January 1972 lunar eclipse

January 1972 lunar eclipse
Total eclipse
	The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left
Date	January 30, 1972
Gamma	−0.4273
Magnitude	1.0497
Saros cycle	133 (24 of 71)
Totality	34 minutes, 48 seconds
Partiality	203 minutes, 23 seconds
Penumbral	340 minutes, 19 seconds
P1
Contacts (UTC)
P1	8:03:16
U1	9:11:39
U2	10:35:57
Greatest	10:53:23
U3	11:10:45
U4	12:35:03
P4	13:43:35
	← August 1971 July 1972 →

A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Sunday, January 30, 1972,^[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.0497. 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 6.6 days before apogee (on February 6, 1972, at 0:45 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.^[2]

Visibility

The eclipse was completely visible over northeast Asia, western and central North America, and the central Pacific Ocean, seen rising over much of Asia and Australia and setting over eastern North America and South America.^[3]

Eclipse details

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

January 30, 1972 Lunar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter	Value
Penumbral Magnitude	2.09866
Umbral Magnitude	1.04971
Gamma	−0.42729
Sun Right Ascension	20h48m23.2s
Sun Declination	-17°50'13.7"
Sun Semi-Diameter	16'14.2"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	08.9"
Moon Right Ascension	08h47m46.4s
Moon Declination	+17°27'35.5"
Moon Semi-Diameter	15'28.8"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	0°56'48.6"
ΔT	42.3 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 January 1972
January 16 Ascending node (new moon)	January 30 Descending node (full moon)

Annular solar eclipse Solar Saros 121	Total lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 133

Related eclipses

Lunar eclipses of 1969–1973

Lunar eclipse series sets from 1969–1973
Ascending node				Descending node
Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma	Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma
108	1969 Aug 27	Penumbral	−1.54066	113	1970 Feb 21	Partial	0.96198
118	1970 Aug 17	Partial	−0.80534	123	1971 Feb 10	Total	0.27413
128	1971 Aug 06	Total	−0.07944	133	1972 Jan 30	Total	−0.42729
138	1972 Jul 26	Partial	0.71167	143	1973 Jan 18	Penumbral	−1.08446
148	1973 Jul 15	Penumbral	1.51782

Last set	1969 Sep 25			Last set	1969 Apr 02

Next set	1973 Jun 15			Next set	1973 Dec 10

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 annular solar eclipses of Solar Saros 140.