An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Sunday, April 7, 1940, with a magnitude of 0.9394. 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 2.4 days after apogee (on April 5, 1940, at 10:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
Annularity was visible from Gilbert and Ellice Islands (the part now belonging to Kiribati), Mexico and Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina in the United States. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of eastern Oceania, Hawaii, North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America.
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 7, 1940 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1940 April 7 at 17:17:50.2 UTC First Umbral External Contact 1940 April 7 at 18:23:22.6 UTC First Central Line 1940 April 7 at 18:26:03.9 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 1940 April 7 at 18:28:45.3 UTC First Penumbral Internal Contact 1940 April 7 at 19:37:26.3 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1940 April 7 at 20:18:43.9 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1940 April 7 at 20:21:20.8 UTC Greatest Duration 1940 April 7 at 20:26:12.0 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1940 April 7 at 20:29:05.3 UTC Last Penumbral Internal Contact 1940 April 7 at 21:05:02.9 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 1940 April 7 at 22:13:51.7 UTC Last Central Line 1940 April 7 at 22:16:31.8 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 1940 April 7 at 22:19:11.6 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1940 April 7 at 23:24:44.5 UTC
+April 7, 1940 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 0.93942 Eclipse Obscuration 0.88252 Gamma 0.21897 Sun Right Ascension 01h05m52.5s Sun Declination +07°00'32.1" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'58.2" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.8" Moon Right Ascension 01h05m38.8s Moon Declination +07°11'53.1" Moon Semi-Diameter 14'47.0" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°54'15.4" ΔT 24.5 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. The first and last eclipse in this sequence is separated by one synodic month.
+ Eclipse season of March–April 1940 March 23Ascending node (full moon) April 7Descending node (new moon) April 22Ascending node (full moon) Penumbral lunar eclipseLunar Saros 102 Annular solar eclipseSolar Saros 128 Penumbral lunar eclipseLunar Saros 140
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1940 A penumbral lunar eclipse on March 23. An annular solar eclipse on April 7. A penumbral lunar eclipse on April 22. A total solar eclipse on October 1. A penumbral lunar eclipse on October 16.
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 19, 1936 Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 25, 1944
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 24, 1933 Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 20, 1947
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 2, 1931 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 13, 1949
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 9, 1929 Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 7, 1951
Solar Saros 128 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 28, 1922 Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 19, 1958
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 28, 1911 Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 18, 1969
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 6, 1853 Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 6, 2027
Solar eclipses of 1939–1942
Saros 128
Metonic series
Tritos series
Inex series
Notes
References