A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Wednesday, June 30, 1954, with a magnitude of 1.0357. 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 about 3.1 days after perigee (on June 27, 1954, at 11:10 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger. It was the last total solar eclipse visible in Iceland until the eclipse of August 12, 2026.
Visibility Totality began at sunrise over the United States over Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, and crossed into Canada, across southern Greenland, Iceland and Faroe Islands, then into Europe, across Norway, Sweden, and eastern Europe.Geneslay E., Meeus J., Schock P., Hujer, K. : « L’éclipse totale de Soleil du 30 juin 1954 », l'Astronomie, vol. 68, p. 422 It ended before sunset over Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and ending in northwestern India. The southwestern part of Vilnius, northeastern part of Kyiv, and southwestern part of Baku were covered by the path of totality.
The northeastern part of Mount Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe, also lay in the path of totality.
The eclipse was mostly seen on June 30, 1954, except for northeastern Soviet Union, where a partial eclipse started on June 30, passing midnight and ended on July 1 due to the midnight sun.
A partial eclipse was visible for parts of eastern North America, Europe, North Africa, West Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia.
Observation Within the United Kingdom, the path of totality only covered Shetland Islands in northern Scotland. However, the area was mostly clouded out during the eclipse, and there was even light rain in some places, so observation was not successful. About 400 scientists from around the world traveled to Sweden to observe the total eclipse. The Astronomy Department of Kiev State University, Soviet Union made observation in Kyiv and took ideal images of solar corona. The Sternberg Astronomical Institute made observation in Nevinnomyssk, Stavropol Krai.
In Wakefield, Massachusetts, U.S., the eclipse was blocked by heavy cloud cover from 6 to 8 a.m. local time, The Wakefield Daily Item reported. "Those who were looking forward to viewing the eclipse of the sun this morning were mightily disappointed. Between 6 and 8 am, the eclipse was hidden by stubborn heavy clouds that refused to move on."
Eclipse details Shown below are two tables displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. The first table outlines times at which the Moon's penumbra or umbra attains the specific parameter, and the second table describes various other parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
+June 30, 1954 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1954 June 30 at 10:01:27.0 UTC First Umbral External Contact 1954 June 30 at 11:07:26.5 UTC First Central Line 1954 June 30 at 11:08:15.4 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 1954 June 30 at 11:09:04.5 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1954 June 30 at 12:22:04.8 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1954 June 30 at 12:26:11.3 UTC Greatest Duration 1954 June 30 at 12:29:47.2 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1954 June 30 at 12:32:37.5 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 1954 June 30 at 13:56:20.5 UTC Last Central Line 1954 June 30 at 13:57:07.0 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 1954 June 30 at 13:57:53.4 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1954 June 30 at 15:03:57.8 UTC
+June 30, 1954 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 1.03574 Eclipse Obscuration 1.07276 Gamma 0.61345 Sun Right Ascension 06h35m35.5s Sun Declination +23°11'36.6" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'43.9" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.6" Moon Right Ascension 06h36m00.6s Moon Declination +23°47'16.6" Moon Semi-Diameter 16'05.1" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°59'02.1" ΔT 30.9 s
Eclipse season
This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.
+ Eclipse season of June–July 1954 June 30Descending node (new moon) July 16Ascending node (full moon) Total solar eclipseSolar Saros 126 Partial lunar eclipseLunar Saros 138
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1954 An annular solar eclipse on January 5. A total lunar eclipse on January 19. A total solar eclipse on June 30. A partial lunar eclipse on July 16. An annular solar eclipse on December 25.
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 12, 1950 Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 19, 1958
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 20, 1947 Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 11, 1961
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 25, 1945 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of July 6, 1963
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 1, 1943 Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 30, 1965
Solar Saros 126 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 19, 1936 Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 10, 1972
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 20, 1925 Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 11, 1983
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 29, 1867 Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 30, 2041
Solar eclipses of 1953–1956
Saros 126
Metonic series
Tritos series
Inex series
See also List of solar eclipses visible from Russia List of solar eclipses visible from the United Kingdom Allais effect
Notes
References
Photo from Russia Solar eclipse of June 30, 1954 in Russia Photo of Solar eclipse BBC: 1954: Three continents see eclipse of sun (Article and video) http://retrofutureground.tumblr.com/post/99724896027/bill-seaman-story-of-eclipse-in-one-picture https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Photograph-of-the-Sun-during-the-total-solar-eclipse-of-June-30-1954-after-Christiansen_fig22_225960784 https://www.scottcountyhistory.org/blog/the-solar-eclipse-of-1954