| bgcolor=#e7dcc3 colspan=2 | Partial Lunar Eclipse March 24, 1997 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| align=center colspan=2 | Hayward, California, 4:45 UT | ||
| align=center colspan=2 | The Moon passes right to left through the Earth's northern shadow. | ||
| align=center bgcolor=#c0d0e0 | 132 (29 of 71) | ||
| align=center bgcolor=#c0d0e0 | 0.4899 | ||
| align=center bgcolor=#c0d0e0 | 0.9195 | ||
| align=center bgcolor=#c0b0e0 colspan=2 | Duration (hr:mn:sc) | ||
| align=center bgcolor=#c0a0e0 | Partial | 3:23:03 | |
| align=center bgcolor=#d0d0e0 | Penumbral | 5:53:54 | |
| align=center bgcolor=#a0d0e0 colspan=2 | Contacts | ||
| align=center bgcolor=#d0d0e0 | P1 | 1:42:26 UTC | |
| align=center bgcolor=#c0a0e0 | U1 | 2:57:55 UTC | |
| align=center bgcolor=#a0a0e0 | Greatest | 4:39:26 UTC | |
| align=center bgcolor=#c0a0e0 | U4 | 6:20:58 UTC | |
| align=center bgcolor=#d0d0e0 | P4 | 7:36:21 UTC |
This partial lunar eclipse was nearly total; however, it occurred 3 days after the lunar apogee, so the umbral shadow is smaller.
This was the 29th member of Lunar Saros 132, and the last of the first set of partial eclipses. The next event was the April 2015 lunar eclipse, which was the first of 12 total eclipses.
This eclipse was the third of an almost tetrad (that occurred when there were 4 consecutive lunar eclipses that had an umbral eclipse magnitude of 0.9 or greater). The others were 04 Apr 1996 (T), 27 Sep 1996 (T) and 16 Sep 1997 (T).
This eclipse was completely visible from North and South America, and visible setting over Western Europe and Africa.
This was the third of four lunar year eclipses at the ascending node of the Moon's orbit.
The lunar year series repeats after 12 lunations or 354 days (Shifting back about 10 days in sequential years). Because of the date shift, the Earth's shadow will be about 11 degrees west in sequential events.
A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).[1] This lunar eclipse is related to two total solar eclipses of Solar Saros 139.