# October 1987 lunar eclipse

A penumbral lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Wednesday, October 7, 1987, with an umbral magnitude of −0.0095. 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 3.1 days after perigee (on October 4, 1987, at 1:35 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.

## Visibility

The eclipse was completely visible over much of North America, South America, west Africa, and western Europe, seen rising over northwestern North America and the central Pacific Ocean and setting over much of Africa, Europe, and west and central Asia.

## Eclipse details

Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
October 7, 1987 Lunar Eclipse Parameters :
| Parameter | Value |
| Penumbral Magnitude | 0.98640 |
| Umbral Magnitude | −0.00949 |
| Gamma | 1.01890 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 12h49m09.5s |
| Sun Declination | -05°16'24.7" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'00.1" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.8" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 00h47m14.4s |
| Moon Declination | +06°09'13.6" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'04.0" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°58'58.1" |
| ΔT | 55.6 s |

## Eclipse season

This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.
Eclipse season of September–October 1987 :
| September 23 Descending node (new moon) | October 7 Ascending node (full moon) |
| Annular solar eclipse Solar Saros 134 | Penumbral lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 146 |

## Related eclipses
### Eclipses in 1987

* A hybrid solar eclipse on March 29.
* A penumbral lunar eclipse on April 14.
* An annular solar eclipse on September 23.
* A penumbral lunar eclipse on October 7.

### Metonic

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of December 20, 1983
* Followed by: Lunar eclipse of July 26, 1991

### Tzolkinex

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of August 26, 1980
* Followed by: Lunar eclipse of November 18, 1994

### Half-Saros

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 2, 1978
* Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 12, 1996

### Tritos

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of November 6, 1976
* Followed by: Lunar eclipse of September 6, 1998

### Lunar Saros 146

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of September 25, 1969
* Followed by: Lunar eclipse of October 17, 2005

### Inex

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of October 27, 1958
* Followed by: Lunar eclipse of September 16, 2016

### Triad

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of December 6, 1900
* Followed by: Lunar eclipse of August 7, 2074

### Lunar eclipses of 1984–1987

This 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.
The penumbral lunar eclipse on June 13, 1984 occurs in the previous lunar year eclipse set.
Lunar eclipse series sets from 1984 to 1987 :
| Descending node | Descending node | Descending node | Descending node | Ascending node | Ascending node | Ascending node | Ascending node |
| Saros | Date Viewing | Type Chart | Gamma | Saros | Date Viewing | Type Chart | Gamma |
| 111 | 1984 May 15 | Penumbral | 1.1131 | 116 | 1984 Nov 08 | Penumbral | −1.0900 |
| 121 | 1985 May 04 | Total | 0.3520 | 126 | 1985 Oct 28 | Total | −0.4022 |
| 131 | 1986 Apr 24 | Total | −0.3683 | 136 | 1986 Oct 17 | Total | 0.3189 |
| 141 | 1987 Apr 14 | Penumbral | −1.1364 | 146 | 1987 Oct 07 | Penumbral | 1.0189 |

### Saros 146

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 146, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 72 events. The series started with a penumbral lunar eclipse on July 11, 1843. It contains partial eclipses from October 17, 2005 through May 14, 2348; total eclipses from May 25, 2366 through November 16, 2654; and a second set of partial eclipses from November 27, 2672 through June 12, 2997. The series ends at member 72 as a penumbral eclipse on August 29, 3123.
The longest duration of totality will be produced by member 37 at 99 minutes, 22 seconds on August 8, 2492. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.
| Greatest | First | First | First | First |
| The greatest eclipse of the series will occur on 2492 Aug 08, lasting 99 minutes, 22 seconds. | Penumbral | Partial | Total | Central |
| The greatest eclipse of the series will occur on 2492 Aug 08, lasting 99 minutes, 22 seconds. | 1843 Jul 11 | 2005 Oct 17 | 2366 May 25 | 2438 Jul 07 |
| Last ||||
| The greatest eclipse of the series will occur on 2492 Aug 08, lasting 99 minutes, 22 seconds. | Central | Total | Partial | Penumbral |
| The greatest eclipse of the series will occur on 2492 Aug 08, lasting 99 minutes, 22 seconds. | 2546 Sep 11 | 2654 Nov 16 | 2997 Jun 12 | 3123 Aug 29 |
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 1–20 occur between 1843 and 2200: :
| 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 1843 Jul 11 | 1843 Jul 11 | 1861 Jul 21 | 1861 Jul 21 | 1879 Aug 02 | 1879 Aug 02 |
| 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| 1897 Aug 12 | 1897 Aug 12 | 1915 Aug 24 | 1915 Aug 24 | 1933 Sep 04 | 1933 Sep 04 |
| 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| 1951 Sep 15 | 1951 Sep 15 | 1969 Sep 25 | 1969 Sep 25 | 1987 Oct 07 | 1987 Oct 07 |
| 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 |
| 2005 Oct 17 | 2005 Oct 17 | 2023 Oct 28 | 2023 Oct 28 | 2041 Nov 08 | 2041 Nov 08 |
| 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 |
| 2059 Nov 19 | 2059 Nov 19 | 2077 Nov 29 | 2077 Nov 29 | 2095 Dec 11 | 2095 Dec 11 |
| 16 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 18 |
| 2113 Dec 22 | 2113 Dec 22 | 2132 Jan 02 | 2132 Jan 02 | 2150 Jan 13 | 2150 Jan 13 |
| 19 | 19 | 20 | 20 |
| 2168 Jan 24 | 2168 Jan 24 | 2186 Feb 04 | 2186 Feb 04 |

### Tritos series

This 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 2096 :
| 1802 Mar 19 (Saros 129) | 1802 Mar 19 (Saros 129) | 1813 Feb 15 (Saros 130) | 1813 Feb 15 (Saros 130) | 1824 Jan 16 (Saros 131) | 1824 Jan 16 (Saros 131) | 1834 Dec 16 (Saros 132) | 1834 Dec 16 (Saros 132) | 1845 Nov 14 (Saros 133) | 1845 Nov 14 (Saros 133) |
| 1856 Oct 13 (Saros 134) | 1856 Oct 13 (Saros 134) | 1867 Sep 14 (Saros 135) | 1867 Sep 14 (Saros 135) | 1878 Aug 13 (Saros 136) | 1878 Aug 13 (Saros 136) | 1889 Jul 12 (Saros 137) | 1889 Jul 12 (Saros 137) | 1900 Jun 13 (Saros 138) | 1900 Jun 13 (Saros 138) |
| 1911 May 13 (Saros 139) | 1911 May 13 (Saros 139) | 1922 Apr 11 (Saros 140) | 1922 Apr 11 (Saros 140) | 1933 Mar 12 (Saros 141) | 1933 Mar 12 (Saros 141) | 1944 Feb 09 (Saros 142) | 1944 Feb 09 (Saros 142) | 1955 Jan 08 (Saros 143) | 1955 Jan 08 (Saros 143) |
| 1965 Dec 08 (Saros 144) | 1965 Dec 08 (Saros 144) | 1976 Nov 06 (Saros 145) | 1976 Nov 06 (Saros 145) | 1987 Oct 07 (Saros 146) | 1987 Oct 07 (Saros 146) | 1998 Sep 06 (Saros 147) | 1998 Sep 06 (Saros 147) | 2009 Aug 06 (Saros 148) | 2009 Aug 06 (Saros 148) |
| 2020 Jul 05 (Saros 149) | 2020 Jul 05 (Saros 149) | 2031 Jun 05 (Saros 150) | 2031 Jun 05 (Saros 150) | | | | | | |
| | | | | 2096 Nov 29 (Saros 156) | 2096 Nov 29 (Saros 156) |

### Inex series

This 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 :
| 1814 Feb 04 (Saros 140) | 1814 Feb 04 (Saros 140) | 1843 Jan 16 (Saros 141) | 1843 Jan 16 (Saros 141) | 1871 Dec 26 (Saros 142) | 1871 Dec 26 (Saros 142) |
| 1900 Dec 06 (Saros 143) | 1900 Dec 06 (Saros 143) | 1929 Nov 17 (Saros 144) | 1929 Nov 17 (Saros 144) | 1958 Oct 27 (Saros 145) | 1958 Oct 27 (Saros 145) |
| 1987 Oct 07 (Saros 146) | 1987 Oct 07 (Saros 146) | 2016 Sep 16 (Saros 147) | 2016 Sep 16 (Saros 147) | 2045 Aug 27 (Saros 148) | 2045 Aug 27 (Saros 148) |
| 2074 Aug 07 (Saros 149) | 2074 Aug 07 (Saros 149) | 2103 Jul 19 (Saros 150) | 2103 Jul 19 (Saros 150) | 2132 Jun 28 (Saros 151) | 2132 Jun 28 (Saros 151) |
| 2161 Jun 08 (Saros 152) | 2161 Jun 08 (Saros 152) | 2190 May 19 (Saros 153) | 2190 May 19 (Saros 153) |

### Half-Saros cycle

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros). This lunar eclipse is related to two partial solar eclipses of Solar Saros 153.
| October 2, 1978 | October 12, 1996 |