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 | |
Nature | Annular |
Gamma | −0.2576 |
Magnitude | 0.9323 |
Maximum eclipse | |
Duration | 459 sec (7 m 39 s) |
Coordinates | 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 |
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]
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 | |||
Saros | Map | Saros | Map | |
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
- 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
- Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC