A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Wednesday, May 3, 1939,[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.1765. 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 about 5.2 days after perigee (on April 28, 1939, at 11:05 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[2]
This lunar eclipse was the third of an almost tetrad, with the others being on May 14, 1938 (total); November 7, 1938 (total); and October 28, 1939 (partial).
Visibility
The eclipse was completely visible over east Asia, Australia, and Antarctica, seen rising over central and east Africa, eastern Europe, and west, central, and south Asia and setting over western North America and the eastern Pacific Ocean.[3]
 
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Eclipse details
Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[4]
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Penumbral Magnitude | 2.18417 |
| Umbral Magnitude | 1.17649 |
| Gamma | 0.36934 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 02h39m22.9s |
| Sun Declination | +15°31'43.2" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 15'51.8" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.7" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 14h39m41.4s |
| Moon Declination | -15°10'51.4" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 15'44.6" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°57'46.6" |
| ΔT | 24.2 s |
Eclipse season
This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.
| April 19 Descending node (new moon) |
May 3 Ascending node (full moon) |
|---|---|
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| Annular solar eclipse Solar Saros 118 |
Total lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 130 |
Related eclipses
Eclipses in 1939
- An annular solar eclipse on April 19.
- A total lunar eclipse on May 3.
- A total solar eclipse on October 12.
- A partial lunar eclipse on October 28.
Metonic
- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of July 16, 1935
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of February 20, 1943
Tzolkinex
- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 22, 1932
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of June 14, 1946
Half-Saros
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 28, 1930
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 9, 1948
Tritos
- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 3, 1928
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 2, 1950
Lunar Saros 130
- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 22, 1921
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 13, 1957
Inex
- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 24, 1910
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 13, 1968
Triad
- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of July 1, 1852
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 3, 2026
Lunar eclipses of 1937–1940
This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of lunar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.[5]
The penumbral lunar eclipse on March 23, 1940 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.
| Lunar eclipse series sets from 1937 to 1940 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ascending node | Descending node | |||||||
| Saros | Date Viewing |
Type Chart |
Gamma | Saros | Date Viewing |
Type Chart |
Gamma | |
| 110 | 1937 May 25
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Penumbral
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−1.1582 | 115 | 1937 Nov 18
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Partial
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0.9421 | |
| 120 | 1938 May 14
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Total
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−0.3994 | 125 | 1938 Nov 07
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Total
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0.2739 | |
| 130 | 1939 May 03
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Total
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0.3693 | 135 | 1939 Oct 28
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Partial
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−0.4581 | |
| 140 | 1940 Apr 22
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Penumbral
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1.0741 | 145 | 1940 Oct 16
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Penumbral
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−1.1925 | |
Saros 130
This eclipse is a part of Saros series 130, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a penumbral lunar eclipse on June 10, 1416. It contains partial eclipses from September 4, 1560 through April 12, 1903; total eclipses from April 22, 1921 through September 11, 2155; and a second set of partial eclipses from September 21, 2173 through May 10, 2552. The series ends at member 71 as a penumbral eclipse on July 26, 2678.
The longest duration of totality will be produced by member 35 at 101 minutes, 53 seconds on June 26, 2029. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.[6]
| Greatest | First | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The greatest eclipse of the series will occur on 2029 Jun 26, lasting 101 minutes, 53 seconds.[7] |
Penumbral | Partial | Total | Central |
| 1416 Jun 10 |
1560 Sep 04 |
1921 Apr 22
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1975 May 25
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| Last | ||||
| Central | Total | Partial | Penumbral | |
2083 Jul 29
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2155 Sep 11 |
2552 May 10 |
2678 Jul 26 | |
Eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.
