Solar eclipse of December 24, 1973


An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Monday, December 24, 1973, with a magnitude of 0.9174. 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. An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 1.25 days before apogee, the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
The duration of annularity at maximum eclipse was 12 minutes, 2.37 seconds in the Atlantic Ocean near the Brazilian coast. It was the longest annular solar eclipse until January 14, 3080, but the Solar eclipse of December 14, 1955 lasted longer.
Annularity was visible from southern Mexico, southwestern Nicaragua, Costa Rica including the capital city San José, Panama, Colombia including the capital city Bogotá, southern Venezuela, Brazil, southern Guyana, southern Dutch Guiana, southern French Guiana, Portuguese Cape Verde including the capital city Praia, Mauritania including the capital city Nouakchott, Spanish Sahara, Mali, and Algeria. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of eastern North America, Central America, the Caribbean, northern and central South America, Western Europe, and West Africa.

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.
EventTime
First Penumbral External Contact1973 December 24 at 12:01:48.2 UTC
First Umbral External Contact1973 December 24 at 13:10:43.7 UTC
First Central Line1973 December 24 at 13:14:29.7 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact1973 December 24 at 13:18:17.1 UTC
First Penumbral Internal Contact1973 December 24 at 14:54:55.3 UTC
Greatest Duration1973 December 24 at 14:57:39.1 UTC
Greatest Eclipse1973 December 24 at 15:02:43.5 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction1973 December 24 at 15:07:45.5 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction1973 December 24 at 15:08:46.6 UTC
Last Penumbral Internal Contact1973 December 24 at 15:10:21.8 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact1973 December 24 at 16:47:05.3 UTC
Last Central Line1973 December 24 at 16:50:53.5 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact1973 December 24 at 16:54:40.4 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact1973 December 24 at 18:03:38.0 UTC

ParameterValue
Eclipse Magnitude0.91745
Eclipse Obscuration0.84171
Gamma0.41710
Sun Right Ascension18h11m38.6s
Sun Declination-23°24'56.0"
Sun Semi-Diameter16'15.7"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax08.9"
Moon Right Ascension18h11m26.8s
Moon Declination-23°02'37.9"
Moon Semi-Diameter14'43.0"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax0°54'00.7"
ΔT44.5 s

Eclipse season

This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months 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 10
Descending node
December 24
Ascending node
Partial lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 115		Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 141

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 1973

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Solar Saros 141

Inex

Triad