A partial solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit between Tuesday, September 20 and Wednesday, September 21, 1960, with a magnitude of 0.6139. 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 partial solar eclipse occurs in the polar regions of the Earth when the center of the Moon's shadow misses the Earth.
A partial eclipse was visible for parts of the eastern Soviet Union on September 21 and Alaska, Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico on September 20.
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.
+September 20, 1960 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1960 September 20 at 21:09:33.3 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1960 September 20 at 22:16:00.6 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1960 September 20 at 22:59:55.7 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1960 September 20 at 23:13:03.1 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1960 September 21 at 00:50:33.6 UTC
+September 20, 1960 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 0.61389 Eclipse Obscuration 0.51513 Gamma 1.20565 Sun Right Ascension 11h52m31.1s Sun Declination +00°48'39.5" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'55.9" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.8" Moon Right Ascension 11h53m54.7s Moon Declination +01°53'18.2" Moon Semi-Diameter 15'23.6" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°56'29.8" ΔT 33.5 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 September 1960 September 5Descending node (full moon) September 20Ascending node (new moon) Total lunar eclipseLunar Saros 127 Partial solar eclipseSolar Saros 153
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1960 A total lunar eclipse on March 13. A partial solar eclipse on March 27. A total lunar eclipse on September 5. A partial solar eclipse on September 20.
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 2, 1956 Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 9, 1964
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 9, 1953 Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 2, 1967
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of September 15, 1951 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of September 25, 1969
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 21, 1949 Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971
Solar Saros 153 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 10, 1942 Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 2, 1978
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 11, 1931 Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 31, 1989
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 20, 1873 Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 22, 2047
Solar eclipses of 1957–1960
Saros 153
Metonic series
Tritos series
Inex series
References
Eclipse of the Sun of September 20, 1960—Sky and Telescope magazine, volume 20, page 129.
External links http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEplot/SEplot1951/SE1960Sep20P.GIF http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsearch/SEdata.php?Ecl=19600920