Solar eclipse of September 1, 1951

An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Saturday, September 1, 1951,[1] with a magnitude of 0.9747. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring 5.4 days after apogee (on August 27, 1951, at 3:50 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.[2]

Solar eclipse of September 1, 1951
Map
Type of eclipse
NatureAnnular
Gamma0.1557
Magnitude0.9747
Maximum eclipse
Duration156 s (2 min 36 s)
Coordinates16°30′N 8°30′W / 16.5°N 8.5°W / 16.5; -8.5
Max. width of band91 km (57 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse12:51:51
References
Saros134 (40 of 71)
Catalog # (SE5000)9401

Annularity was visible from Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia in the United States, Spanish Sahara (today's West Sahara), French West Africa (the parts now belonging to Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast), British Gold Coast (today's Ghana), southern tip of French Equatorial Africa (the part now belonging to R. Congo), Belgian Congo (today's DR Congo), Northern Rhodesia (today's Zambia), Portuguese Mozambique (today's Mozambique), Nyasaland (today's Malawi), and French Madagascar (today's Madagascar). A partial eclipse was visible for parts of eastern North America, the Caribbean, northern South America, Europe, and Africa.

Eclipse details

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Shown below are two tables displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. The first table outlines times at which the moon's penumbra or umbra attains the specific parameter, and the second table describes various other parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[3]

September 1, 1951 Solar Eclipse Times
Event Time (UTC)
First Penumbral External Contact 1951 September 01 at 09:54:58.5 UTC
First Umbral External Contact 1951 September 01 at 10:57:51.5 UTC
First Central Line 1951 September 01 at 10:59:13.3 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact 1951 September 01 at 11:00:35.1 UTC
Greatest Duration 1951 September 01 at 11:26:30.5 UTC
First Penumbral Internal Contact 1951 September 01 at 12:04:50.8 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction 1951 September 01 at 12:42:32.1 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction 1951 September 01 at 12:50:04.3 UTC
Greatest Eclipse 1951 September 01 at 12:51:51.1 UTC
Last Penumbral Internal Contact 1951 September 01 at 13:39:05.6 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact 1951 September 01 at 14:43:15.0 UTC
Last Central Line 1951 September 01 at 14:44:34.0 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact 1951 September 01 at 14:45:53.0 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact 1951 September 01 at 15:48:41.5 UTC
September 1, 1951 Solar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter Value
Eclipse Magnitude 0.97473
Eclipse Obscuration 0.95011
Gamma 0.15570
Sun Right Ascension 10h39m41.0s
Sun Declination +08°28'11.5"
Sun Semi-Diameter 15'50.9"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.7"
Moon Right Ascension 10h39m57.2s
Moon Declination +08°35'52.2"
Moon Semi-Diameter 15'12.7"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°55'49.8"
ΔT 29.8 s

Eclipse season

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This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight. The first and last eclipse in this sequence is separated by one synodic month.

Eclipse season of August–September 1951
August 17
Ascending node (full moon)
September 1
Descending node (new moon)
September 15
Ascending node (full moon)
     
Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 108
Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 134
Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 146
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Eclipses in 1951

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Metonic

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Tzolkinex

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Half-Saros

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Tritos

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Solar Saros 134

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Inex

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Triad

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Solar eclipses of 1950–1953

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This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.[4]

The partial solar eclipse on July 11, 1953 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1950 to 1953
Ascending node   Descending node
Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma
119 March 18, 1950
 
Annular (non-central)
0.9988 124 September 12, 1950
 
Total
0.8903
129 March 7, 1951
 
Annular
−0.242 134 September 1, 1951
 
Annular
0.1557
139 February 25, 1952
 
Total
0.4697 144 August 20, 1952
 
Annular
−0.6102
149 February 14, 1953
 
Partial
1.1331 154 August 9, 1953
 
Partial
−1.344

Saros 134

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This eclipse is a part of Saros series 134, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on June 22, 1248. It contains total eclipses from October 9, 1428 through December 24, 1554; hybrid eclipses from January 3, 1573 through June 27, 1843; and annular eclipses from July 8, 1861 through May 21, 2384. The series ends at member 72 as a partial eclipse on August 6, 2510. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.

