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Lunar Eclipses » 1980-1989 »  1987-10-07 »  Congo (Kinshasa)

Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of October 7, 1987 from Congo (Kinshasa) (Kinshasa)

This page provides detailed information about the lunar eclipse of October 7, 1987 as seen from Congo (Kinshasa) (Kinshasa). This was a penumbral eclipse, meaning the Moon enters the Earth's penumbra, but not it's darker umbra. Penumbral eclipses are typically elusive because, unless the Moon transits very close to the Earth's umbra, the dimming caused by the penumbra can be difficult to appreciate. This event lasted for 4 hours and 13 minutes.

From Congo (Kinshasa) (Kinshasa), the beginning phases of the eclipse was visible. However, the Moon set before the event concluded. You could expect to see the eclipse up until the phase of greatest eclipse (GE). In the local timezone, the greatest eclipse happened on October 7, 1987 at 05:01:33 WAT. You can browse the eclipse diagram, the interactive animation or the detailed timetable to get comprehensive information about the event time and appearance, as seen from Congo (Kinshasa) (Kinshasa).

Eclipse Visibility Map

The interactive map below illustrates the visibility of the eclipse across the globe. The terminator lines for each contact phase are represented in different colors, and different shadings indicate the regions where the Moon is above the horizon during each phase of the eclipse. For greater control and clarity, you can selectively show or hide each phase by using the colored selectors placed below the map. You can also click each contact point to access the specific details.

Penumbral Eclipse BeginsP1Penumbral Eclipse BeginsP1Penumbral Eclipse EndsP4Penumbral Eclipse EndsP4Greatest EclipseGreatest Eclipseat ZenithPenumbral Lunar Eclipse of October 7, 1987https://theskylive.com/lunar-eclipses/1987-10-07

Diagram of the Eclipse

The diagram below shows the path of the Moon through Earth's shadow. The red circle is the Earth's umbra, and the lighter outer circle is the penumbra. Each contact point is indicated with a label (see legend), you can click on each contact point or image to visualize the details about it. A green circle around the Moon indicates that the contact was visible from Congo (Kinshasa) (Kinshasa) while a red circle indicates that it was not visible.

SouthDetails for contact P1P1Details for contact P4P4Details for contact GEGEPenumbral Lunar Eclipse - October 7, 1987https://theskylive.com/lunar-eclipses/1987-10-07

Legend: Eclipse Contacts

P1
First penumbral contact — Marks the beginning of the penumbral eclipse and of the eclipse as a whole.
GE
Greatest eclipse — Marks the instant when the Moon's position is closest to the axis of the Earth shadow.
P4
Last penumbral contact — Marks the end of the penumbral eclipse and of the eclipse as a whole.

Interactive Eclipse Animation

The interactive animation below shows the progression of the lunar eclipse as the Moon passes through Earth's shadow. You can use the controls to play, pause, and explore the event's timeline. The view's orientation is based on the selected location: celestial north is up for the Northern Hemisphere, and celestial south is up for the Southern Hemisphere.

Animation of the Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of October 7, 1987

Eclipse Timetable

This section provides the detailed timeline of the penumbral lunar eclipse of October 7, 1987 as observed from Congo (Kinshasa) (Kinshasa). For each eclipse phase, this table provides the local time of the event and its visibility, based on the computed altitude of the Moon. A positive altitude means the Moon is above the horizon and the corresponding event is visible. When the Moon's altitude is below 0° the event is not visible. For each eclipse phase, a link to visualize an interactive star map showing the position of the Moon in the sky is also provided.

Penumbral Eclipse Begins

🕑 Local Time
1987-10-07 02:54:44
🕑 UTC Time
1987-10-07 01:54:44
👁 Visibility
Visible
∡ Moon AltitudeAlt.
39.8°
🧭 Moon AzimuthAz.
281.1°
🧭 Moon DirectionDir.
West
☆ Star Map
View

Greatest Eclipse

🕑 Local Time
1987-10-07 05:01:33
🕑 UTC Time
1987-10-07 04:01:33
👁 Visibility
Visible
(Low on Horizon)
∡ Moon AltitudeAlt.
9.3°
🧭 Moon AzimuthAz.
277.1°
🧭 Moon DirectionDir.
West
☆ Star Map
View

Penumbral Eclipse Ends

🕑 Local Time
1987-10-07 07:08:17
🕑 UTC Time
1987-10-07 06:08:17
👁 Visibility
Not Visible
☆ Star Map
View

Summary of This Eclipse's Characteristics

Eclipse Type
Penumbral
Penumbral Duration
4 hours and 13 minutes
Penumbral Magnitude
0.986

Terminology

  • Umbra. Portion of space within the shadow cone projected by the Earth where the Sun is completely eclipsed by the Earth's disc. Objects that transit through the Earth's umbra would observe the Sun being completely eclipsed by the Earth.
  • Penumbra. Portion of space within the shadow cone projected by the Earth where the disc of the Sun is not fully covered by the Earth's disc. Objects that transit through the Earth's penumbra would observe the Sun being partially eclipsed by the Earth.
  • Umbral Magnitude. For a partial lunar eclipse, the fraction of the Moon's diameter that is covered by the Earth's umbra, expressed as a number between 0 and one. For a total lunar eclipse, it is expressed as a number greater than 1, computed as the ratio of the distance between the edge of the Earth's shadow and the part of the Moon's limb that is deepest into the shadow, and the Moon's diameter. These values are computed at the time of the greatest eclipse.
  • Penumbral Magnitude. The fraction of the Moon's diameter that is covered by the Earth's penumbra. This number is less than 1 for partial penumbral eclipses. When the Moon fully enters the penumbra, the penumbral magnitude is a number greater than 1, computed similarly to the umbral magnitude, indicating how deep the Moon is entering the Earth's penumbra.
  • Terminator. Line on the Earth's surface that separates areas where a certain celestial body or phenomena is visible from areas where it is not. The line that divides the day from the night is a common example of a terminator. In the case of a lunar eclipse, the terminator lines are used to visualize areas where the different contacts are visible.

Compute Eclipse Details for a Different Location

Search for a location by name:

Use the following links to access information about how the eclipse was visible from the major cities of Congo (Kinshasa):

Select a country from the following list to access detailed visibility conditions of this eclipse from that specific country. Information will be provided for the capital of the country and links for the major cities will be provided:

Related Eclipses

Acknowledgements

The majority of raw astronomical data used to develop this page is derived from the work of Fred Espenak and Jean Meeus on the Five Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses. The world map used in the eclipse visibility map is derived from NASA's "Blue Marble" Earth image. The code and algorithms to create charts, images and animations is original work by the author of theskylive.com.

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