Solar eclipse of October 23, 1976

Summary

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of the orbit on Saturday, October 23, 1976. 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. This total solar eclipse began at sunrise in Tanzania near the border with Burundi, with the path of totality passing just north of the large Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam. It then crossed the Indian Ocean, passing St. Pierre Island, Providence Atoll and Farquhar Atoll of Seychelles before making landfall in southeastern Australia. The largest city that saw totality was Melbourne. After leaving the Australian mainland, the path of totality left the Earth's surface just north of the north island of New Zealand.

Solar eclipse of October 23, 1976
Map
Type of eclipse
NatureTotal
Gamma−0.327
Magnitude1.0572
Maximum eclipse
Duration286 s (4 min 46 s)
Coordinates30°00′S 92°18′E / 30°S 92.3°E / -30; 92.3
Max. width of band199 km (124 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse5:13:45
References
Saros133 (43 of 72)
Catalog # (SE5000)9457

Related eclipses edit

Eclipses in 1976 edit

Solar eclipses of 1975–1978 edit

There were 8 solar eclipses (at 6 month intervals) between May 11, 1975 and October 2, 1978.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1975 to 1978
Descending node   Ascending node
Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma
118  
1975 May 11
Partial
1.06472 123  
1975 November 3
Partial
−1.02475
128  
1976 April 29
Annular
0.33783 133  
1976 October 23Total −0.32699 138  
1977 April 18
Annular
−0.39903 143  
1977 October 12
Total
0.38363
148  
1978 April 7
Partial
−1.10812 153  
1978 October 2
Partial
1.16164

Saros 133 edit

Solar Saros 133, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, contains 72 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on July 13, 1219. It contains annular eclipses from November 20, 1435, through January 13, 1526, with a hybrid eclipse on January 24, 1544. It has total eclipses from February 3, 1562, through June 21, 2373. The series ends at member 72 as a partial eclipse on September 5, 2499. The longest duration of totality was 6 minutes, 49.97 seconds on August 7, 1850.[1] The total eclipses of this saros series are getting shorter and farther south with each iteration. All eclipses in this series occurs at the Moon’s ascending node.

Series members 30–56 occur between 1742 and 2211
30 31 32
June 3, 1742 June 13, 1760  
June 24, 1778
33 34 35
July 4, 1796 July 17, 1814 July 27, 1832
36 37 38
August 7, 1850  
August 18, 1868
 
August 29, 1886
39 40 41
 
September 9, 1904
 
September 21, 1922
 
October 1, 1940
42 43 44
 
October 12, 1958
 
October 23, 1976  
November 3, 1994
45 46 47
 
November 13, 2012
 
November 25, 2030
 
December 5, 2048
48 49 50
 
December 17, 2066
 
December 27, 2084
 
January 8, 2103
51 52 53
 
January 19, 2121
 
January 30, 2139
 
February 9, 2157
54 55 56
 
February 21, 2175
 
March 3, 2193
 
March 15, 2211

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 January 5, 1935 and August 11, 2018
January 4-5 October 23-24 August 10-12 May 30-31 March 18-19
111 113 115 117 119
 
January 5, 1935
 
August 12, 1942
 
May 30, 1946
 
March 18, 1950
121 123 125 127 129
 
January 5, 1954
 
October 23, 1957
 
August 11, 1961
 
May 30, 1965
 
March 18, 1969
131 133 135 137 139
 
January 4, 1973
 
October 23, 1976  
August 10, 1980
 
May 30, 1984
 
March 18, 1988
141 143 145 147 149
 
January 4, 1992
 
October 24, 1995
 
August 11, 1999
 
May 31, 2003
 
March 19, 2007
151 153 155
 
January 4, 2011
 
October 23, 2014
 
August 11, 2018

References edit

  1. ^ http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsaros/SEsaros133.html

External links edit

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