March 1997 lunar eclipse

A partial lunar eclipse took place on Monday, March 24, 1997, the first of two lunar eclipses in 1997.

This partial lunar eclipse was nearly total; however, it occurred 3 days after the lunar apogee, so the umbral shadow is smaller.

This was the 29th member of Lunar Saros 132, and the last of the first set of partial eclipses. The next event was the April 2015 lunar eclipse, which was the first of 12 total eclipses.

This eclipse was the third of an almost tetrad (that occurred when there were 4 consecutive lunar eclipses that had an umbral eclipse magnitude of 0.9 or greater). The others were 04 Apr 1996 (T), 27 Sep 1996 (T) and 16 Sep 1997 (T).

Visibility
This eclipse was completely visible from North and South America, and visible setting over Western Europe and Africa.

Eclipses of 1997

 * A total solar eclipse on March 9.
 * A partial lunar eclipse on March 24.
 * A partial solar eclipse on September 2.
 * A total lunar eclipse on September 16.

Lunar year series
This was the third of four lunar year eclipses at the ascending node of the Moon's orbit.

The lunar year series repeats after 12 lunations or 354 days (Shifting back about 10 days in sequential years). Because of the date shift, the Earth's shadow will be about 11 degrees west in sequential events.

Tritos series

 * Preceded: Lunar eclipse of April 24, 1986


 * Followed: Lunar eclipse of February 21, 2008

Tzolkinex

 * Preceded: Lunar eclipse of February 9, 1990


 * Followed: Lunar eclipse of May 4, 2004

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 total solar eclipses of Solar Saros 139.