February 1989 lunar eclipse

The moon passes west to east (right to left) across the Earth's umbral shadow, shown in hourly intervals.

A total lunar eclipse took place on February 20, 1989, the first of two total lunar eclipses in 1989.

Visibility

It was completely visible from Australia and most of Asia. It was visible setting in eastern Africa and Europe. In the Philippines, the lunar eclipse was very visible throughout the country since the modern lunar eclipse happened on July 26, 1953.

It was also preceded by the twin total lunar eclipses on April 24, 1986 and October 17, 1986. The next one happened on February 9, 1990.

Relation to other lunar eclipses

Lunar year series (354 days)

Lunar eclipse series sets from 1988-1991
Descending node   Ascending node
Saros Date Type
Viewing		 Saros Date
Viewing		 Type
Chart
113 1988 Mar 03
 Penumbral
 118 1988 Aug 27
 Partial
123 1989 Feb 20
 Total
128 1989 Aug 17
 Total
133 1990 Feb 09
 Total
 138 1990 Aug 06
 Partial
143 1991 Jan 30
 Penumbral
 148 1991 Jul 26
 Penumbral
Last set 1987 Apr 14 Last set 1987 Oct 07
Next set 1991 Dec 21 Next set 1991 Jun 27

Tritos series

The tritos series repeats 31 days short of 11 years at alternating nodes. Sequential events have incremental Saros cycle indices.

This series produces 20 total eclipses between April 24, 1967 and August 1, 2167, only being partial on November 19, 2021.

Tritos eclipse series (subset 1901–2100)
Descending node   Ascending node
Saros Date
Viewing		 Type
chart		 Saros Date
Viewing		 Type
chart
115 1901 Oct 27
 Partial
 116 1912 Sep 26
 Partial
117 1923 Aug 26
 Partial
 118 1934 Jul 26
 Partial
119 1945 Jun 25
 Partial
 120 1956 May 24
 Partial
121 1967 Apr 24
 Total
 122 1978 Mar 24
 Total
123 1989 Feb 20
 Total
 124 2000 Jan 21
 Total
125 2010 Dec 21
 Total
 126 2021 Nov 19
 Partial
127 2032 Oct 18
 Total
 128 2043 Sep 19
 Total
129 2058 Jun 6
 Total
 130 2069 May 6
 Total
131 2080 Apr 4
 Total
 132 2091 Mar 5
 Total

Saros series (18 years 11 days)

Lunar saros series 123, repeating every 18 years and 11 days, has 25 total lunar eclipses. The first total lunar eclipse of this series was on July 16, 1628, and last will be on April 4, 2061. The two longest occurrence of this series were on September 20, 1736 and October 1, 1754 when totality lasted 106 minutes.[1]

It last occurred on February 10, 1971 and will next occur on March 3, 2007.

Metonic cycle (19 years)

This is the third of five Metonic lunar eclipses.

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 1951–2027
Descending node   Ascending node
Saros Date Type Saros Date Type
103 1951 Feb 21 Penumbral 108 1951 Aug 17 Penumbral
113 1970 Feb 21 Partial 118 1970 Aug 17 Partial
123 1989 Feb 20 Total 128 1989 Aug 17 Total
133 2008 Feb 21 Total 138 2008 Aug 16 Partial
143 2027 Feb 20 Penumbral 148 2027 Aug 17 Penumbral

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Listing of Eclipses of cycle 123

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lunar eclipse of 1989 February 20.