October 1949 lunar eclipse
| Total eclipse | |||||||||||||||||
The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left | |||||||||||||||||
| Date | October 7, 1949 | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gamma | −0.3219 | ||||||||||||||||
| Magnitude | 1.2236 | ||||||||||||||||
| Saros cycle | 126 (42 of 72) | ||||||||||||||||
| Totality | 72 minutes, 50 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Partiality | 222 minutes, 53 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Penumbral | 369 minutes, 11 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Friday, October 7, 1949, with an umbral magnitude of 1.2236. 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 15 hours before apogee (on October 7, 1949, at 18:10 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
This lunar eclipse was the second of a tetrad, with four total lunar eclipses in series, the others being on April 13, 1949; April 2, 1950; and September 26, 1950.