A partial lunar eclipse took place on Friday, July 17, 1981, the second of two lunar eclipses in 1981. The Earth's shadow on the Moon was clearly visible in this eclipse, with 55% of the Moon in shadow; the partial eclipse lasted for 2 hours and 43 minutes.^[1]

Visibility

The partial phase of this lunar eclipse was visible in southeastern North America, South America, western Africa, seen rising over northern North America, and setting over Western Europe and Eastern Africa.

Related lunar eclipses

Eclipses in 1981

• A penumbral lunar eclipse on Tuesday, 20 January 1981.
• An annular solar eclipse on Wednesday, 4 February 1981.
• A partial lunar eclipse on Friday, 17 July 1981.
• A total solar eclipse on Friday, 31 July 1981.

Lunar year series

Lunar eclipse series sets from 1980–1984
Descending node					Ascending node
Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma		Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma
109	1980 Jul 27	Penumbral	1.41391		114	1981 Jan 20	Penumbral	−1.01421
119	1981 Jul 17	Partial	0.70454		124	1982 Jan 09	Total	−0.29158
129	1982 Jul 06	Total	−0.05792		134	1982 Dec 30	Total	0.37579
139	1983 Jun 25	Partial	−0.81520		144	1983 Dec 20	Penumbral	1.07468
149	1984 Jun 13	Penumbral	−1.52403
Last set	1980 Aug 26				Last set	1980 Mar 13
Next set	1984 May 15				Next set	1984 Nov 08

Saros series

It was part of Saros series 119.

Half-Saros cycle

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).^[2] This lunar eclipse is related to two total solar eclipses of Solar Saros 126.

July 10, 1972	July 22, 1990

Tritos series

• Preceded: Lunar eclipse of August 17, 1970
• Followed: Lunar eclipse of June 15, 1992

Tzolkinex

• Preceded: Lunar eclipse of June 4, 1974
• Followed: Lunar eclipse of August 27, 1988