May 1985 lunar eclipse

Total Lunar Eclipse May 4, 1985
(No photo)
240px The moon passes west to east (right to left) across the Earth's umbral shadow, shown in hourly intervals.
Series	121 (54 of 84)
Duration (hr:mn:sc)
Totality
Partial
Penumbral
Contacts
P1	UTC
U1
U2
Greatest
U3
U4
P4

A total lunar eclipse took place on May 4, 1985.^[1]

This lunar eclipse is first of a tetrad, four total lunar eclipses in series. The last series was in 1967 and 1968, starting with an April 1967 lunar eclipse, while the next was in 2003 and 2004, starting with a May 2003 lunar eclipse.

Visibility

It is seen rising over the whole of Africa, Middle East, Europe and Asia. The eclipse was sighted over the Philippines at night. The second also followed on October 28, 1985.

320px

Related eclipses

Lunar year series

Lunar eclipse series sets from 1984-1987
Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart
Descending node			Ascending node
111	1984 May 15 80px	Penumbral 80px	116	1984 Nov 08 80px	Penumbral 80px
121	1985 May 04 80px	Total 80px	126	1985 Oct 28 80px	Total 80px
131	1986 Apr 24 80px	Total 80px	136	1986 Oct 17 80px	Total 80px
141	1987 Apr 14 80px	Penumbral 80px	146	1987 Oct 07 80px	Penumbral 80px

Last set	1984 Jun 13		Last set	1983 Dec 20

Next set	1988 Mar 03		Next set	1988 Aug 27

Metonic series

This eclipse is the second of four Metonic cycle lunar eclipses on the same date, May 4–5, each separated by 19 years:

The Metonic cycle repeats nearly exactly every 19 years and represents a Saros cycle plus one lunar year. Because it occurs on the same calendar date, the earth's shadow will in nearly the same location relative to the background stars.

Metonic events: May 4 and October 28
Ascending node	Descending node
1966 May 4 - Penumbral (111) 1985 May 4 - Total (121) 2004 May 4 - Total (131) 2023 May 5 - Penumbral (141)	1966 Oct 29 - Penumbral (116) 1985 Oct 28 - Total (126) 2004 Oct 28 - Total (136) 2023 Oct 28 - Partial (146)
240px	240px