Solar eclipse of December 25, 1954
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Solar eclipse". An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Saturday, December 25, 1954 (also known as "The Christmas 1954 solar eclipse"),[1] with a magnitude of 0.9323. It was the first solar eclipse to fall on Christmas since 1935, and the last until 2000.[2]Template:Rp 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 kilometers wide. Occurring about 4.9 days after apogee (on December 21, 1954, at 8:50 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.[3]
Annularity was visible from the southwestern tip of South West Africa (Now Namibia), Union of South Africa (Now South Africa), Ashmore and Cartier Islands except Cartier Island, Indonesia and Portuguese Timor (Now East Timor). A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Southern Africa, Antarctica, Southeast Asia, and Australia.
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.[4]
| Event | Time (UTC) |
|---|---|
| First Penumbral External Contact | 1954 December 25 at 04:35:22.0 UTC |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1954 December 25 at 05:40:42.2 UTC |
| First Central Line | 1954 December 25 at 05:43:40.3 UTC |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 1954 December 25 at 05:46:38.6 UTC |
| First Penumbral Internal Contact | 1954 December 25 at 06:56:43.3 UTC |
| Greatest Duration | 1954 December 25 at 07:29:49.2 UTC |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1954 December 25 at 07:32:58.2 UTC |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1954 December 25 at 07:33:39.3 UTC |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1954 December 25 at 07:36:42.4 UTC |
| Last Penumbral Internal Contact | 1954 December 25 at 08:16:48.3 UTC |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1954 December 25 at 09:26:50.4 UTC |
| Last Central Line | 1954 December 25 at 09:29:46.5 UTC |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1954 December 25 at 09:32:42.2 UTC |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1954 December 25 at 10:37:59.4 UTC |
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Eclipse Magnitude | 0.93233 |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 0.86925 |
| Gamma | −0.25762 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 18h12m59.7s |
| Sun Declination | -23°24'41.6" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'15.7" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.9" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 18h13m07.2s |
| Moon Declination | -23°38'40.4" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 14'56.4" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°54'49.7" |
| ΔT | 31.1 s |
Eclipse season
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". 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.
| December 25 Ascending node (new moon) |
January 8 Descending node (full moon) |
|---|---|
| File:SE1954Dec25A.png | File:Lunar eclipse chart close-1955Jan08.png |
| Annular solar eclipse Solar Saros 131 |
Penumbral lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 143 |
Related eclipses
Eclipses in 1954
- An annular solar eclipse on January 5.
- A total lunar eclipse on January 19.
- A total solar eclipse on June 30.
- A partial lunar eclipse on July 16.
- An annular solar eclipse on December 25.
Metonic
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 7, 1951
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 12, 1958
Tzolkinex
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 12, 1947
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 5, 1962
Half-Saros
- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of December 19, 1945
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of December 30, 1963
Tritos
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 25, 1944
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 23, 1965
Solar Saros 131
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 13, 1936
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 4, 1973
Inex
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 14, 1926
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 4, 1983
Triad
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 23, 1868
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 25, 2041
Solar eclipses of 1953–1956
This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.[5]
The partial solar eclipses on February 14, 1953 and August 9, 1953 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set.
| Solar eclipse series sets from 1953 to 1956 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Descending node | Ascending node | |||||
| Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma | |
| 116 | July 11, 1953 File:SE1953Jul11P.png Partial |
1.4388 | 121 | January 5, 1954 File:SE1954Jan05A.png Annular |
−0.9296 | |
| 126 | June 30, 1954 File:SE1954Jun30T.png Total |
0.6135 | 131 | December 25, 1954 File:SE1954Dec25A.png Annular |
−0.2576 | |
| 136 | June 20, 1955 File:SE1955Jun20T.png Total |
−0.1528 | 141 | December 14, 1955 File:SE1955Dec14A.png Annular |
0.4266 | |
| 146 | June 8, 1956 File:SE1956Jun08T.png Total |
−0.8934 | 151 | December 2, 1956 File:SE1956Dec02P.png Partial |
1.0923 | |
Saros 131
This eclipse is a part of Saros series 131, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 70 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on August 1, 1125. It contains total eclipses from March 27, 1522 through May 30, 1612; hybrid eclipses from June 10, 1630 through July 24, 1702; and annular eclipses from August 4, 1720 through June 18, 2243. The series ends at member 70 as a partial eclipse on September 2, 2369. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.
