March 1960 lunar eclipse

{{Short description|Total lunar eclipse March 13, 1960}}

{{Infobox lunar eclipse

| type = total

| image = Lunar eclipse chart close-1960Mar13.png

| caption = The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left

| date = March 13, 1960

| gamma = −0.1799

| magnitude = 1.5145

| saros_ser = 122

| saros_no = 53 of 75

| totality = 93 minutes, 59 seconds

| partiality = 219 minutes, 23 seconds

| penumbral = 344 minutes, 47 seconds

| p1 = 5:35:21

| u1 = 6:38:08

| u2 = 7:40:49

| greatest = 8:27:48

| u3 = 9:14:48

| u4 = 10:17:30

| p4 = 11:20:08

| previous = September 1959

| next = September 1960

}}

A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Sunday, March 13, 1960,{{cite web|title=March 12–13, 1960 Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)|url=https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/1960-march-13|publisher=timeanddate|access-date=29 December 2024}} with an umbral magnitude of 1.5145. It was a central lunar eclipse, in which part of the Moon passed through the center of the Earth's shadow. 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 5.9 days before perigee (on March 19, 1960, at 7:10 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.{{cite web|title=Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England|url=https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/distance.html?year=1960&n=136|publisher=timeanddate|access-date=29 December 2024}}

This eclipse afforded astrophysicist Richard W. Shorthill the opportunity to make the first infrared pyrometric temperature scans of the lunar surface, and led to his discovery of the first lunar "hot spot" observed from Earth. Shorthill found that the temperature of the floor of the Tycho crater was 216° Kelvin (—57°C), significantly higher than the 160K (—113°C) in the area around the crater.F. Link, Eclipse Phenomena in Astronomy (Springer, 2012) p119