October 1940 lunar eclipse
| Penumbral eclipse | |||||||||
The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left | |||||||||
| Date | October 16, 1940 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gamma | −1.1925 | ||||||||
| Magnitude | −0.3749 | ||||||||
| Saros cycle | 145 (7 of 71) | ||||||||
| Penumbral | 247 minutes, 58 seconds | ||||||||
| |||||||||
A penumbral lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Wednesday, October 16, 1940, with an umbral magnitude of −0.3749. 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 21 hours after apogee (on October 15, 1940, at 11:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.