An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Wednesday, April 8, 1959, with a magnitude of 0.9401. 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 2.9 days after apogee (on April 10, 1959, at 23:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
Annularity was visible from Australia, southeastern tip of Milne Bay Province in the Territory of Papua New Guinea (today's Papua New Guinea), British Solomon Islands (today's Solomon Islands), Gilbert and Ellice Islands (the part now belonging to Tuvalu), Tokelau, and Swains Island in American Samoa. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Australia, Antarctica, Southeast Asia, and Oceania.
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.
+April 8, 1959 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1959 April 8 at 00:27:28.0 UTC First Umbral External Contact 1959 April 8 at 01:36:33.3 UTC First Central Line 1959 April 8 at 01:39:23.2 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 1959 April 8 at 01:42:14.0 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1959 April 8 at 03:08:03.5 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1959 April 8 at 03:24:08.2 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1959 April 8 at 03:29:32.4 UTC Greatest Duration 1959 April 8 at 03:30:28.4 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 1959 April 8 at 05:06:13.3 UTC Last Central Line 1959 April 8 at 05:09:05.4 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 1959 April 8 at 05:11:56.5 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1959 April 8 at 06:20:59.2 UTC
+April 8, 1959 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 0.94012 Eclipse Obscuration 0.88382 Gamma −0.45463 Sun Right Ascension 01h04m44.7s Sun Declination +06°53'31.5" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'58.4" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.8" Moon Right Ascension 01h05m13.2s Moon Declination +06°29'54.6" Moon Semi-Diameter 14'49.0" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°54'22.5" ΔT 32.8 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 March–April 1959 March 24Ascending node (full moon) April 8Descending node (new moon) Partial lunar eclipseLunar Saros 112 Annular solar eclipseSolar Saros 138
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1959 A partial lunar eclipse on March 24. An annular solar eclipse on April 8. A penumbral lunar eclipse on September 17. A total solar eclipse on October 2.
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 20, 1955 Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 25, 1963
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 25, 1952 Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 20, 1966
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 2, 1950 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 13, 1968
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 9, 1948 Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 7, 1970
Solar Saros 138 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 27, 1941 Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 18, 1977
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 28, 1930 Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 18, 1988
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 6, 1872 Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 5, 2046
Solar eclipses of 1957–1960
Saros 138
Metonic series
Tritos series
Inex series
Notes
References