February 1989 lunar eclipse

Total Lunar Eclipse
February 20, 1989
(No photo)

The moon passes west to east (right to left) across the Earth's umbral shadow, shown in hourly intervals.
Series 123 (51 of 73)
Duration (hr:mn:sc)
Totality 1:18:31.6
Partial 3:43:08.6
Penumbral 6:07:45.8
Contacts UTC
P1 12:31:30.6
U1 13:43:46.8
U2 14:56:05.6
Greatest 15:35:21.9
U3 16:14:37.2
U4 17:26:55.4
P4 18:39:16.5

A total lunar eclipse took place on Monday, 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

Eclipses of 1989

Lunar year series (354 days)

Lunar eclipse series sets from 1988–1991
Descending node   Ascending node
Saros Date
viewing
Type
chart
Gamma Saros Date
viewing
Type
chart
Gamma
113 1988 Mar 03
Penumbral
0.98855 118 1988 Aug 27
Partial
−0.86816
123 1989 Feb 20
Total
0.29347 128 1989 Aug 17
Total
−0.14905
133 1990 Feb 09
Total
−0.41481 138 1990 Aug 06
Partial
0.63741
143 1991 Jan 30
Penumbral
−1.07522 148 1991 Jul 26
Penumbral
1.43698
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 11, 2185, only being partial on November 19, 2021.

Tritos eclipse series (subset 1901–2087)
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 2054 Aug 18
Total
130 2065 Jul 17
Total
131 2076 Jun 17
Total
132 2087 May 17
Total
133 2098 Apr 15
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.


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 21.88 Penumbral 108 1951 Aug 17.13 Penumbral
113 1970 Feb 21.35 Partial 118 1970 Aug 17.14 Partial
123 1989 Feb 20.64 Total 128 1989 Aug 17.13 Total
133 2008 Feb 21.14 Total 138 2008 Aug 16.88 Partial
143 2027 Feb 20.96 Penumbral 148 2027 Aug 17.30 Penumbral

Saros series

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.


It last occurred on January 29, 1953 and will next occur on February 20, 1989.

Half-Saros cycle

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).[1] This lunar eclipse is related to two total solar eclipses of Solar Saros 130.

February 16, 1980 February 26, 1998

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros