A penumbral lunar eclipse took place on Wednesday, April 2, 1969, the first of three penumbral lunar eclipses in 1969, the second being on Wednesday, August 27, and the last being on Thursday, September 25. This subtle penumbral eclipse may have been visible to a skilled observer at maximum eclipse. 70.337% of the Moon's disc was partially shaded by the Earth (none of it was in total shadow), which caused a gentle shadow gradient across its disc at maximum; the eclipse as a whole lasted 3 hours, 43 minutes and 46.9 seconds. Occurring only 4.2 days before perigee (Perigee on Monday, April 7, 1969), the Moon's apparent diameter was 0.9% larger than average.[1]