en December 1945 lunar eclipse

December 1945 lunar eclipse
Total eclipse
	The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left
Date	December 19, 1945
Gamma	−0.2845
Magnitude	1.3424
Saros cycle	124 (45 of 74)
Totality	78 minutes, 53 seconds
Partiality	204 minutes, 54 seconds
Penumbral	320 minutes, 52 seconds
P1
Contacts (UTC)
P1	23:39:56
U1	0:37:52
U2	1:40:53
Greatest	2:20:20
U3	2:59:46
U4	4:02:46
P4	5:00:47
	← June 1945 June 1946 →

A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Wednesday, December 19, 1945,^[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.3424. 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 about 1.6 days after perigee (on December 17, 1945, at 12:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.^[2]

This lunar eclipse was the second of an almost tetrad, with the others being on June 25, 1945 (partial); June 14, 1946 (total); and December 8, 1946 (total).

Visibility

The eclipse was completely visible over much of North and South America, west Africa, Europe, and northern Russia, seen rising over the eastern Pacific Ocean and setting over east and southern Africa and much of Asia.^[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 19, 1945 Lunar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter	Value
Penumbral Magnitude	2.32932
Umbral Magnitude	1.34237
Gamma	−0.28453
Sun Right Ascension	17h46m11.1s
Sun Declination	-23°24'29.1"
Sun Semi-Diameter	16'15.4"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	08.9"
Moon Right Ascension	05h46m20.2s
Moon Declination	+23°07'25.0"
Moon Semi-Diameter	16'28.3"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	1°00'27.1"
ΔT	27.3 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 1945–January 1946
December 19 Ascending node (full moon)	January 3 Descending node (new moon)

Total lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 124	Partial solar eclipse Solar Saros 150

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 124

It was part of Saros series 124.

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 131.