An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Thursday, January 4, 1973, with a magnitude of 0.9303. 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. Occurring about 3.75 days after apogee (on December 31, 1972, at 21:50 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
Annularity was visible from Chile and Argentina. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of southern and central South America, Antarctica, West Africa, and Southern Africa.
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.
+January 4, 1973 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1973 January 4 at 12:44:40.6 UTC First Umbral External Contact 1973 January 4 at 13:50:14.3 UTC First Central Line 1973 January 4 at 13:53:17.7 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 1973 January 4 at 13:56:21.3 UTC First Penumbral Internal Contact 1973 January 4 at 15:07:01.4 UTC Greatest Duration 1973 January 4 at 15:35:51.4 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1973 January 4 at 15:39:50.9 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1973 January 4 at 15:43:12.3 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1973 January 4 at 15:46:20.7 UTC Last Penumbral Internal Contact 1973 January 4 at 16:25:50.8 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 1973 January 4 at 17:36:25.9 UTC Last Central Line 1973 January 4 at 17:39:27.4 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 1973 January 4 at 17:42:28.4 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1973 January 4 at 18:47:58.6 UTC
+January 4, 1973 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 0.93032 Eclipse Obscuration 0.86549 Gamma −0.26441 Sun Right Ascension 19h01m31.4s Sun Declination -22°41'24.6" Sun Semi-Diameter 16'15.9" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9" Moon Right Ascension 19h01m44.3s Moon Declination -22°55'32.0" Moon Semi-Diameter 14'54.7" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°54'43.6" ΔT 43.4 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 January 1973 January 4Ascending node (new moon) January 18Descending node (full moon) Annular solar eclipseSolar Saros 131 Penumbral lunar eclipseLunar Saros 143
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1973 An annular solar eclipse on January 4. A penumbral lunar eclipse on January 18. A penumbral lunar eclipse on June 15. A total solar eclipse on June 30. A penumbral lunar eclipse on July 15. A partial lunar eclipse on December 10. An annular solar eclipse on December 24.
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 18, 1969 Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 23, 1976
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 23, 1965 Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 16, 1980
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of December 30, 1963 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of January 9, 1982
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 5, 1962 Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 4, 1983
Solar Saros 131 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 25, 1954 Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 15, 1991
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 25, 1944 Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 14, 2001
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 5, 1886 Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 5, 2059
Solar eclipses of 1971–1974
Saros 131
Metonic series
Tritos series
Inex series
Notess
References