July 1916 lunar eclipse

A partial lunar eclipse took place on Saturday, July 15, 1916. The moon was strikingly shadowed in this deep partial eclipse which lasted 2 hours and 53 minutes, with 79% of the moon in darkness at maximum.

July 1916 lunar eclipse
Partial eclipse
DateJuly 15, 1916
Gamma−0.5956
Magnitude0.7944
Saros cycle118 (46 of 74)
Partiality172 minutes, 30 seconds
Penumbral292 minutes, 24 seconds
Contacts (UTC)
P102:19:36
U103:19:33
Greatest04:45:49
U406:12:03
P407:12:00
← January 1916
January 1917 →

Observations

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The Ross Sea party was a component of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–17. Five men were stranded not far away from Cape Evans. There was sea ice between them and the relative safety of the hut on Cape Evans. On May 8 two of the men, Aeneas Mackintosh and Victor Hayward, decided to make an attempt to reach the hut. Soon after they set out, a blizzard hit. When the weather cleared up, the remaining men tried to look for them, but realized that the ice was far too thin to cross, and that their friends had been lost. Now they knew that they should wait for a thicker ice and for the full moon to attempt the crossing. Having the full moon was essential, because during polar night the moon is the only source of natural light other than the extremely dim light of the stars.

The weather did not cooperate during the full moon of June, but on July 15, everything seemed to be just right: calm weather, thick ice, clear skies and a full moon. The men started their journey in the morning. When the moon rose, however, the men were surprised to find it was about to be eclipsed[citation needed]. Ernest Wild wrote later:

"I thought we were going to be left in darkness but a very little bit of the rim remained to light us..."

Although the eclipse continued for a few hours, the men were fortunate because it was only a partial eclipse. They reached Cape Evans later on the same day.[1]

Visibility

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Lunar eclipses of 1915-1918

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Lunar eclipse series sets from 1933 to 1936
Descending node   Ascending node
Saros Date
Viewing
Type
Chart
Saros Date
Viewing
Type
Chart
103 1915 Jan 31
 
Penumbral
 
108 1915 Jul 26
 
Penumbral
 
113 1916 Jan 20
 
Partial
 
118 1916 Jul 15
 
Partial
 
123 1917 Jan 08
 
Total
 
128 1917 Jul 04
 
Total
 
133 1917 Dec 28
 
Total
 
138 1918 Jun 24
 
Partial
 
143 1918 Dec 17
 
Penumbral
 


Half-Saros cycle

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A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).[2] This lunar eclipse is related to two annular solar eclipses of Solar Saros 125.

July 10, 1907 July 20, 1925
   

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Richard McElrea; David L. Harrowfield (2004). Polar castaways: the Ross Sea Party (1914–17) of Sir Ernest Shackleton. Canterbury University Press. p. 206. ISBN 978-0-7735-2825-3.
  2. ^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros

References

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