The longest duration of totality was produced by member 28 at 58 seconds on May 30, 1612, and the longest duration of annularity was produced by member 50 at 7 minutes, 54 seconds on January 26, 2009. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.[6]
| Series members 39–60 occur between 1801 and 2200: | ||
|---|---|---|
| 39 | 40 | 41 |
| File:SE1810Sep28A.png September 28, 1810 |
File:SE1828Oct09A.png October 9, 1828 |
File:SE1846Oct20A.png October 20, 1846 |
| 42 | 43 | 44 |
| File:SE1864Oct30A.png October 30, 1864 |
File:SE1882Nov10A.png November 10, 1882 |
File:SE1900Nov22A.png November 22, 1900 |
| 45 | 46 | 47 |
| File:SE1918Dec03A.png December 3, 1918 |
File:SE1936Dec13A.png December 13, 1936 |
File:SE1954Dec25A.png December 25, 1954 |
| 48 | 49 | 50 |
| File:SE1973Jan04A.png January 4, 1973 |
File:SE1991Jan15A.png January 15, 1991 |
File:SE2009Jan26A.png January 26, 2009 |
| 51 | 52 | 53 |
| File:SE2027Feb06A.png February 6, 2027 |
File:SE2045Feb16A.png February 16, 2045 |
File:SE2063Feb28A.png February 28, 2063 |
| 54 | 55 | 56 |
| File:SE2081Mar10A.png March 10, 2081 |
File:SE2099Mar21A.png March 21, 2099 |
File:SE2117Apr02A.png April 2, 2117 |
| 57 | 58 | 59 |
| File:SE2135Apr13A.png April 13, 2135 |
File:SE2153Apr23A.png April 23, 2153 |
File:SE2171May05A.png May 5, 2171 |
| 60 | ||
| File:SE2189May15A.png May 15, 2189 | ||
Metonic series
The metonic series repeats eclipses every 19 years (6939.69 days), lasting about 5 cycles. Eclipses occur in nearly the same calendar date. In addition, the octon subseries repeats 1/5 of that or every 3.8 years (1387.94 days). All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's ascending node.
Tritos series
Template:Solar Tritos series 2009 July 22
Inex series
This eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
| Series members between 1801 and 2200 | ||
|---|---|---|
| File:SE1810Apr04A.gif April 4, 1810 (Saros 126) |
File:SE1839Mar15T.gif March 15, 1839 (Saros 127) |
File:SE1868Feb23A.gif February 23, 1868 (Saros 128) |
| File:SE1897Feb01A.gif February 1, 1897 (Saros 129) |
File:SE1926Jan14T.png January 14, 1926 (Saros 130) |
File:SE1954Dec25A.png December 25, 1954 (Saros 131) |
| File:SE1983Dec04A.png December 4, 1983 (Saros 132) |
File:SE2012Nov13T.png November 13, 2012 (Saros 133) |
File:SE2041Oct25A.png October 25, 2041 (Saros 134) |
| File:SE2070Oct04A.png October 4, 2070 (Saros 135) |
File:SE2099Sep14T.png September 14, 2099 (Saros 136) |
File:SE2128Aug25A.png August 25, 2128 (Saros 137) |
| File:SE2157Aug05A.png August 5, 2157 (Saros 138) |
File:SE2186Jul16T.png July 16, 2186 (Saros 139) |
|
References
- Notes
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- Sources
- Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
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