en May 1938 lunar eclipse

May 1938 lunar eclipse
Total eclipse
	The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left
Date	May 14, 1938
Gamma	−0.3994
Magnitude	1.0966
Saros cycle	120 (54 of 84)
Totality	49 minutes, 22 seconds
Partiality	213 minutes, 3 seconds
Penumbral	354 minutes, 52 seconds
P1
Contacts (UTC)
P1	5:46:12
U1	6:57:03
U2	8:18:54
Greatest	8:43:36
U3	9:08:16
U4	10:30:06
P4	11:41:04
	← November 1937 November 1938 →

A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Saturday, May 14, 1938,^[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.0966. 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 4.1 days before apogee (on May 18, 1938, at 9:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.^[2]

This lunar eclipse was the first of an almost tetrad, with the others being on November 7, 1938 (total); May 3, 1939 (total); and October 28, 1939 (partial).

This was the last total lunar eclipse of Lunar Saros 120.

Visibility

The eclipse was completely visible over western North America, Antarctica, and the eastern Pacific Ocean, seen rising over east Asia and Australia and setting over eastern North America, South America, and west Africa.^[3]

Eclipse details

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

May 14, 1938 Lunar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter	Value
Penumbral Magnitude	2.15402
Umbral Magnitude	1.09660
Gamma	−0.39944
Sun Right Ascension	03h21m58.6s
Sun Declination	+18°30'04.2"
Sun Semi-Diameter	15'49.4"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	08.7"
Moon Right Ascension	15h21m44.2s
Moon Declination	-18°51'44.3"
Moon Semi-Diameter	14'57.8"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	0°54'55.0"
ΔT	24.0 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 May 1938
May 14 Ascending node (full moon)	May 29 Descending node (new moon)

Total lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 120	Total solar eclipse Solar Saros 146

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 1938

Lunar eclipses of 1937–1940

Lunar eclipse series sets from 1937–1940
Ascending node			Descending node
Saros	Date viewing	Type chart	Saros	Date viewing	Type chart
110	1937 May 25	Penumbral	115	1937 Nov 18	Partial
120	1938 May 14	Total	125	1938 Nov 07	Total
130	1939 May 03	Total	135	1939 Oct 28	Partial
140	1940 Apr 22	Penumbral	145	1940 Oct 16	Penumbral

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 127.