A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Friday, June 8 and Saturday, June 9, 1956, with a magnitude of 1.0581. 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 total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 1.3 days before perigee (on June 10, 1956, at 4:10 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
It began near sunrise over New Zealand on June 9 (Saturday), and ended west of South America on June 8 (Friday). A partial eclipse was visible for most of 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.
+June 8, 1956 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1956 June 8 at 19:11:21.5 UTC First Umbral External Contact 1956 June 8 at 20:31:34.6 UTC First Central Line 1956 June 8 at 20:34:31.6 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 1956 June 8 at 20:37:38.2 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1956 June 8 at 21:20:39.3 UTC Greatest Duration 1956 June 8 at 21:20:59.3 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1956 June 8 at 21:21:17.5 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1956 June 8 at 21:29:39.0 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 1956 June 8 at 22:03:38.5 UTC Last Central Line 1956 June 8 at 22:06:46.5 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 1956 June 8 at 22:09:44.9 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1956 June 8 at 23:29:54.1 UTC
+June 8, 1956 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 1.05810 Eclipse Obscuration 1.11958 Gamma −0.89341 Sun Right Ascension 05h07m54.5s Sun Declination +22°54'13.6" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'45.2" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.7" Moon Right Ascension 05h07m52.9s Moon Declination +22°00'05.8" Moon Semi-Diameter 16'32.9" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 1°00'44.0" ΔT 31.5 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 May–June 1956 May 24Ascending node (full moon) June 8Descending node (new moon) Partial lunar eclipseLunar Saros 120 Total solar eclipseSolar Saros 146
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 August 20, 1952 Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 27, 1960
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 28, 1949 Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 20, 1963
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 3, 1947 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of June 14, 1965
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 9, 1945 Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 9, 1967
Solar Saros 146 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 29, 1938 Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 20, 1974
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 29, 1927 Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 19, 1985
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 7, 1869 Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 9, 2043
Solar eclipses of 1953–1956
Saros 146
Metonic series
Tritos series
Inex series
Notes
References