Eclipse of 1949 Apr 13". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
5. Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros

External links

• 1949 Apr 13 chart Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC

v t e Lunar eclipses
Lists of lunar eclipses	Central total eclipses Total penumbral eclipses Historically significant By century
Lunar eclipses by era	Modern era 20th 21st Future 22nd
Lunar eclipses by saros series	100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163
Partial eclipses	1903 Apr 1914 Mar 1916 Jul 1952 Feb 1952 Aug 1954 Jul 1955 Nov 1956 May 1958 May 1959 Mar 1961 Mar 1961 Aug 1963 Jul 1965 Jun 1970 Feb 1970 Aug 1972 Jul 1973 Dec 1974 Jun 1976 May 1977 Apr 1979 Mar 1981 Jul 1983 Jun 1988 Aug 1990 Aug 1991 Dec 1992 Jun 1994 May 1995 Apr 1997 Mar 1999 Jul 2001 Jul 2005 Oct 2006 Sep 2008 Aug 2009 Dec 2010 Jun 2012 Jun 2013 Apr 2017 Aug 2019 Jul 2021 Nov 2023 Oct 2024 Sep → 2026 Aug 2028 Jan 2028 Jul 2030 Jun 2034 Sep 2035 Aug 2037 Jul 2039 Jun 2039 Nov 2041 May 2041 Nov 2046 Jan 2046 Jul 2048 Jun 2052 Oct 2055 Aug 2075 Jun 2099 Apr
Total eclipses	1504 Mar 1910 May 1913 Sep 1920 May 1950 Apr 1950 Sep 1953 Jan 1953 Jul 1954 Jan 1956 Nov 1957 May 1957 Nov 1960 Mar 1960 Sep 1963 Dec 1964 Jun 1964 Dec 1967 Apr 1967 Oct 1968 Apr 1968 Oct 1971 Feb 1971 Aug 1972 Jan 1974 Nov 1975 May 1975 Nov 1978 Mar 1978 Sep 1979 Sep 1982 Jan 1982 Jul 1982 Dec 1985 May 1985 Oct 1986 Apr 1986 Oct 1989 Feb 1989 Aug 1990 Feb 1992 Dec 1993 Jun 1993 Nov 1996 Apr 1996 Sep 1997 Sep 2000 Jan 2000 Jul 2001 Jan 2003 May 2003 Nov 2004 May 2004 Oct 2007 Mar 2007 Aug 2008 Feb 2010 Dec 2011 Jun 2011 Dec 2014 Apr 2014 Oct 2015 Apr 2015 Sep 2018 Jan 2018 Jul 2019 Jan 2021 May 2022 May 2022 Nov → 2025 Mar 2025 Sep 2026 Mar 2028 Dec 2029 Jun 2029 Dec 2032 Apr 2032 Oct 2033 Apr 2033 Oct 2036 Feb 2036 Aug 2037 Jan 2040 May 2040 Nov 2043 Mar 2043 Sep 2044 Mar 2044 Sep 2047 Jan 2047 Jul 2048 Jan 2050 May 2050 Oct 2051 Apr 2051 Oct 2054 Feb 2054 Aug 2055 Feb 2058 Jun 2065 Jul 2069 May 2072 Aug 2076 Jun 2083 Jul 2084 Jan 2087 May 2090 Sep 2094 Jun 2123 Jun 2170 May
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
Related	Danjon scale Eclipse cycle Eclipse season Eclipses in mythology and culture Gamma Solar eclipse
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