Solar eclipse of December 25, 1954

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 kilometers wide. Annularity was visible from the southwestern tip of South West Africa (Now Namibia), Union of South Africa (Now South Africa), Ashmore and Cartier Islands except Cartier Island, Indonesia and Portuguese Timor (Now East Timor).

Solar eclipse of December 25, 1954
Map
Type of eclipse
NatureAnnular
Gamma−0.2576
Magnitude0.9323
Maximum eclipse
Duration459 sec (7 m 39 s)
Coordinates38.4°S 68.2°E / -38.4; 68.2
Max. width of band262 km (163 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse7:36:42
References
Saros131 (47 of 70)
Catalog # (SE5000)9409

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]

Note: Partial solar eclipse of February 14, 1953 and August 9, 1953 belong to the last lunar year set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1953–1956
Descending node   Ascending node
SarosMap SarosMap
116
1953 July 11
Partial
121
1954 January 5
Annular
126
1954 June 30
Total
131
1954 December 25
Annular
136
1955 June 20
Total
141
1955 December 14
Annular
146
1956 June 8
Total
151
1956 December 2
Partial

Saros 131

It is a part of Saros cycle 131, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 70 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on August 1, 1125. It contains total eclipses from March 27, 1522 through May 30, 1612 and 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. The longest duration of totality was only 58 seconds on May 30, 1612. All eclipses in this series occurs at the Moon’s ascending node.

Series members 33–70 occur between 1702 and 2369
33 34 35

July 24, 1702

August 4, 1720

August 15, 1738
36 37 38

August 25, 1756

September 6, 1774

September 16, 1792
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 61 62

May 15, 2189

May 27, 2207

June 6, 2225
63 64 65

June 18, 2243

June 28, 2261

July 9, 2279
66 67 68

July 20, 2297

August 1, 2315

August 11, 2333
69 70

August 22, 2351

September 2, 2369

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 12–13 July 31-Aug 1 May 18–20 March 7–8
91 93 95 97 99
December 23, 1878 October 12, 1882 July 31, 1886 May 18, 1890 March 7, 1894
101 103 105 107 109
December 23, 1897 October 12, 1901 August 1, 1905 May 19, 1909 March 8, 1913
111 113 115 117 119

December 24, 1916
October 12, 1920
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
151 153 155 157 159

December 24, 1992

October 12, 1996

July 31, 2000
May 19, 2004 March 7, 2008
161 163 165 167 169
December 24, 2011 October 13, 2015 August 1, 2019 May 19, 2023 March 8, 2027

References

Notes
  1. 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.
Sources
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