Solar eclipse of May 20, 1966

Summary

An annular solar eclipse occurred on May 20, 1966. 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 Guinea (including the capital city Conakry), Mali, Algeria, Libya, Greece, Turkey, the Soviet Union (today's Russia and Kazakhstan) and China. The Sun's altitude was 70°.

Solar eclipse of May 20, 1966
Map
Type of eclipse
NatureAnnular
Gamma0.3467
Magnitude0.9991
Maximum eclipse
Duration5 s (0 min 5 s)
Coordinates39°12′N 26°24′E / 39.2°N 26.4°E / 39.2; 26.4
Max. width of band3 km (1.9 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse9:39:02
References
Saros137 (33 of 70)
Catalog # (SE5000)9434

Related eclipses edit

Solar eclipses of 1964–1967 edit

This eclipse is a member of a 1964–1967 series at alternating nodes every 6 synodic months.

Note: Partial solar eclipses on January 14, 1964 and July 9, 1964 belong to the previous lunar year set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1964 to 1967
Ascending node   Descending node
Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma
117  
1964 June 10
Partial
−1.13926 122  
1964 December 4
Partial
1.11929
127  
1965 May 30
Total
−0.42251 132  
1965 November 23
Annular
0.39061
137  
1966 May 20Annular 0.34672 142  
1966 November 12
Total
−0.33001
147  
1967 May 9
Partial
1.14218 152  
1967 November 2
Total (non-central)
−1.00067

Saros 137 edit

It is a part of Saros cycle 137, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 70 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on May 25, 1389. It contains total eclipses from August 20, 1533 through December 6, 1695, first set of hybrid eclipses from December 17, 1713 through February 11, 1804, first set of annular eclipses from February 21, 1822 through March 25, 1876, second set of hybrid eclipses from April 6, 1894 through April 28, 1930, and second set of annular eclipses from May 9, 1948 through April 13, 2507. The series ends at member 70 as a partial eclipse on June 28, 2633. The longest duration of totality was 2 minutes, 55 seconds on September 10, 1569. Solar Saros 137 has 55 umbral eclipses from August 20, 1533 through April 13, 2507 (973.62 years).

Metonic series edit

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

Notes edit

References edit

  • Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
    • Google interactive map
    • Besselian elements