Partial Lunar Eclipse of -1550 Oct 09 (1551 Oct 09 BCE)

Fred Espenak

Introduction


The Partial Lunar Eclipse of -1550 Oct 09 (1551 Oct 09 BCE) is visible from the geographic regions shown on the map to the right. The diagram above the map depicts the Moon's path with respect to Earth's umbral and penumbral shadows. Click on the figure to enlarge it. For an explanation of the features appearing in the figure, see Key to Lunar Eclipse Figures.

The instant of greatest eclipse takes place on -1550 Oct 09 at 04:52:35 TD (18:50:44 UT1). This is 0.4 days before the Moon reaches perigee. During the eclipse, the Moon is in the constellation Aries. The synodic month in which the eclipse takes place has a Brown Lunation Number of -42946.

The eclipse belongs to Saros 2 and is number 55 of 73 eclipses in the series. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node. The Moon moves southward with respect to the node with each succeeding eclipse in the series and gamma decreases.

This is a very shallow partial eclipse. It has an umbral eclipse magnitude of only 0.0444 and a partial eclipse duration of 45.6 minutes. Gamma has a value of -0.9967.

The partial lunar eclipse of -1550 Oct 09 is followed two weeks later by a annular solar eclipse on -1550 Oct 23.

These eclipses all take place during a single eclipse season.

The eclipse predictions are given in both Terrestrial Dynamical Time (TD) and Universal Time (UT1). The parameter ΔT is used to convert between these two times (i.e., UT1 = TD - ΔT). ΔT has a value of 36110.8 seconds for this eclipse. The uncertainty in ΔT is 2056.5 seconds corresponding to a standard error in longitude of the eclipse visibility zones of 8.59°.

The following links provide maps and data for the eclipse.

The tables below contain detailed predictions and additional information on the Partial Lunar Eclipse of -1550 Oct 09 .


Eclipse Data: Partial Lunar Eclipse of -1550 Oct 09

Eclipse Characteristics
Parameter Value
Penumbral Magnitude 1.01367
Umbral Magnitude 0.04439
Gamma-0.99672
Epsilon 1.0201°
Opposition Times
Event Calendar Date & Time Julian Date
Greatest Eclipse -1550 Oct 09 at 04:52:34.6 TD (18:50:43.8 UT1) 1155201.285229
Ecliptic Opposition -1550 Oct 09 at 04:42:34.0 TD (18:40:43.1 UT1) 1155201.278277
Equatorial Opposition -1550 Oct 09 at 03:54:33.2 TD (17:52:42.3 UT1) 1155201.244935
Geocentric Coordinates of Sun and Moon
-1550 Oct 09 at 04:52:34.6 TD (18:50:43.8 UT1)
Coordinate Sun Moon
Right Ascension12h07m52.6s00h09m52.9s
Declination-00°52'21.4"-00°00'57.8"
Semi-Diameter 16'13.2" 16'44.0"
Eq. Hor. Parallax 08.9" 1°01'24.8"
Geocentric Libration of Moon
Angle Value
l 0.1°
b 1.3°
c -22.4°
Earth's Shadows
Parameter Value
Penumbral Radius 1.3066°
Umbral Radius 0.7659°
Prediction Paramaters
Paramater Value
Ephemerides JPL DE406
ΔT 36110.8 s
Shadow Rule Danjon
Shadow Enlargement 1.010
Saros Series 2 (55/73)

Explanation of Lunar Eclipse Data Tables

Eclipse Contacts: Partial Lunar Eclipse of -1550 Oct 09

Lunar Eclipse Contacts
Eclipse Event Contact Time
TD
Time
UT1
Zenith Latitude Zenith Longitude Position Angle Axis Distance
Penumbral BeginsP102:50:08.516:48:17.700°38.8'S106°09.7'E 200.5° 1.5852°
Partial BeginsU104:29:47.218:27:56.400°08.0'S082°06.4'E 163.1° 1.0448°
Greatest EclipseGreatest04:52:34.618:50:43.800°01.0'S076°36.3'E 150.6° 1.0201°
Partial EndsU405:15:24.319:13:33.500°06.1'N071°05.7'E 138.1° 1.0449°
Penumbral EndsP406:55:01.720:53:10.800°36.9'N047°02.7'E 100.6° 1.5857°
Eclipse Durations
Eclipse Phase Duration
Penumbral (P4 - P1)04h04m53.2s
Partial (U4 - U1)00h45m37.1s

Explanation of Lunar Eclipse Contacts Table

Polynomial Besselian Elements: Partial Lunar Eclipse of -1550 Oct 09

Polynomial Besselian Elements
-1550 Oct 09 at 05:00:00.0 TD (=t0)
n x y d f1 f2 f3
0 0.56520 -0.85236 -0.0153 1.30661 0.76595 0.27890
1 0.51819 0.29225 -0.0003 0.00009 0.00009 0.00002
2 0.00002 0.00008 0.0000 -0.00001 -0.00001 -0.00000
3 -0.00001 -0.00001 - - - -

At time t1 (decimal hours), each besselian element is evaluated by:

x = x0 + x1*t + x2*t2 + x3*t3 (or x = Σ [xn*tn]; n = 0 to 3)

where: t = t1 - t0 (decimal hours) and t0 = 5.000

Explanation of Besselian Elements

Links for the Partial Lunar Eclipse of -1550 Oct 09 (1551 Oct 09 BCE)

Links to Additional Lunar Eclipse Information

Calendar

The Gregorian calendar (also called the Western calendar) is internationally the most widely used civil calendar. It is named for Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in 1582. On this website, the Gregorian calendar is used for all calendar dates from 1582 Oct 15 onwards. Before that date, the Julian calendar is used. For more information on this topic, see Calendar Dates.

The Julian calendar does not include the year 0. Thus the year 1 BCE is followed by the year 1 CE (See: BCE/CE Dating Conventions). This is awkward for arithmetic calculations. Years in this catalog are numbered astronomically and include the year 0. Historians should note there is a difference of one year between astronomical dates and BCE dates. Thus, the astronomical year 0 corresponds to 1 BCE, and astronomical year -1 corresponds to 2 BCE, etc..

Eclipse Predictions

Predictions for the Partial Lunar Eclipse of -1550 Oct 09 were generated using the JPL DE406 solar and lunar ephemerides. The lunar coordinates were calculated with respect to the Moon's Center of Mass. The predictions are given in both Terrestrial Dynamical Time (TD) and Universal Time (UT1). The parameter ΔT is used to convert between these two times (i.e., UT1 = TD - ΔT). ΔT has a value of 36110.8 seconds for this eclipse. The uncertainty in ΔT is 2056.5 seconds corresponding to a standard error in longitude of the eclipse visibility zones of 8.59°.

Acknowledgments

Some of the content on this web site is based on the book Thousand Year Canon of Lunar Eclipses 1501 to 2500. All eclipse calculations are by Fred Espenak, and he assumes full responsibility for their accuracy.

Permission is granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment:

"Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, www.EclipseWise.com"

The use of diagrams and maps is permitted provided that they are NOT altered (except for re-sizing) and the embedded credit line is NOT removed or covered.