A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Wednesday, August 31 and Thursday, September 1, 1932, with a magnitude of 1.0257. 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 3 days before perigee (on September 3, 1932, at 19:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
Totality was visible from Northwest Territories (today's Northwest Territories and Nunavut) and Quebec in Canada, and northeastern Vermont, New Hampshire, southwestern Maine, the northeastern tip of Massachusetts, and northeastern Cape Cod in the United States. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of the eastern Soviet Union (on September 1 local time), North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America.
Observations Members of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada made observations in Maskinongé, Magog, Acton Vale, Sorel-Tracy and Louisville in Quebec. The sky in Quebec was covered in clouds on the morning of August 31. In the afternoon, the clouds gradually dispersed, and observations of totality were successful. In the northeastern United States, scientists also studied the reactions of animals during the eclipse.
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.
+August 31, 1932 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1932 August 31 at 17:44:58.8 UTC First Umbral External Contact 1932 August 31 at 19:03:55.7 UTC First Central Line 1932 August 31 at 19:04:44.4 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 1932 August 31 at 19:05:33.5 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1932 August 31 at 19:17:18.7 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1932 August 31 at 19:54:55.5 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1932 August 31 at 20:03:41.1 UTC Greatest Duration 1932 August 31 at 20:04:47.8 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 1932 August 31 at 21:02:15.0 UTC Last Central Line 1932 August 31 at 21:03:06.5 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 1932 August 31 at 21:03:57.4 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1932 August 31 at 22:22:37.3 UTC
+August 31, 1932 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 1.02572 Eclipse Obscuration 1.05209 Gamma 0.83068 Sun Right Ascension 10h39m17.5s Sun Declination +08°30'34.8" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'51.0" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.7" Moon Right Ascension 10h40m49.4s Moon Declination +09°14'00.7" Moon Semi-Diameter 16'06.8" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°59'08.4" ΔT 23.9 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 August–September 1932 August 31Descending node (new moon) September 14Ascending node (full moon) Total solar eclipseSolar Saros 124 Partial lunar eclipseLunar Saros 136
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1932 An annular solar eclipse on March 7. A partial lunar eclipse on March 22. A total solar eclipse on August 31. A partial lunar eclipse on September 14.
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 12, 1928 Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 19, 1936
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 20, 1925 Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 12, 1939
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of August 26, 1923 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of September 5, 1941
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 1, 1921 Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 1, 1943
Solar Saros 124 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 21, 1914 Followed by: Solar eclipse of September 12, 1950
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 21, 1903 Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 11, 1961
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 30, 1845 Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 2, 2019
Solar eclipses of 1931–1935
Saros 124
Metonic series
Tritos series
Inex series
Notes
References