April 1986 lunar eclipse

April 1986 lunar eclipse
Total eclipse
	The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left
Date	April 24, 1986
Gamma	−0.3683
Magnitude	1.2022
Saros cycle	131 (32 of 72)
Totality	63 minutes, 35 seconds
Partiality	198 minutes, 45 seconds
Penumbral	312 minutes, 37 seconds
P1
Contacts (UTC)
P1	10:06:16
U1	11:03:13
U2	12:10:48
Greatest	12:42:35
U3	13:14:23
U4	14:21:58
P4	15:18:53
	← October 1985 October 1986 →

A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Thursday, April 24, 1986,^[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.2022. 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 1.25 days before perigee (on April 25, 1986, at 18:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.^[2]

This lunar eclipse was the third of a tetrad, with four total lunar eclipses in series, the others being on May 4, 1985; October 28, 1985; and October 17, 1986.

Visibility

The eclipse was completely visible over Australia, east and northeast Asia, Antarctica, and the western and central Pacific Ocean, seen rising over much of Asia and setting over North America and western 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]

April 24, 1986 Lunar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter	Value
Penumbral Magnitude	2.16203
Umbral Magnitude	1.20217
Gamma	−0.36826
Sun Right Ascension	02h07m09.8s
Sun Declination	+12°52'05.8"
Sun Semi-Diameter	15'54.1"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	08.7"
Moon Right Ascension	14h06m30.3s
Moon Declination	-13°12'18.9"
Moon Semi-Diameter	16'34.0"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	1°00'48.0"
ΔT	55.0 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 April 1986
April 9 Ascending node (new moon)	April 24 Descending node (full moon)

Partial solar eclipse Solar Saros 119	Total lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 131

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 1986

Lunar eclipses of 1984–1987

This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of lunar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.^[5]

The penumbral lunar eclipse on June 13, 1984 occurs in the previous lunar year eclipse set.

Lunar eclipse series sets from 1984 to 1987
Descending node				Ascending node
Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma	Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma
111	1984 May 15	Penumbral	1.1131	116	1984 Nov 08	Penumbral	−1.0900
121	1985 May 04	Total	0.3520	126	1985 Oct 28	Total	−0.4022
131	1986 Apr 24	Total	−0.3683	136	1986 Oct 17	Total	0.3189
141	1987 Apr 14	Penumbral	−1.1364	146	1987 Oct 07	Penumbral	1.0189

Metonic series

This eclipse is the third of four Metonic cycle lunar eclipses on the same date, April 23–24, each separated by 19 years:

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 1948–2005
Descending node			Ascending node
Saros	Date	Type	Saros	Date	Type
111	1948 Apr 23	Partial	116	1948 Oct 18	Penumbral

121	1967 Apr 24	Total	126	1967 Oct 18	Total

131	1986 Apr 24	Total	136	1986 Oct 17	Total

141	2005 Apr 24	Penumbral	146	2005 Oct 17	Partial

Saros 131

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 131, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 72 events. The series started with a penumbral lunar eclipse on May 10, 1427. It contains partial eclipses from July 25, 1553 through March 22, 1932; total eclipses from April 2, 1950 through September 3, 2202; and a second set of partial eclipses from September 13, 2220 through April 9, 2563. The series ends at member 72 as a penumbral eclipse on July 7, 2707.

The longest duration of totality will be produced by member 38 at 100 minutes, 36 seconds on June 28, 2094. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.^[6]

Greatest	First
The greatest eclipse of the series will occur on 2094 Jun 28, lasting 100 minutes, 36 seconds.^[7]	Penumbral	Partial	Total	Central
	1427 May 10	1553 Jul 25	1950 Apr 02	2022 May 16
	Last
	Central	Total	Partial	Penumbral
	2148 Jul 31	2202 Sep 03	2563 Apr 09	2707 Jul 07

Eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.

Series members 22–43 occur between 1801 and 2200:
22	23	24
1806 Jan 05	1824 Jan 16	1842 Jan 26

25	26	27
1860 Feb 07	1878 Feb 17	1896 Feb 28

28	29	30
1914 Mar 12	1932 Mar 22	1950 Apr 02

31	32	33
1968 Apr 13	1986 Apr 24	2004 May 04

34	35	36
2022 May 16	2040 May 26	2058 Jun 06

37	38	39
2076 Jun 17	2094 Jun 28	2112 Jul 09

40	41	42
2130 Jul 21	2148 Jul 31	2166 Aug 11

43
2184 Aug 21

Half-Saros cycle

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).^[8] This lunar eclipse is related to two annular solar eclipses of Solar Saros 138.

April 18, 1977	April 29, 1995

Notes

^ "April 24–25, 1986 Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)". timeanddate. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 1986 Apr 24" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 1986 Apr 24". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
^ van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
^ "NASA - Catalog of Lunar Eclipses of Saros 131". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.
^ Listing of Eclipses of series 131
^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros

External links

1986 Apr 24 chart Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC

[1] "April 24–25, 1986 Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)". timeanddate. Retrieved 6 January 2025.

[2] "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 6 January 2025.

[3] "Total Lunar Eclipse of 1986 Apr 24" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 6 January 2025.

[4] "Total Lunar Eclipse of 1986 Apr 24". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 6 January 2025.

[5] van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved 6 October 2018.

[6] "NASA - Catalog of Lunar Eclipses of Saros 131". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.

[7] Listing of Eclipses of series 131

[8] Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros

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April 1986 lunar eclipse

Contents

Visibility

Eclipse details

Eclipse season

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 1986

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Lunar Saros 131

Inex

Triad