| Series members 23–44 occur between 1801 and 2200: | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | 24 | 25 | |||
| 1813 Feb 15 | 1831 Feb 26 | 1849 Mar 09 | |||
| 26 | 27 | 28 | |||
| 1867 Mar 20 | 1885 Mar 30 | 1903 Apr 12 | |||
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| 29 | 30 | 31 | |||
| 1921 Apr 22 | 1939 May 03 | 1957 May 13 | |||
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| 32 | 33 | 34 | |||
| 1975 May 25 | 1993 Jun 04 | 2011 Jun 15 | |||
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| 35 | 36 | 37 | |||
| 2029 Jun 26 | 2047 Jul 07 | 2065 Jul 17 | |||
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| 38 | 39 | 40 | |||
| 2083 Jul 29 | 2101 Aug 09 | 2119 Aug 20 | |||
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| 41 | 42 | 43 | |||
| 2137 Aug 30 | 2155 Sep 11 | 2173 Sep 21 | |||
| 44 | |||||
| 2191 Oct 02 | |||||
Tritos series
This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
| Series members between 1801 and 2200 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1808 May 10 (Saros 118) |
1819 Apr 10 (Saros 119) |
1830 Mar 09 (Saros 120) |
1841 Feb 06 (Saros 121) |
1852 Jan 07 (Saros 122) | |||||
| 1862 Dec 06 (Saros 123) |
1873 Nov 04 (Saros 124) |
1884 Oct 04 (Saros 125) |
1895 Sep 04 (Saros 126) |
1906 Aug 04 (Saros 127) | |||||
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| 1917 Jul 04 (Saros 128) |
1928 Jun 03 (Saros 129) |
1939 May 03 (Saros 130) |
1950 Apr 02 (Saros 131) |
1961 Mar 02 (Saros 132) | |||||
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| 1972 Jan 30 (Saros 133) |
1982 Dec 30 (Saros 134) |
1993 Nov 29 (Saros 135) |
2004 Oct 28 (Saros 136) |
2015 Sep 28 (Saros 137) | |||||
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| 2026 Aug 28 (Saros 138) |
2037 Jul 27 (Saros 139) |
2048 Jun 26 (Saros 140) |
2059 May 27 (Saros 141) |
2070 Apr 25 (Saros 142) | |||||
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| 2081 Mar 25 (Saros 143) |
2092 Feb 23 (Saros 144) |
2103 Jan 23 (Saros 145) |
2113 Dec 22 (Saros 146) |
2124 Nov 21 (Saros 147) | |||||
| 2135 Oct 22 (Saros 148) |
2146 Sep 20 (Saros 149) |
2157 Aug 20 (Saros 150) |
2168 Jul 20 (Saros 151) |
2179 Jun 19 (Saros 152) | |||||
| 2190 May 19 (Saros 153) | |||||||||
Inex series
This eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
| Series members between 1801 and 2200 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1823 Jul 23 (Saros 126) |
1852 Jul 01 (Saros 127) |
1881 Jun 12 (Saros 128) | |||
| 1910 May 24 (Saros 129) |
1939 May 03 (Saros 130) |
1968 Apr 13 (Saros 131) | |||
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| 1997 Mar 24 (Saros 132) |
2026 Mar 03 (Saros 133) |
2055 Feb 11 (Saros 134) | |||
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| 2084 Jan 22 (Saros 135) |
2113 Jan 02 (Saros 136) |
2141 Dec 13 (Saros 137) | |||
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| 2170 Nov 23 (Saros 138) |
2199 Nov 02 (Saros 139) | ||||
Half-Saros cycle
A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).[8] This lunar eclipse is related to two solar eclipses of Solar Saros 137.
| April 28, 1930 | May 9, 1948 |
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See also
Notes
- ^ "May 3–4, 1939 Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)". timeanddate. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
- ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
- ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 1939 May 03" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
- ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 1939 May 03". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
- ^ van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
- ^ "NASA - Catalog of Lunar Eclipses of Saros 130". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.
- ^ Listing of Eclipses of series 130
- ^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros
External links
- 1939 May 03 chart Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
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