en December 1944 lunar eclipse

December 1944 lunar eclipse
Penumbral eclipse
	The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left
Date	December 29, 1944
Gamma	−1.0115
Magnitude	−0.0176
Saros cycle	114 (55 of 71)
Penumbral	266 minutes, 39 seconds
P1
Contacts (UTC)
P1	12:35:46
Greatest	14:49:08
P4	17:02:25
	← August 1944 June 1945 →

A penumbral lunar eclipse will occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Friday, December 29, 1944,^[1] with an umbral magnitude of −0.0176. It was a relatively rare total penumbral lunar eclipse, with the Moon passing entirely within the penumbral shadow without entering the darker umbral shadow. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when part or all of the Moon's near side passes into the Earth's penumbra. 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. Occurring about 6 days after perigee (on December 23, 1944, at 12:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.^[2]

This eclipse was the last of four penumbral lunar eclipses in 1944, with the others occurring on February 9, July 6, and August 4.

Saturn was conjunct with the Moon during this eclipse.

Visibility

The eclipse was completely visible over much of Asia, Australia, and northwestern North America, seen rising over Europe, east Africa, and the Middle East and setting over much of North America and the eastern Pacific Ocean.^[3]

Eclipse details

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

December 29, 1944 Lunar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter	Value
Penumbral Magnitude	1.02198
Umbral Magnitude	−0.01757
Gamma	−1.01151
Sun Right Ascension	18h33m56.1s
Sun Declination	-23°12'58.6"
Sun Semi-Diameter	16'15.9"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	08.9"
Moon Right Ascension	06h34m05.9s
Moon Declination	+22°14'56.3"
Moon Semi-Diameter	15'38.8"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	0°57'25.5"
ΔT	26.9 s

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 December 1944–January 1945
December 29 Ascending node (full moon)	January 14 Descending node (new moon)

Penumbral lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 114	Annular solar eclipse Solar Saros 140

Related eclipses

Lunar eclipses of 1944–1947

Lunar eclipse series sets from 1944–1947
Descending node			Ascending node
Saros	Date viewing	Type chart	Saros	Date viewing	Type chart
109	1944 Jul 06	Penumbral	114	1944 Dec 29	Penumbral
119	1945 Jun 25	Partial	124	1945 Dec 19	Total
129	1946 Jun 14	Total	134	1946 Dec 08	Total
139	1947 Jun 03	Partial	144	1947 Nov 28	Penumbral

Saros 114

Lunar Saros series 114, repeating every 18 years and 11 days, has a total of 71 lunar eclipse events including 13 total lunar eclipses.

First Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 0971 May 13

First Partial Lunar Eclipse: 1115 Aug 07

First Total Lunar Eclipse: 1458 Feb 28

First Central Lunar Eclipse: 1530 Apr 12

Greatest Eclipse of Lunar Saros 114: 1584 May 24

Last Central Lunar Eclipse: 1638 Jun 26

Last Total Lunar Eclipse: 1674 Jul 17

Last Partial Lunar Eclipse: 1890 Nov 26

Last Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 2233 Jun 22

Half-Saros cycle

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).^[5] This lunar eclipse is related to two total solar eclipses of Solar Saros 121.