April 1931 lunar eclipse


A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Thursday, April 2, 1931, with an umbral magnitude of 1.5021. 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 only about 24 hours after perigee, the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.

Visibility

The eclipse was completely visible over central and east Africa, eastern Europe, and much of Asia, seen rising over west Africa, western Europe, and much of South America and setting over east and northeast Asia and Australia.

Eclipse details

Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
ParameterValue
Penumbral Magnitude2.46366
Umbral Magnitude1.50213
Gamma0.20432
Sun Right Ascension00h44m34.7s
Sun Declination+04°47'34.2"
Sun Semi-Diameter15'59.8"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax08.8"
Moon Right Ascension12h44m58.7s
Moon Declination-04°36'37.3"
Moon Semi-Diameter16'38.2"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax1°01'03.6"
ΔT24.0 s

Eclipse season

This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months 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.
April 2
Descending node 		April 18
Ascending node
Total lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 121		Partial solar eclipse
Solar Saros 147

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 1931

Saros 121

Tritos series

Inex series

Half-Saros cycle

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days. This lunar eclipse is related to two total solar eclipses of Solar Saros 128.
March 28, 1922April 7, 1940