Solar eclipse of April 8, 1959
Solar eclipse of April 8, 1959 | |
---|---|
Type of eclipse | |
Nature | Annular |
Gamma | −0.4546 |
Magnitude | 0.9401 |
Maximum eclipse | |
Duration | 446 s (7 min 26 s) |
Coordinates | 19°06′S 137°36′E / 19.1°S 137.6°E |
Max. width of band | 247 km (153 mi) |
Times (UTC) | |
Greatest eclipse | 3:24:08 |
References | |
Saros | 138 (28 of 70) |
Catalog # (SE5000) | 9418 |
An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Wednesday, April 8, 1959, with a magnitude of 0.9401. 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. Annularity was visible from Australia, southeastern tip of Milne Bay Province in the Territory of Papua New Guinea (today's Papua New Guinea), British Solomon Islands (today's Solomon Islands), Gilbert and Ellice Islands (the part now belonging to Tuvalu), Tokelau, and Swains Island in American Samoa.
Related eclipses[edit]
Eclipses in 1959[edit]
- A partial lunar eclipse on March 24, 1959.
- An annular solar eclipse on April 8, 1959.
- A penumbral lunar eclipse on September 17, 1959.
- A total solar eclipse on October 2, 1959.
Metonic[edit]
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 20, 1955
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 25, 1963
Tzolkinex[edit]
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 25, 1952
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 20, 1966
Half-Saros[edit]
- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 2, 1950
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 13, 1968
Tritos[edit]
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 9, 1948
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 7, 1970
Solar Saros 138[edit]
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 27, 1941
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 18, 1977
Inex[edit]
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 28, 1930
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 18, 1988
Triad[edit]
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 6, 1872
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 5, 2046
Solar eclipses of 1957–1960[edit]
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.[1]
Solar eclipse series sets from 1957 to 1960 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Descending node | Ascending node | |||||
Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma | |
118 | April 30, 1957 Annular (non-central) |
0.9992 | 123 | October 23, 1957 Total (non-central) |
1.0022 | |
128 | April 19, 1958 Annular |
0.275 | 133 | October 12, 1958 Total |
−0.2951 | |
138 | April 8, 1959 Annular |
−0.4546 | 143 | October 2, 1959 Total |
0.4207 | |
148 | March 27, 1960 Partial |
−1.1537 | 153 | September 20, 1960 Partial |
1.2057 |
Saros 138[edit]
This eclipse is a part of Saros series 138, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 70 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on June 6, 1472. It contains annular eclipses from August 31, 1598 through February 18, 2482; a hybrid eclipse on March 1, 2500; and total eclipses from March 12, 2518 through April 3, 2554. The series ends at member 70 as a partial eclipse on July 11, 2716. 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 annularity was produced by member 23 at 8 minutes, 2 seconds on February 11, 1869, and the longest duration of totality will be produced by member 61 at 56 seconds on April 3, 2554. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.[2]
Series members 20–41 occur between 1801 and 2200: | ||
---|---|---|
20 | 21 | 22 |
January 10, 1815 |
January 20, 1833 |
February 1, 1851 |
23 | 24 | 25 |
February 11, 1869 |
February 22, 1887 |
March 6, 1905 |
26 | 27 | 28 |
March 17, 1923 |
March 27, 1941 |
April 8, 1959 |
29 | 30 | 31 |
April 18, 1977 |
April 29, 1995 |
May 10, 2013 |
32 | 33 | 34 |
May 21, 2031 |
May 31, 2049 |
June 11, 2067 |
35 | 36 | 37 |
June 22, 2085 |
July 4, 2103 |
July 14, 2121 |
38 | 39 | 40 |
July 25, 2139 |
August 5, 2157 |
August 16, 2175 |
41 | ||
August 26, 2193 |
Tritos series[edit]
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 1901 and 2100 | |||
---|---|---|---|
September 9, 1904 (Saros 133) |
August 10, 1915 (Saros 134) |
July 9, 1926 (Saros 135) | |
June 8, 1937 (Saros 136) |
May 9, 1948 (Saros 137) |
April 8, 1959 (Saros 138) | |
March 7, 1970 (Saros 139) |
February 4, 1981 (Saros 140) |
January 4, 1992 (Saros 141) | |
December 4, 2002 (Saros 142) |
November 3, 2013 (Saros 143) |
October 2, 2024 (Saros 144) | |
September 2, 2035 (Saros 145) |
August 2, 2046 (Saros 146) |
July 1, 2057 (Saros 147) | |
May 31, 2068 (Saros 148) |
May 1, 2079 (Saros 149) |
March 31, 2090 (Saros 150) |
Inex series[edit]
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.
Inex series members between 1901 and 2100: | ||
---|---|---|
May 18, 1901 (Saros 136) |
April 28, 1930 (Saros 137) |
April 8, 1959 (Saros 138) |
March 18, 1988 (Saros 139) |
February 26, 2017 (Saros 140) |
February 5, 2046 (Saros 141) |
January 16, 2075 (Saros 142) |
Metonic series[edit]
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).
22 eclipse events, progressing from north to south between April 8, 1902, and August 31, 1989: | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
April 7–8 | January 24–25 | November 12 | August 31-September 1 | June 19–20 |
108 | 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 |
Notes[edit]
- ^ 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.
- ^ "NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 138". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.
References[edit]
- Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC