May 1976 lunar eclipse

A partial lunar eclipse took place on Thursday, May 13, 1976, the first of two lunar eclipses in 1976, the second being a penumbral lunar eclipse on November 6, 1976. At maximum eclipse, a small bite out of the Moon should have been visible. The eclipse lasted for 1 hour, 15 minutes and 23.8 seconds, with just 12.17% of the Moon in shadow at maximum. Occurring only 1.1 days after perigee (Perigee on Wednesday, May 12, 1976), the Moon's apparent diameter 5.4% larger than average.

May 1976 lunar eclipse

Partial eclipse
Date	13 May 1976
Gamma	0.95860
Magnitude	0.12170
Saros cycle	140 (23 of 79)
Partiality	75 minutes, 23.8 seconds
Penumbral	251 minutes, 54.4 seconds
Contacts (UTC) P1 17:48:22.8 U1 19:16:36.2 Greatest 19:54:21.1 U4 20:32:00.0 P4 22:00:17.2

Eclipse season

This is the second eclipse this season.

First eclipse this season: Annular solar eclipse of April 29, 1976

Saros series

Lunar Saros 140, repeating every 18 years and 11 days, has a total of 77 lunar eclipse events including 28 total lunar eclipses. This is the 22nd member of Lunar Saros 140. The previous event was the May 1958 lunar eclipse. The next event is the May 1994 lunar eclipse.

Previous event: Partial Lunar Eclipse on Saturday, May 3, 1958

This event: Partial Lunar Eclipse on Thursday, May 13, 1976

Next event: Partial Lunar Eclipse on Wednesday, May 25, 1994

Visibility

It was completely visible over South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia, seen rising over South America, Europe and Africa, and setting over Asia and Australia. At the greatest eclipse about 12.17% of the Moon was covered by the Earth's shadow.

Related lunar eclipses

Eclipses in 1976

• An annular solar eclipse on Thursday, 29 April 1976.
• A partial lunar eclipse on Thursday, 13 May 1976.
• A total solar eclipse on Saturday, 23 October 1976.
• A penumbral lunar eclipse on Saturday, 6 November 1976.

Lunar year series

Lunar eclipse series sets from 1973–1976
Ascending node					Descending node
Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma		Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma
110	1973 Jun 15	Penumbral	−1.32166		115	1973 Dec 10	Partial	0.96441
120	1974 Jun 04	Partial	−0.54887		125	1974 Nov 29	Total	0.30540
130	1975 May 25	Total	0.23674		135	1975 Nov 18	Total	−0.41343
140	1976 May 13	Partial	0.95860		145	1976 Nov 06	Penumbral	−1.12760
Last set	1973 Jul 15				Last set	1973 Jan 18
Next set	1977 Apr 04				Next set	1977 Sep 27

Half-Saros cycle

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros). This lunar eclipse is related to two partial solar eclipses of Solar Saros 147.

May 9, 1967	May 19, 1985

See also

• List of lunar eclipses
• List of 20th-century lunar eclipses

External links

• 1976 May 13 chart Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC