A penumbral eclipse of the Moon occurred on Saturday 8 January, 1955 UT, with maximum eclipse at 12:32 UT. At maximum eclipse, 86% of the Moon's disc 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 3 hours and 56 minutes overall.

The penumbral eclipse lasted for 3 hours and 56 minutes. Maximum eclipse was at 12:32:49 UT.

During this eclipse the Moon was just 2 days past perigee, making it fairly large. At maximum eclipse it was 0.553° in apparent diameter, which is 4.1% larger than average. The statistics page has information on the ranges of the sizes of the Sun and Moon, and the Moon data page displays detailed information on the Moon's key dates.

Interactive Map

This map shows the visibility of the eclipse at maximum eclipse, when it was visible within the bright area on the map. Note that the map is approximate, and if you were near the edge of the area of visibility, the moon was very close to the horizon and may not have been practically visible.

You can use the zoom controls to zoom in and out, and pan to see areas of interest. The green marker in the centre shows where the Moon will be directly overhead at maximum eclipse.

The interactive map is currently not available.

Overview Map

This map sourced from NASA Goddard Space flight Center: GSFC Eclipse Web SiteGSFC Eclipse Web Site
The primary source of all the information on eclipses presented here at Hermit Eclipse. (NASA Goddard Space flight Center)
https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse.html
shows the visibility of the eclipse. (Click on it for the full-sized version.)

Eclipse Season and Saros Series

This eclipse season contains 2 eclipses:

This was the 14th eclipse in lunar Saros series 143.The surrounding eclipses in this Saros series are:

This Saros series, lunar Saros series 143, is linked to solar Saros series 150. The nearest partner eclipses in that series are:

Eclipse Parameters

UT Date/time (max) 12:32:49 on 8 Jan UT TDT Date/time (max) 12:33:20 on 8 Jan TDT
Saros Series 143 Number in Series 14
Penumbral Magnitiude 0.8555 Central Magnitiude -0.1421
Gamma -1.0906 Path Width (km)
Delta T 0m31s Error ± 0m00s (95%)
Penumbral Duration 3h56m Partial Duration
Total Duration
Partial Rating Total Rating
Sun Distance 147100928 km (0.1%) Moon Distance 366453 km (20.0%)
Sun Diameter 0.542° Moon Diameter 0.543° - 0.553°
Perigee 08:58 on 6 Jan UT Apogee 03:05 on 18 Jan UT

Note that while all dates and times on this site (except where noted) are in UT, which is within a second of civil time, the dates and times shown in NASA's eclipse listingsGSFC Eclipse Web Site
The primary source of all the information on eclipses presented here at Hermit Eclipse. (NASA Goddard Space flight Center)
https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse.html
are in the TDT timescale.

The Sun and Moon distances are shown in km, and as a percentage of their minimum - maximum distances; hence 0% is the closest possible (Earth's perihelion, or the Moon's closest possible perigee) and 100% is the farthest (aphelion, the farthest apogee). The statistics page has information on the ranges of sizes of the Sun and Moon, and the Moon data page displays detailed information on the Moon's key dates.

Data last updated: 2015-06-21 22:11:46 UTC.