August 1944 lunar eclipse
| Penumbral eclipse | |||||||||
The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left | |||||||||
| Date | August 4, 1944 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gamma | −1.2843 | ||||||||
| Magnitude | −0.4758 | ||||||||
| Saros cycle | 147 (5 of 71) | ||||||||
| Penumbral | 179 minutes, 6 seconds | ||||||||
| |||||||||
A penumbral lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Friday, August 4, 1944, with an umbral magnitude of −0.4758. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when part or all of the Moon's near side passes into the Earth's penumbra. Unlike a solar eclipse, which can only be viewed from a relatively small area of the world, a lunar eclipse may be viewed from anywhere on the night side of Earth. Occurring about 1.5 days before perigee (on August 5, 1944, at 23:45 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
This eclipse was the third of four penumbral lunar eclipses in 1944, with the others occurring on February 9, July 6, and December 29.