A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on March 22, 1913,[1][2][3][4] with a magnitude of 1.5683. It was a central lunar eclipse, where the Moon passed through the center of Earth's shadow.[5] A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes completely through the Earth's umbra, causing it to be darkened.[6] A lunar eclipse can be viewed throughout the entire night side of the Earth.[7] This eclipse was a member of Lunar Saros 121.[5]
| Total eclipse | |||||||||||||||||
 The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left | |||||||||||||||||
| Date | March 22, 1913 | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gamma | 0.16714 | ||||||||||||||||
| Magnitude | 1.56828 | ||||||||||||||||
| Saros cycle | 121 (49 of 82) | ||||||||||||||||
| Totality | 92 minutes, 46.6 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Partiality | 209 minutes, 25.8 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Penumbral | 319 minutes, 46.7 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
Visibility
editThe eclipse was completely visible over the Pacific ocean, seen rising over Asia, and setting over the Americas.[8]
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Details
editBelow is a table displaying technical details and parameters of the eclipse.[5]
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Penumbral magnitude | 2.53401 |
| Umbral magnitude | 1.56828 |
| Gamma | 0.16714 |
| Sun right ascension | 00h 04m 39.0s |
| Sun declination | +00° 30′ 15.3″ |
| Sun semi-diameter | 16'02.7" |
| Sun equatorial horizontal parallax | 08.8" |
| Moon right ascension | 12h 04m 58.8s |
| Moon declination | −00° 21′ 21.1″ |
| Moon semi-diameter | 16'36.9" |
| Moon equatorial horizontal parallax | 1°00'58.7" |
| ΔT | 14.8 s |
Eclipse season
editThis eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period of roughly 35 days when eclipses can occur. They repeat around every six months, meaning that two or three eclipse seasons can occur each year.[9] Two to three eclipses can occur per eclipse season, separated by a fortnight.[10]
| March 22 Descending node (full moon) |
April 6 Ascending node (new moon) |
|---|---|
|
 |
| Total lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 121 |
Partial solar eclipse Solar Saros 147 |
Related eclipses
editEclipses in 1913
edit- A total lunar eclipse on March 22.
- A partial solar eclipse on April 6.
- A partial solar eclipse on August 31.
- A total lunar eclipse on September 15.
- A partial solar eclipse on September 30.
Lunar Saros 121
edit- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 11, 1895
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 2, 1931
Lunar eclipses of 1912–1915
editThis eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of lunar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.[12]
The penumbral lunar eclipses on January 31, 1915 and July 26, 1915 occur in the next lunar year eclipse set.
| Lunar eclipse series sets from 1912 to 1915 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Descending node | Ascending node | |||||||
| Saros | Date
Viewing |
Type
Chart |
Gamma | Saros | Date
Viewing |
Type
Chart |
Gamma | |
| 111 | 1912 Apr 01
|
Partial
|
0.9116 | 116 | 1912 Sep 26
|
Partial
|
−0.9320 | |
| 121 | 1913 Mar 22
|
Total
|
0.1671 | 126 | 1913 Sep 15
|
Total
|
−0.2109 | |
| 131 | 1914 Mar 12
|
Partial
|
−0.5254 | 136 | 1914 Sep 04
|
Partial
|
0.5301 | |
| 141 | 1915 Mar 01
|
Penumbral
|
−1.2573 | 146 | 1915 Aug 24
|
Penumbral
|
1.2435 | |
Saros 121
editThis eclipse is a part of Saros series 121, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 82 events. The series started with a penumbral lunar eclipse on October 6, 1047. It contains partial eclipses from May 10, 1408 through July 3, 1498; total eclipses from July 13, 1516 through May 26, 2021; and a second set of partial eclipses from June 6, 2039 through August 11, 2147. The series ends at member 82 as a penumbral eclipse on March 18, 2508.
The longest duration of totality was produced by member 43 at 100 minutes, 29 seconds on October 18, 1660. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.[13]
| Greatest | First | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The greatest eclipse of the series occurred on 1660 Oct 18, lasting 100 minutes, 29 seconds.[14] | Penumbral | Partial | Total | Central |
| 1047 Oct 06 |
1408 May 10 |
1516 Jul 13 |
1570 Aug 15 | |
| Last | ||||
| Central | Total | Partial | Penumbral | |
1949 Apr 13 |
2021 May 26 |
2147 Aug 11 |
2508 Mar 18 | |
Eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.
