# November 1956 lunar eclipse

A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Sunday, November 18, 1956, with an umbral magnitude of 1.3172. 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 3.4 days before perigee (on November 21, 1956, at 16:45 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
This lunar eclipse was the second of an almost tetrad, with the others being on May 24, 1956 (partial); May 13, 1957 (total); and November 7, 1957 (total).

## Visibility

The eclipse was completely visible over North America and western South America, seen rising over northeast Asia and eastern Australia and setting over eastern South America, west and central Africa, and Europe.

## Eclipse details

Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
November 18, 1956 Lunar Eclipse Parameters :
| Parameter | Value |
| Penumbral Magnitude | 2.32849 |
| Umbral Magnitude | 1.31720 |
| Gamma | 0.29167 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 15h34m22.3s |
| Sun Declination | -19°14'20.7" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'11.0" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.9" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 03h34m12.2s |
| Moon Declination | +19°31'18.5" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'00.2" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°58'44.0" |
| ΔT | 31.8 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 November–December 1956 :
| November 18 Descending node (full moon) | December 2 Ascending node (new moon) |
| Total lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 125 | Partial solar eclipse Solar Saros 151 |

## Related eclipses
### Eclipses in 1956

* A partial lunar eclipse on May 24.
* A total solar eclipse on June 8.
* A total lunar eclipse on November 18.
* A partial solar eclipse on December 2.

### Metonic

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of January 29, 1953
* Followed by: Lunar eclipse of September 5, 1960

### Tzolkinex

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of October 7, 1949
* Followed by: Lunar eclipse of December 30, 1963

### Half-Saros

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 12, 1947
* Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 23, 1965

### Tritos

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of December 19, 1945
* Followed by: Lunar eclipse of October 18, 1967

### Lunar Saros 125

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of November 7, 1938
* Followed by: Lunar eclipse of November 29, 1974

### Inex

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of December 8, 1927
* Followed by: Lunar eclipse of October 28, 1985

### Triad

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of January 17, 1870
* Followed by: Lunar eclipse of September 19, 2043

### Lunar eclipses of 1955–1958

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 January 8, 1955 occurs in the previous lunar year eclipse set, and the penumbral lunar eclipse on April 4, 1958 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.
Lunar eclipse series sets from 1955 to 1958 :
| Ascending node | Ascending node | Ascending node | Ascending node | Descending node | Descending node | Descending node | Descending node |
| Saros | Date Viewing | Type Chart | Gamma | Saros | Date Viewing | Type Chart | Gamma |
| 110 | 1955 Jun 05 | Penumbral | −1.2384 | 115 | 1955 Nov 29 | Partial | 0.9551 |
| 120 | 1956 May 24 | Partial | −0.4726 | 125 | 1956 Nov 18 | Total | 0.2917 |
| 130 | 1957 May 13 | Total | 0.3046 | 135 | 1957 Nov 07 | Total | −0.4332 |
| 140 | 1958 May 03 | Partial | 1.0188 | 145 | 1958 Oct 27 | Penumbral | −1.1571 |

### Saros 125

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 125, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 72 events. The series started with a penumbral lunar eclipse on July 17, 1163. It contains partial eclipses from January 17, 1470 through June 6, 1686; total eclipses from June 17, 1704 through March 19, 2155; and a second set of partial eclipses from March 29, 2173 through June 25, 2317. The series ends at member 72 as a penumbral eclipse on September 9, 2443.
The longest duration of totality was produced by member 37 at 100 minutes, 23 seconds on August 22, 1812. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.
| Greatest | First | First | First | First |
| The greatest eclipse of the series occurred on 1812 Aug 22, lasting 100 minutes, 23 seconds. | Penumbral | Partial | Total | Central |
| The greatest eclipse of the series occurred on 1812 Aug 22, lasting 100 minutes, 23 seconds. | 1163 Jul 17 | 1470 Jan 17 | 1704 Jun 17 | 1758 Jul 20 |
| Last ||||
| The greatest eclipse of the series occurred on 1812 Aug 22, lasting 100 minutes, 23 seconds. | Central | Total | Partial | Penumbral |
| The greatest eclipse of the series occurred on 1812 Aug 22, lasting 100 minutes, 23 seconds. | 1920 Oct 27 | 2155 Mar 19 | 2317 Jun 25 | 2443 Sep 09 |
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 37–58 occur between 1801 and 2200: :
| 37 | 37 | 38 | 38 | 39 | 39 |
| 1812 Aug 22 | 1812 Aug 22 | 1830 Sep 02 | 1830 Sep 02 | 1848 Sep 13 | 1848 Sep 13 |
| 40 | 40 | 41 | 41 | 42 | 42 |
| 1866 Sep 24 | 1866 Sep 24 | 1884 Oct 04 | 1884 Oct 04 | 1902 Oct 17 | 1902 Oct 17 |
| 43 | 43 | 44 | 44 | 45 | 45 |
| 1920 Oct 27 | 1920 Oct 27 | 1938 Nov 07 | 1938 Nov 07 | 1956 Nov 18 | 1956 Nov 18 |
| 46 | 46 | 47 | 47 | 48 | 48 |
| 1974 Nov 29 | 1974 Nov 29 | 1992 Dec 09 | 1992 Dec 09 | 2010 Dec 21 | 2010 Dec 21 |
| 49 | 49 | 50 | 50 | 51 | 51 |
| 2028 Dec 31 | 2028 Dec 31 | 2047 Jan 12 | 2047 Jan 12 | 2065 Jan 22 | 2065 Jan 22 |
| 52 | 52 | 53 | 53 | 54 | 54 |
| 2083 Feb 02 | 2083 Feb 02 | 2101 Feb 14 | 2101 Feb 14 | 2119 Feb 25 | 2119 Feb 25 |
| 55 | 55 | 56 | 56 | 57 | 57 |
| 2137 Mar 07 | 2137 Mar 07 | 2155 Mar 19 | 2155 Mar 19 | 2173 Mar 29 | 2173 Mar 29 |
| 58 ||
| 2191 Apr 09 ||

