Solar eclipse of December 25, 1954
Solar eclipse of December 25, 1954 | |
---|---|
Type of eclipse | |
Nature | Annular |
Gamma | −0.2576 |
Magnitude | 0.9323 |
Maximum eclipse | |
Duration | 459 s (7 min 39 s) |
Coordinates | 38°24′S 68°12′E / 38.4°S 68.2°E |
Max. width of band | 262 km (163 mi) |
Times (UTC) | |
Greatest eclipse | 7:36:42 |
References | |
Saros | 131 (47 of 70) |
Catalog # (SE5000) | 9409 |
An annular solar eclipse occurred on December 25, 1954, also known as "The christmas 1954 solar eclipse". 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 the southwestern tip of South West Africa (today's Namibia), South Africa, Ashmore and Cartier Islands except Cartier Island, Indonesia and Portuguese Timor (today's East Timor).
Related eclipses
Solar eclipses of 1953–1956
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 131
This eclipse is a part of Saros series 131, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 70 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on August 1, 1125. It contains total eclipses from March 27, 1522 through May 30, 1612; hybrid eclipses from June 10, 1630 through July 24, 1702; and annular eclipses from August 4, 1720 through June 18, 2243. The series ends at member 70 as a partial eclipse on September 2, 2369. 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 28 at 58 seconds on May 30, 1612, and the longest duration of annularity was produced by member 50 at 7 minutes, 54 seconds on January 26, 2009. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.[2]
Series members 39–60 occur between 1801 and 2200: | ||
---|---|---|
39 | 40 | 41 |
![]() September 28, 1810 |
![]() October 9, 1828 |
![]() October 20, 1846 |
42 | 43 | 44 |
![]() October 30, 1864 |
![]() November 10, 1882 |
![]() November 22, 1900 |
45 | 46 | 47 |
![]() December 3, 1918 |
![]() December 13, 1936 |
![]() December 25, 1954 |
48 | 49 | 50 |
![]() January 4, 1973 |
![]() January 15, 1991 |
![]() January 26, 2009 |
51 | 52 | 53 |
![]() February 6, 2027 |
![]() February 16, 2045 |
![]() February 28, 2063 |
54 | 55 | 56 |
![]() March 10, 2081 |
![]() March 21, 2099 |
![]() April 2, 2117 |
57 | 58 | 59 |
![]() April 13, 2135 |
![]() April 23, 2153 |
![]() May 5, 2171 |
60 | ||
![]() May 15, 2189 |
Metonic series
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 ascending node.
22 eclipse events between December 24, 1916 and July 31, 2000 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
December 24–25 | October 12 | July 31–August 1 | May 19–20 | March 7 |
111 | 113 | 115 | 117 | 119 |
![]() December 24, 1916 |
![]() July 31, 1924 |
![]() May 19, 1928 |
![]() March 7, 1932 | |
121 | 123 | 125 | 127 | 129 |
![]() December 25, 1935 |
![]() October 12, 1939 |
![]() August 1, 1943 |
![]() May 20, 1947 |
![]() March 7, 1951 |
131 | 133 | 135 | 137 | 139 |
![]() December 25, 1954 |
![]() October 12, 1958 |
![]() July 31, 1962 |
![]() May 20, 1966 |
![]() March 7, 1970 |
141 | 143 | 145 | 147 | 149 |
![]() December 24, 1973 |
![]() October 12, 1977 |
![]() July 31, 1981 |
![]() May 19, 1985 |
![]() March 7, 1989 |
151 | 153 | 155 | ||
![]() December 24, 1992 |
![]() October 12, 1996 |
![]() July 31, 2000 |
References
- Notes
- ^ 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 131". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.
- Sources
- Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC