December 1983 lunar eclipse

A penumbral lunar eclipse took place on December 20, 1983. At the maximum eclipse, 89% of the Moon’s disk was partially shaded by the Earth, which caused a slight shadow gradient across its disc; this subtle effect may have been visible to careful observers. No part of the Moon was in complete shadow. The eclipse lasted 4 hours and 2 minutes overall.[1]

Visibility

Related lunar eclipses

Lunar year series

Lunar eclipse series sets from 1980–1984
Descending node					Ascending node
Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma		Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma
109	1980 Jul 27	Penumbral	1.41391		114	1981 Jan 20	Penumbral	-1.01421
119	1981 Jul 17	Partial	0.70454		124	1982 Jan 09	Total	-0.29158
129	1982 Jul 06	Total	-0.05792		134	1982 Dec 30	Total	0.37579
139	1983 Jun 25	Partial	-0.81520		144	1983 Dec 20	Penumbral	1.07468
149	1984 Jun 13	Penumbral	-1.52403
Last set	1980 Aug 26				Last set	1980 Mar 13
Next set	1984 May 26				Next set	1984 Nov 20

Saros cycle

Lunar Saros series 144, repeating every 18 years and 11 days, has a total of 71 lunar eclipse events including 20 total lunar eclipses.

First Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 1749 Jul 29

First Partial Lunar Eclipse: 2146 Mar 28

First Total Lunar Eclipse: 2308 Jul 04

First Central Lunar Eclipse: 2362 Aug 06

Greatest Eclipse of the Lunar Saros 144: 2416 Sep 07

Last Central Lunar Eclipse: 2488 Oct 20

Last Total Lunar Eclipse: 2651 Jan 28

Last Partial Lunar Eclipse: 2867 Jun 08

Last Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 3011 Sep 04

Half-Saros cycle

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 partial solar eclipses of Solar Saros 151.

December 13, 1974	December 24, 1992

See also

• List of lunar eclipses
• List of 20th-century lunar eclipses

Notes

1. Hermit Eclipse: Saros cycle 144
2. Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros

External links

• 1983 Dec 20 chart Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC