A penumbral lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Tuesday, January 20, 1981,[1] with an umbral magnitude of −0.0192.

A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when part or all of the Moon's near side passes into the Earth's penumbra.

Occurring about 5.2 days after perigee (on January 15, 1981, at 3:35 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 114, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events.

All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.