An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Friday, August 11, 1961, with a magnitude of 0.9375. 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 hours after apogee (on August 11, 1961, at 17:50 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
Annularity was visible from a part of Antarctica. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of eastern South America, Southern Africa, and Antarctica.
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.
+August 11, 1961 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1961 August 11 at 08:13:26.2 UTC First Umbral External Contact 1961 August 11 at 09:47:06.3 UTC First Central Line 1961 August 11 at 09:52:11.0 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 1961 August 11 at 09:57:40.3 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1961 August 11 at 10:36:17.9 UTC Greatest Duration 1961 August 11 at 10:45:02.0 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1961 August 11 at 10:46:46.9 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1961 August 11 at 11:09:44.1 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 1961 August 11 at 11:35:36.6 UTC Last Central Line 1961 August 11 at 11:41:06.3 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 1961 August 11 at 11:46:11.6 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1961 August 11 at 13:19:57.6 UTC
+August 11, 1961 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 0.93753 Eclipse Obscuration 0.87897 Gamma −0.88594 Sun Right Ascension 09h23m48.0s Sun Declination +15°16'44.3" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'46.9" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.7" Moon Right Ascension 09h23m06.0s Moon Declination +14°30'09.9" Moon Semi-Diameter 14'41.9" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°53'56.8" ΔT 33.8 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 August 1961 August 11Ascending node (new moon) August 26Descending node (full moon) Annular solar eclipseSolar Saros 125 Partial lunar eclipseLunar Saros 137
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1961 A total solar eclipse on February 15. A partial lunar eclipse on March 2. An annular solar eclipse on August 11. A partial lunar eclipse on August 26.
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 23, 1957 Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 30, 1965
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 30, 1954 Followed by: Solar eclipse of September 22, 1968
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of August 5, 1952 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of August 17, 1970
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 12, 1950 Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 10, 1972
Solar Saros 125 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 1, 1943 Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 22, 1979
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 31, 1932 Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 22, 1990
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 10, 1874 Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 11, 2048
Solar eclipses of 1961–1964
Saros 125
Metonic series
Tritos series
Inex series
Notes
References