May 1938 lunar eclipse
| Total eclipse | |||||||||||||||||
The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left | |||||||||||||||||
| Date | May 14, 1938 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Gamma | −0.3994 | ||||||||||||||||
| Magnitude | 1.0966 | ||||||||||||||||
| Saros cycle | 120 (54 of 84) | ||||||||||||||||
| Totality | 49 minutes, 22 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Partiality | 213 minutes, 3 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Penumbral | 354 minutes, 52 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
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A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Saturday, May 14, 1938, with an umbral magnitude of 1.0966. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon's near side entirely passes into the Earth's umbral shadow. 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. A total lunar eclipse can last up to nearly two hours, while a total solar eclipse lasts only a few minutes at any given place, because the Moon's shadow is smaller. Occurring about 4.1 days before apogee (on May 18, 1938, at 9:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
This lunar eclipse was the first of an almost tetrad, with the others being on November 7, 1938 (total); May 3, 1939 (total); and October 28, 1939 (partial).
This was the last total lunar eclipse of Lunar Saros 120.