April 1949 lunar eclipse
| Total eclipse | |||||||||||||||||
The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left | |||||||||||||||||
| Date | April 13, 1949 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Gamma | 0.2474 | ||||||||||||||||
| Magnitude | 1.4251 | ||||||||||||||||
| Saros cycle | 121 (52 of 84) | ||||||||||||||||
| Totality | 84 minutes, 56 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Partiality | 205 minutes, 42 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Penumbral | 315 minutes, 50 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
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A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Wednesday, April 13, 1949, with an umbral magnitude of 1.4251. It was a central lunar eclipse, in which part of the Moon passed through the center of the Earth's shadow. 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 only about 19 hours after perigee (on April 12, 1949, at 9:35 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
This lunar eclipse was the first of a tetrad, with four total lunar eclipses in series, the others being on October 7, 1949; April 2, 1950; and September 26, 1950.