May 1956 lunar eclipse
| Partial eclipse | |||||||||||||
The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left | |||||||||||||
| Date | May 24, 1956 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gamma | −0.4726 | ||||||||||||
| Magnitude | 0.9647 | ||||||||||||
| Saros cycle | 120 (55 of 84) | ||||||||||||
| Partiality | 204 minutes, 27 seconds | ||||||||||||
| Penumbral | 348 minutes, 32 seconds | ||||||||||||
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A partial lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Thursday, May 24, 1956, with an umbral magnitude of 0.9647. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A partial lunar eclipse occurs when one part of the Moon is in the Earth's umbra, while the other part is in 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 4.3 days before apogee (on May 28, 1956, at 22:10 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
This lunar eclipse was the first of an almost tetrad, with the others being on November 18, 1956 (total); May 13, 1957 (total); and November 7, 1957 (total).
This was the first eclipse of the last partial set in Lunar Saros 120.