A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Monday, February 25, 1952, with a magnitude of 1.0366. 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 1.4 days after perigee (on February 23, 1952, at 22:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
The path of totality crossed French Equatorial Africa, Belgian Congo, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Arabia, Pahlavi Iran and the Soviet Union. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Africa, Europe, West Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia.
Observations
Astronomers from various countries started traveling to Khartoum, capital of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan from January 1952. The team of the United States Naval Research Laboratory made studies in radio astronomy, spectrum, luminosity of corona and spectral observations. Teams of the High Altitude Observatory of Harvard University and University of Colorado analyzed the spectrum of the Balmer series in the hydrogen spectral series. In addition, French astronomer Bernard Ferdinand Lyot, who invented the coronagraph that allows observing the solar corona at any time, not limited to total solar eclipses, died of a heart attack in Cairo, Egypt on his way back from observing the total solar eclipse in Sudan.
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.
+February 25, 1952 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1952 February 25 at 06:38:16.5 UTC First Umbral External Contact 1952 February 25 at 07:38:39.4 UTC First Central Line 1952 February 25 at 07:39:19.4 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 1952 February 25 at 07:39:59.5 UTC Greatest Duration 1952 February 25 at 09:07:12.9 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1952 February 25 at 09:11:34.8 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1952 February 25 at 09:16:27.1 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1952 February 25 at 09:36:51.1 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 1952 February 25 at 10:42:56.4 UTC Last Central Line 1952 February 25 at 10:43:34.9 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 1952 February 25 at 10:44:13.4 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1952 February 25 at 11:44:46.4 UTC
+February 25, 1952 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 1.03660 Eclipse Obscuration 1.07454 Gamma 0.46973 Sun Right Ascension 22h30m04.0s Sun Declination -09°25'03.8" Sun Semi-Diameter 16'09.4" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9" Moon Right Ascension 22h29m11.4s Moon Declination -08°59'49.8" Moon Semi-Diameter 16'30.0" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 1°00'33.5" ΔT 30.0 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 February 1952 February 11Descending node (full moon) February 25Ascending node (new moon) Partial lunar eclipseLunar Saros 113 Total solar eclipseSolar Saros 139
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1952 A partial lunar eclipse on February 11. A total solar eclipse on February 25. A partial lunar eclipse on August 5. An annular solar eclipse on August 20.
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 9, 1948 Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 14, 1955
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 14, 1945 Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 8, 1959
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of February 20, 1943 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 2, 1961
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 27, 1941 Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 25, 1963
Solar Saros 139 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 14, 1934 Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 7, 1970
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 17, 1923 Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 4, 1981
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 25, 1865 Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 26, 2038
Solar eclipses of 1950–1953
Saros 139
Metonic series
Tritos series
Inex series
Notes
References
Solar eclipse of February 25, 1952 in Russia