| Total Lunar Eclipse April 2, 1950 | |
|---|---|
| (No photo) | |
 The moon passes west to east (right to left) across the Earth's umbral shadow, shown in hourly intervals. | |
| Series | 131 (30 of 72) |
| Gamma | -0.4598 |
| Magnitude | 1.0329 |
| Duration (hr:mn:sc) | |
| Totality | 26:54 |
| Partial | 3:09:36 |
| Penumbral | 5:06:30 |
| Contacts UTC | |
| P1 | 18:11:19 |
| U1 | 19:09:36 |
| U2 | 20:31:07 |
| Greatest | 20:44:34 |
| U3 | 20:58:01 |
| U4 | 22:19:22 |
| P4 | 23:17:49 |
A total lunar eclipse took place on Sunday, April 2, 1950. This was the first total lunar eclipse of Saros cycle 131.
It was visible from Africa, Europe, Asia, Madagascar, the Philippines, and totality occurred as the Moon set from the western side of Australia.
| Descending node | Ascending node | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saros | Date Viewing |
Type Chart |
Saros | Date Viewing |
Type Chart | |
| 111 | 1948 Apr 23
|
Partial
|
116 | 1948 Oct 18
|
Penumbral
| |
| 121 | 1949 Apr 13
|
Total
|
126 | 1949 Oct 07
|
Total
| |
| 131 | 1950 Apr 02
|
Total
|
136 | 1950 Sep 26
|
Total
| |
| 141 | 1951 Mar 23
|
Penumbral
|
146 | 1951 Sep 15
|
Penumbral
| |
Lunar Saros series 131, has 72 lunar eclipses. Solar Saros 138 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.
This eclipse series began in AD 1427 with a partial eclipse at the southern edge of the Earth's shadow when the Moon was close to its descending node. Each successive Saros cycle, the Moon's orbital path is shifted northward with respect to the Earth's shadow, with the first total eclipse occurring in 1950. For the following 252 years, total eclipses occur, with the central eclipse being predicted to occur in 2078. The first partial eclipse after this is predicted to occur in the year 2220, and the final partial eclipse of the series will occur in 2707. The total lifetime of the lunar Saros series 131 is 1280 years. Solar Saros 138 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.
Because of the ⅓ fraction of days in a Saros cycle, the visibility of each eclipse will differ for an observer at a given fixed locale. For the lunar Saros series 131, the first total eclipse of 1950 had its best visibility for viewers in Eastern Europe and the Middle East because mid-eclipse was at 20:44 UT. The following eclipse in the series occurred approximately 8 hours later in the day with mid-eclipse at 4:47 UT, and was best seen from North America and South America. The third total eclipse occurred approximately 8 hours later in the day than the second eclipse with mid-eclipse at 12:43 UT, and had its best visibility for viewers in the Western Pacific, East Asia, Australia and New Zealand. This cycle of visibility repeats from the initiation to termination of the series, with minor variations. Solar Saros 138 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.
Lunar Saros series 131, repeating every 18 years and 11 days, has a total of 72 lunar eclipse events including 57 umbral lunar eclipses (42 partial lunar eclipses and 15 total lunar eclipses). Solar Saros 138 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.
| Greatest | First | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The greatest eclipse of the series will occur on 2094 Jun 28, lasting 102 minutes.[1] |
Penumbral | Partial | Total | Central |
| 1427 May 10 | 1553 July 25 | 1950 Apr 2 | 2022 May 16 | |
| Last | ||||
| Central | Total | Partial | Penumbral | |
| 2148 Jul 31 | 2202 Sep 3 | 2563 Apr 9 | 2707 Jul 7 | |
| 1914 Mar 12 | 1932 Mar 22 | 1950 Apr 2 | |||
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| 1968 Apr 13 | 1986 Apr 24 | 2004 May 4 | |||
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| 2022 May 16 | 2040 May 26 | 2058 Jun 6 | |||
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| 2076 Jun 17 | 2094 Jun 28 | ||||
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The next occurrence was on April 13, 1968. The previous occurrence was March 22, 1932.
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