An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Sunday, January 16, 1972, with a magnitude of 0.9692. 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 7.3 days after apogee (on January 9, 1972, at 3:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
Annularity was visible from a part of Antarctica. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Antarctica and extreme southern South America.
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 16, 1972 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1972 January 16 at 08:45:57.2 UTC First Umbral External Contact 1972 January 16 at 10:22:15.3 UTC First Central Line 1972 January 16 at 10:25:28.8 UTC Greatest Duration 1972 January 16 at 10:25:28.8 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 1972 January 16 at 10:28:57.8 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1972 January 16 at 10:33:15.2 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1972 January 16 at 10:53:05.1 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1972 January 16 at 11:03:22.3 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 1972 January 16 at 11:38:09.6 UTC Last Central Line 1972 January 16 at 11:41:35.3 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 1972 January 16 at 11:44:45.6 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1972 January 16 at 13:20:54.1 UTC
+January 16, 1972 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 0.96925 Eclipse Obscuration 0.93945 Gamma −0.93651 Sun Right Ascension 19h49m32.3s Sun Declination -21°03'34.9" Sun Semi-Diameter 16'15.5" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9" Moon Right Ascension 19h50m37.0s Moon Declination -21°55'10.9" Moon Semi-Diameter 15'40.7" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°57'32.6" ΔT 42.3 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 1972 January 16Ascending node (new moon) January 30Descending node (full moon) Annular solar eclipseSolar Saros 121 Total lunar eclipseLunar Saros 133
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1972 An annular solar eclipse on January 16. A total lunar eclipse on January 30. A total solar eclipse on July 10. A partial lunar eclipse on July 26.
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 28, 1968 Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 3, 1975
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 4, 1964 Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 26, 1979
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of January 9, 1963 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of January 20, 1981
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 15, 1961 Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 15, 1982
Solar Saros 121 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 5, 1954 Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 26, 1990
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 4, 1943 Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 25, 2000
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 16, 1885 Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 16, 2058
Solar eclipses of 1971–1974
Saros 121
Metonic series
Tritos series
Inex series
Notes
References