November 1976 lunar eclipse
| Penumbral eclipse | |||||||||
The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left | |||||||||
| Date | November 6, 1976 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gamma | −1.1276 | ||||||||
| Magnitude | −0.2593 | ||||||||
| Saros cycle | 145 (9 of 71) | ||||||||
| Penumbral | 265 minutes, 47 seconds | ||||||||
| |||||||||
A penumbral lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Saturday, November 6, 1976, with an umbral magnitude of −0.2593. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when part or all of the Moon's near side passes into the Earth's penumbra. 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. Occurring only about 8 hours after apogee (on November 6, 1976, at 14:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.