April 25, 2013 Partial Lunar Eclipse Belongs to Saros Series 112

Summary: The Thursday, April 25, 2013, partial lunar eclipse belongs to Saros cycle 112, a series of 72 similar lunar eclipses.

Penumbral lunar eclipse of May 20, 859, opened Saros 112’s lineup of 72 lunar eclipses: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak (NASA's GSFC)," via NASA Eclipse Web Site

The Thursday, April 25, 2013, partial lunar eclipse belongs to Saros cycle 112, which comprises 72 lunar eclipses with similar geometries.

April’s partial lunar eclipse begins Thursday, April 25, at 18:03:38 Universal Time, according to NASA’s Eclipse Web Site. Greatest eclipse takes place at 20:07:30 UT. Greatest eclipse indicates the instant of the moon’s closest passage to the axis of Earth’s shadow. The eclipse ends at 22:11:26 UT.

April 2013’s partial lunar eclipse appears as number 65 in the lineup of 72 lunar eclipses that compose Saros cycle 112. Similar geometries classify the 72 lunar eclipses as a family, known as a series.

Retired NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak’s EclipseWise website describes Saros 112 lunar eclipses as sharing the geometry of occurring at the moon’s ascending node. With each succeeding eclipse in Saros 112, the lunar movement is southward with respect to the ascending node.

The ascending node and a descending node pair mark the intersections of Earth’s orbit by the moon’s orbit. The two nodes reflect the approximately 5.1 degree tilt of the lunar orbit with respect to Earth’s orbit. The ascending node associates with the moon’s orbital crossing to the north of Earth’s orbit. The descending node links with the lunar orbital crossing to the south of Earth’s orbit.

A Saros cycle of approximately 6,585.3 days (18 years 11 days 8 hours informs the periodicity and recurrence of eclipses. A Saros series comprises 70 or more lunar eclipses, with each separated from its predecessor by a Saros cycle. A Saros series has a typical timeline of 12 to 15 centuries.

Saros series 112 lasts for 1,280.14 years, according to NASA Eclipse Web Site. Saros series 112 plays out over 14 centuries. Saros series 112 spans the ninth through 22nd centuries.

Lunar eclipses in Saros cycle 112 display a sequence order of seven penumbral lunar eclipses, 21 partial lunar eclipses, 15 total lunar eclipses, 22 partial lunar eclipses and seven penumbral lunar eclipses. Partial lunar eclipses claim the most frequency in Saros series 112, with a total of 43 occurrences. Total lunar eclipses occur as the second most frequent lunar eclipse type in the series, with a total of 15 occurrences.

The ninth century’s penumbral eclipse of May 20, 859, initiated Saros series 112. This eclipse will occur near the northern edge of the penumbra (shadow’s lighter, outer region). This event staged its greatest eclipse over the southwestern Pacific Ocean, north of France’s special collectivity of New Caledonia (la Nouvelle-Calédonie).

The 22nd century’s penumbral eclipse of Sunday, July 12, 2139, ends Saros series 112. This eclipse will occur near the penumbra’s southern edge. This event’s greatest eclipse will take place over the southeastern Atlantic Ocean, west of southern Africa’s Republic of Namibia, southeast of Saint Helena and northeast of Tristan da Cunha.

The Thursday, April 25, 2013, partial lunar eclipse closes Saros series 112’s second string of partial lunar eclipses as the last of the sequence’s 22 partial lunar eclipses. This event will experience its greatest eclipse over the southwestern Indian Ocean, north of the island Republic of Mauritius and east of the island Republic of Madagascar.

The partial lunar eclipse of Saturday, April 15, 1995, is the immediate predecessor of April 2013’s penumbral lunar eclipse in Saros series 112. This event’s greatest eclipse took place over the southwestern Pacific Ocean, southwest of the island country of Tuvalu and northwest of the Fijian dependency of Rotuma.

The April 1995 partial lunar eclipse appears as number 21 within the second sequence of 22 partial lunar eclipses in Saros series 112. This eclipse occurs as number 64 in the series’ lineup of 72 lunar eclipses.

The penumbral lunar eclipse of Tuesday, May 7, 2031, is the successor of the Thursday, April 25, 2013, partial lunar eclipse in Saros series 112. This event’s greatest eclipse will take place over eastern Bolivia’s Santa Cruz Department (Departamento de Santa Cruz).

The May 2031 eclipse occurs as the first of seven in Saros series 112’s closing sequence of penumbral lunar eclipses. This eclipse appears as number 66 in the series’ lineup of 72 lunar eclipses.

The takeaway for the Thursday, April 25, 2013, partial lunar eclipse is that the astronomical event occurs as number 65 in Saros series 112’s lineup of 72 lunar eclipses and as the closing eclipse in the series’ second string of 22 partial lunar eclipses.

Penumbral lunar eclipse of Sunday, July 12, 2139, will close Saros 112’s lineup of 72 lunar eclipses: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak (NASA's GSFC)," via NASA Eclipse Web Site

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Penumbral lunar eclipse of May 20, 859, opened Saros 112’s lineup of 72 lunar eclipses: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak (NASA's GSFC)," via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCLEmap/0801-0900/LE0859-05-20N.gif

Penumbral lunar eclipse of Sunday, July 12, 2139, will close Saros 112’s lineup of 72 lunar eclipses: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak (NASA's GSFC)," via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCLEmap/2101-2200/LE2139-07-12N.gif

For further information:

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Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2013.html

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Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEsaros/LEsaroscatkey.html

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Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCLEmap/1901-2000/LE1995-04-15P.gif

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Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCLEmap/2001-2100/LE2013-04-25P.gif

Espenak, Fred. “Partial Lunar Eclipse of 1995 Apr 15.” EclipseWise > Lunar Eclipses > Lunar Eclipse Links > Six Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses -2999 to +3000 (3000 BCE to 3000 CE) > 1901 to 2000 (1901 CE to 2000 CE).
Available via EclipseWise @ http://eclipsewise.com/lunar/LEprime/1901-2000/LE1995Apr15Pprime.html

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Available via EclipseWisse @ http://eclipsewise.com/lunar/LEprime/2001-2100/LE2013Apr25Pprime.html

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Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCLEmap/0801-0900/LE0859-05-20N.gif

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Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCLEmap/2001-2100/LE2031-05-07N.gif

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Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCLEmap/2101-2200/LE2139-07-12N.gif

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Available via EclipseWise @ http://eclipsewise.com/lunar/LEprime/0801-0900/LE0859May20Nprime.html

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Available via EclipseWise @ http://eclipsewise.com/lunar/LEprime/2001-2100/LE2031May07Nprime.html

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Available via EclipseWise @ http://eclipsewise.com/lunar/LEprime/2101-2200/LE2139Jul12Nprime.html

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Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEsaros/LEsaros112.html

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Available @ https://moonblink.info/Eclipse/eclipse/2031_05_07

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