Solar eclipse of December 24, 1973
| Solar eclipse of December 24, 1973 | |
|---|---|
 Map | |
| Type of eclipse | |
| Nature | Annular |
| Gamma | 0.4171 |
| Magnitude | 0.9174 |
| Maximum eclipse | |
| Duration | 722 sec (12 m 2 s) |
| Coordinates | 1°06′N 48°30′W / 1.1°N 48.5°W |
| Max. width of band | 345 km (214 mi) |
| Times (UTC) | |
| Greatest eclipse | 15:02:44 |
| References | |
| Saros | 141 (21 of 70) |
| Catalog # (SE5000) | 9451 |
An annular solar eclipse occurred on December 24, 1973. 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.
Related eclipses
Solar eclipses of 1971-1974
Each member 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.
Note: Partial solar eclipses on February 25, 1971 and August 20, 1971 occur in the next lunar year set.
| Descending node | Ascending node | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saros | Map | Saros | Map | |
| 116 |  July 22, 1971 Partial |
121 |  January 16, 1972 Annular | |
| 126 |  July 10, 1972 Total |
131 |  January 4, 1973 Annular | |
| 136 |  June 30, 1973 Total |
141 | December 24, 1973 Annular | |
| 146 |  June 20, 1974 Total |
151 |  December 13, 1974 Partial | |
Saros 141
Solar Saros 141 repeats every 18 years, 11 days and contains 70 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on May 19, 1613. It contains annular eclipses from August 4, 1739 through October 14, 2460. There are no total eclipses in this series. The series ends at member 70 as a partial eclipse on June 13, 2857. [1]
| Series members 17–28 occur between 1901 and 2100 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 17 | 18 | 19 |
 November 11, 1901 |
 November 22, 1919 |
 December 2, 1937 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 |
 December 14, 1955 |
December 24, 1973 |
 January 4, 1992 |
| 23 | 24 | 25 |
 January 15, 2010 |
 January 26, 2028 |
 February 5, 2046 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 |
 February 17, 2064 |
 February 27, 2082 |
 March 10, 2100 |
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).
| 21 eclipse events between July 31, 1924 and July 31, 2000 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 31-Aug 1 | May 19-20 | March 7 | December 24-25 | October 12 |
| 115 | 117 | 119 | 121 | 123 |
 July 31, 1924 |
 May 19, 1928 |
 March 7, 1932 |
 December 25, 1935 |
 October 12, 1939 |
| 125 | 127 | 129 | 131 | 133 |
 August 1, 1943 |
 May 20, 1947 |
 March 7, 1951 |
 December 25, 1954 |
 October 12, 1958 |
| 135 | 137 | 139 | 141 | 143 |
 July 31, 1962 |
 May 20, 1966 |
 March 7, 1970 |
December 24, 1973 |
 October 12, 1977 |
| 145 | 147 | 149 | 151 | 153 |
 July 31, 1981 |
 May 19, 1985 |
 March 7, 1989 |
 December 24, 1992 |
 October 12, 1996 |
| 155 | ||||
 July 31, 2000 | ||||
Notes
- ↑ "NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 141". Eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
References
- Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
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