Solar eclipse of March 7, 1970

A total solar eclipse occurred on March 7, 1970, visible across most of North America and Central America.[1][2][3][4][5]

Solar eclipse of March 7, 1970
Map
Type of eclipse
NatureTotal
Gamma0.4473
Magnitude1.0414
Maximum eclipse
Duration208 sec (3 m 28 s)
Coordinates18.2°N 94.7°W / 18.2; -94.7
Max. width of band153 km (95 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse17:38:30
References
Saros139 (27 of 71)
Catalog # (SE5000)9442

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. Occurring only 1.3 days after perigee (Perigee on March 6, 1970 at 09:32 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger than the Sun and thus fulfilled this condition.

Totality was visible across southern Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico, the southeast Atlantic coast of the United States, northeast to the Maritimes of eastern Canada, and northern Miquelon-Langlade in the French overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon.[6]

Greatest eclipse occurred over Mexico at 11:38 am CST, with totality lasting 3 minutes and 27.65 seconds. Totality over the U.S. lasted up to 3 minutes and 10 seconds.[7] The media declared Perry as the first municipality in Florida to be in the eclipse direct path.

Inclement weather obstructed the viewing from that location and most of the eclipse path through the remainder of the southern states. There will not be an eclipse with a greater duration of totality over the contiguous U.S. until April 8, 2024, a period of 54 years.

Scientific effects

This eclipse slowed a radio transmission of atomic time from North Carolina to Washington, D.C.[8]

Images
Animation of eclipse path (3 minutes per frame)

Solar eclipses of 1968–1971

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.[9]

Solar eclipse series sets from 1968–1971
Ascending node   Descending node
SarosMapGamma SarosMapGamma
119
1968 March 28
Partial		−1.03704 124
1968 September 22
Total		0.94507
129
1969 March 18
Annular		−0.27037 134
1969 September 11
Annular		0.22014
139
1970 March 7
Total		0.44728 144
1970 August 31
Annular		−0.53640
149
1971 February 25
Partial		1.11876 154
1971 August 20
Partial		−1.26591
A partial solar eclipse of July 22, 1971 occurs in the next lunar year set.

Saros 139

It is a part of saros series 139, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, 8 hours, containing 71 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on May 17, 1501. It contains hybrid eclipses on August 11, 1627 through to December 9, 1825 and total eclipses from December 21, 1843 through to March 26, 2601. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on July 3, 2763. Its eclipses are entabulated in three columns; each one in the same column, every third eclipse, is one exeligmos apart so cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.

The solar eclipse of June 13, 2132 will be the longest total solar eclipse since July 11, 1991 at 6 minutes, 55.02 seconds.

The longest duration of totality will be produced by member 39 at 7 minutes, 29.22 seconds on July 16, 2186.[10] After that date each duration will decrease, until the series end. This date is the longest solar eclipse computed between 4000 BC and 6000 AD.[11] Saros series eclipses are during the Moon’s ascending node (a term related to our equator and polar-naming conventions).

Series members 24–45 occur between 1901 and 2300
24 25 26

February 3, 1916
February 14, 1934
February 25, 1952
27 28 29

March 7, 1970
March 18, 1988
March 29, 2006
30 31 32

April 8, 2024
April 20, 2042
April 30, 2060
33 34 35

May 11, 2078
May 22, 2096
June 3, 2114
36 37 38

June 13, 2132
June 25, 2150
July 5, 2168
39 40 41

July 16, 2186
July 27, 2204
August 8, 2222
42 43 44

August 18, 2240
August 29, 2258
September 9, 2276
45

September 20, 2294

Tritos series

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.

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

CBS first color broadcast of a total eclipse.[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]

The eclipse may be referenced in the hit popular song “You're So Vain” by Carly Simon, although in context, the lyrics more closely align with a different eclipse two years later .

Notes
  1. "Spell cast by eclipse". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). UPI. March 7, 1970. p. 1.
  2. "Sun, Moon, Earth fall into step". Free Lance-Star. (Fredericksburg, Virginia). Associated Press. March 7, 1970. p. 1.
  3. "Scientists get great view of solar eclipse in Mexico". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. March 8, 1970. p. 1.
  4. "Great shadow crosses Earth as millions watch in awe". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. (Florida). Associated Press. March 8, 1970. p. 1.
  5. Quigg, H.D. (March 8, 1970). "Seaboard 'oohs' as Ol' Sol blinks". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). UPI. p. 1.
  6. Blakeslee, Alton (March 7, 1970). "Total solar eclipse visible in East today". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 1.
  7. Espenak, Fred. "Total Solar Eclipse of 1970 Mar 07". NASA Eclipse Website. Goddard Space Flight Center. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  8. Sadeh, D. (1971), Phase variation of a very accurate radio frequency signal due to the solar eclipse, J. Geophys. Res., 76(34), 8427–8429, doi:10.1029/JA076i034p08427
  9. 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.
  10. Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses NASA Eclipse Web Site.
  11. Ten Millennium Catalog of Long Solar Eclipses, −3999 to +6000 (4000 BCE to 6000 CE) Fred Espenak.
  12. Mike Kentrianakis (10 March 2010). "Solar Eclipse 1970 March 7 CBS News 1 of 6". Retrieved 20 May 2017 – via YouTube.
  13. Mike Kentrianakis (10 March 2010). "Solar Eclipse 1970 March 7 CBS News 2 of 6". Retrieved 20 May 2017 – via YouTube.
  14. Mike Kentrianakis (10 March 2010). "Solar Eclipse 1970 March 7 CBS News 3 of 6". Retrieved 20 May 2017 – via YouTube.
  15. Mike Kentrianakis (10 March 2010). "Solar Eclipse 1970 March 7 CBS News 4 of 6". Retrieved 20 May 2017 – via YouTube.
  16. Mike Kentrianakis (10 March 2010). "Solar Eclipse 1970 March 7 CBS News 5 of 6". Retrieved 20 May 2017 – via YouTube.
  17. Mike Kentrianakis (10 March 2010). "Solar Eclipse 1970 March 7 CBS News 6 of 6". Retrieved 20 May 2017 – via YouTube.
  18. "60 Years Ago: The World's 1st Televised Solar Eclipse". space.com. 8 March 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  19. "NASA Remembers 1970 Solar 'Eclipse of the Century'". space.com. 12 March 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2017.

References

Maps:

News:

Photos and observations

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.