### 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 2200 :
| 1804 Jan 26 (Saros 111) | 1804 Jan 26 (Saros 111) | 1814 Dec 26 (Saros 112) | 1814 Dec 26 (Saros 112) | 1825 Nov 25 (Saros 113) | 1825 Nov 25 (Saros 113) | 1836 Oct 24 (Saros 114) | 1836 Oct 24 (Saros 114) | 1847 Sep 24 (Saros 115) | 1847 Sep 24 (Saros 115) |
| 1858 Aug 24 (Saros 116) | 1858 Aug 24 (Saros 116) | 1869 Jul 23 (Saros 117) | 1869 Jul 23 (Saros 117) | 1880 Jun 22 (Saros 118) | 1880 Jun 22 (Saros 118) | 1891 May 23 (Saros 119) | 1891 May 23 (Saros 119) | 1902 Apr 22 (Saros 120) | 1902 Apr 22 (Saros 120) |
| 1913 Mar 22 (Saros 121) | 1913 Mar 22 (Saros 121) | 1924 Feb 20 (Saros 122) | 1924 Feb 20 (Saros 122) | 1935 Jan 19 (Saros 123) | 1935 Jan 19 (Saros 123) | 1945 Dec 19 (Saros 124) | 1945 Dec 19 (Saros 124) | 1956 Nov 18 (Saros 125) | 1956 Nov 18 (Saros 125) |
| 1967 Oct 18 (Saros 126) | 1967 Oct 18 (Saros 126) | 1978 Sep 16 (Saros 127) | 1978 Sep 16 (Saros 127) | 1989 Aug 17 (Saros 128) | 1989 Aug 17 (Saros 128) | 2000 Jul 16 (Saros 129) | 2000 Jul 16 (Saros 129) | 2011 Jun 15 (Saros 130) | 2011 Jun 15 (Saros 130) |
| 2022 May 16 (Saros 131) | 2022 May 16 (Saros 131) | 2033 Apr 14 (Saros 132) | 2033 Apr 14 (Saros 132) | 2044 Mar 13 (Saros 133) | 2044 Mar 13 (Saros 133) | 2055 Feb 11 (Saros 134) | 2055 Feb 11 (Saros 134) | 2066 Jan 11 (Saros 135) | 2066 Jan 11 (Saros 135) |
| 2076 Dec 10 (Saros 136) | 2076 Dec 10 (Saros 136) | 2087 Nov 10 (Saros 137) | 2087 Nov 10 (Saros 137) | 2098 Oct 10 (Saros 138) | 2098 Oct 10 (Saros 138) | 2109 Sep 09 (Saros 139) | 2109 Sep 09 (Saros 139) | 2120 Aug 09 (Saros 140) | 2120 Aug 09 (Saros 140) |
| 2131 Jul 10 (Saros 141) | 2131 Jul 10 (Saros 141) | 2142 Jun 08 (Saros 142) | 2142 Jun 08 (Saros 142) | 2153 May 08 (Saros 143) | 2153 May 08 (Saros 143) | 2164 Apr 07 (Saros 144) | 2164 Apr 07 (Saros 144) | 2175 Mar 07 (Saros 145) | 2175 Mar 07 (Saros 145) |
| 2186 Feb 04 (Saros 146) | 2186 Feb 04 (Saros 146) | 2197 Jan 04 (Saros 147) | 2197 Jan 04 (Saros 147) |

### 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 :
| 1812 Feb 27 (Saros 120) | 1812 Feb 27 (Saros 120) | 1841 Feb 06 (Saros 121) | 1841 Feb 06 (Saros 121) | 1870 Jan 17 (Saros 122) | 1870 Jan 17 (Saros 122) |
| 1898 Dec 27 (Saros 123) | 1898 Dec 27 (Saros 123) | 1927 Dec 08 (Saros 124) | 1927 Dec 08 (Saros 124) | 1956 Nov 18 (Saros 125) | 1956 Nov 18 (Saros 125) |
| 1985 Oct 28 (Saros 126) | 1985 Oct 28 (Saros 126) | 2014 Oct 08 (Saros 127) | 2014 Oct 08 (Saros 127) | 2043 Sep 19 (Saros 128) | 2043 Sep 19 (Saros 128) |
| 2072 Aug 28 (Saros 129) | 2072 Aug 28 (Saros 129) | 2101 Aug 09 (Saros 130) | 2101 Aug 09 (Saros 130) | 2130 Jul 21 (Saros 131) | 2130 Jul 21 (Saros 131) |
| 2159 Jun 30 (Saros 132) | 2159 Jun 30 (Saros 132) | 2188 Jun 09 (Saros 133) | 2188 Jun 09 (Saros 133) |

### 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 annular solar eclipses of Solar Saros 132.
| November 12, 1947 | November 23, 1965 |