A total eclipse of the Moon occurred on Saturday 16 September, 1978 UT, with maximum eclipse at 19:04 UT. The Moon was plunged into darkness for 1 hour and 19 minutes, in a deep total eclipse which saw the Moon 33% of its diameter inside the Earth's umbral shadow. The visual effect of this depends on the state of the Earth's atmosphere, but the Moon may have been stained a deep red colour. The partial eclipse lasted for 3 hours and 27 minutes in total.

The penumbral eclipse lasted for 5 hours and 24 minutes. The partial eclipse lasted for 3 hours and 27 minutes. The total eclipse lasted for 1 hour and 19 minutes. Maximum eclipse was at 19:04:12 UT.

During this eclipse the Moon was just 2 days past perigee, making it fairly large. At maximum eclipse it was 0.551° in apparent diameter, which is 3.7% 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 40th eclipse in lunar Saros series 127.The surrounding eclipses in this Saros series are:

This Saros series, lunar Saros series 127, is linked to solar Saros series 134. The nearest partner eclipses in that series are:

Eclipse Parameters

UT Date/time (max) 19:04:12 on 16 Sep UT TDT Date/time (max) 19:05:01 on 16 Sep TDT
Saros Series 127 Number in Series 40
Penumbral Magnitiude 2.306 Central Magnitiude 1.3268
Gamma 0.2951 Path Width (km)
Delta T 0m49s Error ± 0m00s (95%)
Penumbral Duration 5h24m Partial Duration 3h27m
Total Duration 1h19m
Partial Rating Total Rating
Sun Distance 150369280 km (67.7%) Moon Distance 367660 km (22.4%)
Sun Diameter 0.530° Moon Diameter 0.541° - 0.551°
Perigee 09:40 on 14 Sep UT Apogee 05:45 on 26 Sep 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.