The longest duration of totality was produced by member 11 at 1 minutes, 30 seconds on October 9, 1428, and the longest duration of annularity will be produced by member 52 at 10 minutes, 55 seconds on January 10, 2168. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.[5]

Series members 32–53 occur between 1801 and 2200:
32 33 34
 
June 6, 1807
 
June 16, 1825
 
June 27, 1843
35 36 37
 
July 8, 1861
 
July 19, 1879
 
July 29, 1897
38 39 40
 
August 10, 1915
 
August 21, 1933
 
September 1, 1951
41 42 43
 
September 11, 1969
 
September 23, 1987
 
October 3, 2005
44 45 46
 
October 14, 2023
 
October 25, 2041
 
November 5, 2059
47 48 49
 
November 15, 2077
 
November 27, 2095
 
December 8, 2113
50 51 52
 
December 19, 2131
 
December 30, 2149
 
January 10, 2168
53
 
January 20, 2186

Metonic series

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The metonic series repeats eclipses every 19 years (6939.69 days), lasting about 5 cycles. Eclipses occur in nearly the same calendar date. In addition, the octon subseries repeats 1/5 of that or every 3.8 years (1387.94 days). All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's descending node.

22 eclipse events between April 8, 1902 and August 31, 1989
April 7–8 January 24–25 November 12 August 31–September 1 June 19–20
108 110 112 114 116
 
April 8, 1902
 
August 31, 1913
 
June 19, 1917
118 120 122 124 126
 
April 8, 1921
 
January 24, 1925
 
November 12, 1928
 
August 31, 1932
 
June 19, 1936
128 130 132 134 136
 
April 7, 1940
 
January 25, 1944
 
November 12, 1947
 
September 1, 1951
 
June 20, 1955
138 140 142 144 146
 
April 8, 1959
 
January 25, 1963
 
November 12, 1966
 
August 31, 1970
 
June 20, 1974
148 150 152 154
 
April 7, 1978
 
January 25, 1982
 
November 12, 1985
 
August 31, 1989

Tritos series

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This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

Series members between 1801 and 2200
 
October 9, 1809
(Saros 121)
 
September 7, 1820
(Saros 122)
 
August 7, 1831
(Saros 123)
 
July 8, 1842
(Saros 124)
 
June 6, 1853
(Saros 125)
 
May 6, 1864
(Saros 126)
 
April 6, 1875
(Saros 127)
 
March 5, 1886
(Saros 128)
 
February 1, 1897
(Saros 129)
 
January 3, 1908
(Saros 130)
 
December 3, 1918
(Saros 131)
 
November 1, 1929
(Saros 132)
 
October 1, 1940
(Saros 133)
 
September 1, 1951
(Saros 134)
 
July 31, 1962
(Saros 135)
 
June 30, 1973
(Saros 136)
 
May 30, 1984
(Saros 137)
 
April 29, 1995
(Saros 138)
 
March 29, 2006
(Saros 139)
 
February 26, 2017
(Saros 140)
 
January 26, 2028
(Saros 141)
 
December 26, 2038
(Saros 142)
 
November 25, 2049
(Saros 143)
 
October 24, 2060
(Saros 144)
 
September 23, 2071
(Saros 145)
 
August 24, 2082
(Saros 146)
 
July 23, 2093
(Saros 147)
 
June 22, 2104
(Saros 148)
 
May 24, 2115
(Saros 149)
 
April 22, 2126
(Saros 150)
 
March 21, 2137
(Saros 151)
 
February 19, 2148
(Saros 152)
 
January 19, 2159
(Saros 153)
 
December 18, 2169
(Saros 154)
 
November 17, 2180
(Saros 155)
 
October 18, 2191
(Saros 156)

Inex series

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This eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

Series members between 1801 and 2200
 
December 10, 1806
(Saros 129)
 
November 20, 1835
(Saros 130)
 
October 30, 1864
(Saros 131)
 
October 9, 1893
(Saros 132)
 
September 21, 1922
(Saros 133)
 
September 1, 1951
(Saros 134)
 
August 10, 1980
(Saros 135)
 
July 22, 2009
(Saros 136)
 
July 2, 2038
(Saros 137)
 
June 11, 2067
(Saros 138)
 
May 22, 2096
(Saros 139)
 
May 3, 2125
(Saros 140)
 
April 12, 2154
(Saros 141)
 
March 23, 2183
(Saros 142)

Notes

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  1. ^ "September 1, 1951 Annular Solar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  3. ^ "Annular Solar Eclipse of 1951 Sep 01". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  4. ^ van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  5. ^ "NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 134". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.

References

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