September 1997 lunar eclipse
| Total eclipse | |||||||||||||||||
The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left | |||||||||||||||||
| Date | September 16, 1997 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Gamma | −0.3768 | ||||||||||||||||
| Magnitude | 1.1909 | ||||||||||||||||
| Saros cycle | 137 (27 of 81) | ||||||||||||||||
| Totality | 61 minutes, 31 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Partiality | 196 minutes, 26 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Penumbral | 308 minutes, 14 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
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A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Tuesday, September 16, 1997, with an umbral magnitude of 1.1909. 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 2.5 hours after perigee (on September 16, 1997, at 16:20 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
This lunar eclipse was the last of an almost tetrad, with the others being on April 4, 1996 (total); September 27, 1996 (total); and March 24, 1997 (partial).