Solar eclipse of June 8, 1956

Solar eclipse of June 8, 1956
Solar eclipse of June 8, 1956
	Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Total
Gamma	−0.8934
Magnitude	1.0581
Maximum eclipse
Duration	285 s (4 min 45 s)
Coordinates	40°48′S 140°42′W / 40.8°S 140.7°W
Max. width of band	429 km (267 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse	21:20:39
References
Saros	146 (24 of 76)
Catalog # (SE5000)	9412

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Friday, June 8 and Saturday, June 9, 1956, with a magnitude of 1.0581. 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. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. It began near sunrise over New Zealand on June 9 (Saturday), and ended west of South America on June 8 (Friday).

Eclipse details[edit]

Eclipse Magnitude: 1.05810
Eclipse Obscuration: 1.11958
Gamma: -0.89341
Saros Series: 146th (24 of 76)
Greatest Eclipse: 08 Jun 1956 21:20:07.7 UTC (21:20:39.3 TD)
Ecliptic Conjunction: 08 Jun 1956 21:29:07.4 UTC (21:29:39.0 TD)
Equatorial Conjunction: 08 Jun 1856 21:20:45.9 UTC (21:21:17.5 TD)
Sun right ascension: 5.13
Moon right ascension: 5.13
Earth's shadow right ascension: 17.13
Sun declination: 22.9
Moon declination: 22
Earth's shadow declination: -22.9
Sun diameter: 1890.4 arcseconds
Moon diameter: 1985.8 arcseconds
Path Width at Greatest Eclipse: 428.7 km (266.4 mi)
Path Width at Greatest Duration: 428.7 km (266.4 mi)
Central Duration at Greatest Eclipse: 4 minutes, 44.85 seconds
Central Duration at Greatest Duration: 4 minutes, 44.86 seconds

Related eclipses[edit]

Solar eclipses of 1953–1956[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]

The partial solar eclipses on February 14, 1953 and August 9, 1953 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1953 to 1956
Descending node			Ascending node
Saros	Map	Gamma	Saros	Map	Gamma
116	July 11, 1953 Partial	1.4388	121	January 5, 1954 Annular	−0.9296
126	June 30, 1954 Total	0.6135	131	December 25, 1954 Annular	−0.2576
136	June 20, 1955 Total	−0.1528	141	December 14, 1955 Annular	0.4266
146	June 8, 1956 Total	−0.8934	151	December 2, 1956 Partial	1.0923

Saros 146[edit]

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 146, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 76 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on September 19, 1541. It contains total eclipses from May 29, 1938 through October 7, 2154; hybrid eclipses from October 17, 2172 through November 20, 2226; and annular eclipses from November 30, 2244 through August 10, 2659. The series ends at member 76 as a partial eclipse on December 29, 2893. 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 26 at 5 minutes, 21 seconds on June 30, 1992, and the longest duration of annularity will be produced by member 63 at 3 minutes, 30 seconds on August 10, 2659. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.^[2]

Series members 16–37 occur between 1801 and 2200:
16	17	18
March 13, 1812	March 24, 1830	April 3, 1848
19	20	21
April 15, 1866	April 25, 1884	May 7, 1902
22	23	24
May 18, 1920	May 29, 1938	June 8, 1956
25	26	27
June 20, 1974	June 30, 1992	July 11, 2010
28	29	30
July 22, 2028	August 2, 2046	August 12, 2064
31	32	33
August 24, 2082	September 4, 2100	September 15, 2118
34	35	36
September 26, 2136	October 7, 2154	October 17, 2172
37
October 29, 2190