A partial solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Sunday, December 2, 1956, with a magnitude of 0.8047. 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 Europe, Northeast Africa, and Asia.
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.
+December 2, 1956 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1956 December 02 at 05:52:09.3 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1956 December 02 at 07:54:38.5 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1956 December 02 at 08:00:35.0 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1956 December 02 at 08:13:02.5 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1956 December 02 at 10:09:08.8 UTC
+December 2, 1956 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 0.80468 Eclipse Obscuration 0.73350 Gamma 1.09229 Sun Right Ascension 16h34m00.8s Sun Declination -21°58'22.1" Sun Semi-Diameter 16'13.5" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9" Moon Right Ascension 16h34m13.1s Moon Declination -20°57'44.2" Moon Semi-Diameter 15'10.9" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°55'43.2" ΔT 31.7 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 November–December 1956 November 18Descending node (full moon) December 2Ascending node (new moon) Total lunar eclipseLunar Saros 125 Partial solar eclipseSolar Saros 151
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1956 A partial lunar eclipse on May 24. A total solar eclipse on June 8. A total lunar eclipse on November 18. A partial solar eclipse on December 2.
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 14, 1953 Followed by: Solar eclipse of September 20, 1960
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 21, 1949 Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 14, 1964
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of November 28, 1947 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of December 8, 1965
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 3, 1946 Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 2, 1967
Solar Saros 151 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 21, 1938 Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 13, 1974
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 24, 1927 Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 12, 1985
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 31, 1870 Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 3, 2043
Solar eclipses of 1953–1956
Saros 151
Metonic series
Tritos series
Inex series
References