| Series members 43–64 occur between 1801 and 2200: | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43 | 44 | 45 | |||
| 1805 Jan 15 | 1823 Jan 26 | 1841 Feb 06 | |||
| 46 | 47 | 48 | |||
| 1859 Feb 17 | 1877 Feb 27 | 1895 Mar 11 | |||
| 49 | 50 | 51 | |||
| 1913 Mar 22 | 1931 Apr 02 | 1949 Apr 13 | |||
|
|
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|
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| 52 | 53 | 54 | |||
| 1967 Apr 24 | 1985 May 04 | 2003 May 16 | |||
 |
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| 55 | 56 | 57 | |||
| 2021 May 26 | 2039 Jun 06 | 2057 Jun 17 | |||
|
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| 58 | 59 | 60 | |||
| 2075 Jun 28 | 2093 Jul 08 | 2111 Jul 21 | |||
| 61 | 62 | 63 | |||
| 2129 Jul 31 | 2147 Aug 11 | 2165 Aug 21 | |||
| 64 | |||||
| 2183 Sep 02 | |||||
Tritos series
editThis eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
| Series members between 1801 and 2200 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1804 Jan 26 (Saros 111) |
1814 Dec 26 (Saros 112) |
1825 Nov 25 (Saros 113) |
1836 Oct 24 (Saros 114) |
1847 Sep 24 (Saros 115) | |||||
| 1858 Aug 24 (Saros 116) |
1869 Jul 23 (Saros 117) |
1880 Jun 22 (Saros 118) |
1891 May 23 (Saros 119) |
1902 Apr 22 (Saros 120) | |||||
 |
 | ||||||||
| 1913 Mar 22 (Saros 121) |
1924 Feb 20 (Saros 122) |
1935 Jan 19 (Saros 123) |
1945 Dec 19 (Saros 124) |
1956 Nov 18 (Saros 125) | |||||
|
|
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| 1967 Oct 18 (Saros 126) |
1978 Sep 16 (Saros 127) |
1989 Aug 17 (Saros 128) |
2000 Jul 16 (Saros 129) |
2011 Jun 15 (Saros 130) | |||||
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| 2022 May 16 (Saros 131) |
2033 Apr 14 (Saros 132) |
2044 Mar 13 (Saros 133) |
2055 Feb 11 (Saros 134) |
2066 Jan 11 (Saros 135) | |||||
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| 2076 Dec 10 (Saros 136) |
2087 Nov 10 (Saros 137) |
2098 Oct 10 (Saros 138) |
2109 Sep 09 (Saros 139) |
2120 Aug 09 (Saros 140) | |||||
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||||
| 2131 Jul 10 (Saros 141) |
2142 Jun 08 (Saros 142) |
2153 May 08 (Saros 143) |
2164 Apr 07 (Saros 144) |
2175 Mar 07 (Saros 145) | |||||
| 2186 Feb 04 (Saros 146) |
2197 Jan 04 (Saros 147) | ||||||||
Inex series
editThis eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
| Series members between 1801 and 2200 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1826 May 21 (Saros 118) |
1855 May 02 (Saros 119) |
1884 Apr 10 (Saros 120) | |||
| 1913 Mar 22 (Saros 121) |
1942 Mar 03 (Saros 122) |
1971 Feb 10 (Saros 123) | |||
|
|
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| 2000 Jan 21 (Saros 124) |
2028 Dec 31 (Saros 125) |
2057 Dec 11 (Saros 126) | |||
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| 2086 Nov 20 (Saros 127) |
2115 Nov 02 (Saros 128) |
2144 Oct 11 (Saros 129) | |||
| 2173 Sep 21 (Saros 130) | |||||
Half-Saros cycle
editLunar eclipses are preceded and followed by solar eclipses at intervals of 9 years 5.5 days, called a half saros or sar.[15] This lunar eclipse is related to two solar eclipses of Solar Saros 128.[14]
| March 17, 1904 | March 28, 1922 |
|---|---|
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References
edit- ↑ Barnard, E. E. (May 1913). "The Total Eclipse of the Moon 1913, March 21". Popular Astronomy. 21: 277–278. ISSN 0197-7482.
- ↑ Flint, Albert S. (August 1914). "The Total Lunar Eclipse of March 22, 1913". Popular Astronomy. 22: 425–427. ISSN 0197-7482.
- ↑ Rigge, William F. (March 1913). "Total Eclips of the Moon 1913 March 22". Popular Astronomy. 21: 144–146. ISSN 0197-7482.
- ↑ G.H.W. (March 20, 1913). "Total Lunar Eclipse". Essendon Gazette.
- 1 2 3 Espenak, Fred (2022-02-28). "Total Lunar Eclipse of 1913 Mar 22". EclipseWise. Retrieved 2026-04-10.
- ↑ Espensk, Fred (2022-02-25). "Lunar Eclipse Basics". EclipseWise. Retrieved 2026-04-10.
- ↑ Hocken, Vigdis; Kher, Aparna. "Total Lunar Eclipse". www.timeanddate.com. Retrieved 2026-04-12.
- ↑ Espenak, Fred (2009-09-29). "Total Lunar Eclipse of 1913 Mar 22" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 2026-04-10.
- ↑ "1.12 Eclipse Seasons". www.webassign.net. Retrieved 2026-04-12.
- ↑ Jones, Graham. "What Is an Eclipse Season?". www.timeanddate.com. Retrieved 2026-04-12.
- ↑ "Total Lunar Eclipse on March 22, 1913 – Where and When to See". www.timeanddate.com. Retrieved 2026-04-12.
- ↑ van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
- ↑ "NASA - Catalog of Lunar Eclipses of Saros 121". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.
- 1 2 Listing of Eclipses of series 121
- ↑ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros
- ↑ Espenak, Fred (2009-09-26). "NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 128". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-12.