Solar eclipse of February 25, 1952


A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Monday, February 25, 1952, with a magnitude of 1.0366. 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 1.4 days after perigee, the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
The path of totality crossed French Equatorial Africa, Belgian Congo, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Arabia, Pahlavi Iran and the Soviet Union. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Africa, Europe, West Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia.

Observations

Astronomers from various countries started traveling to Khartoum, capital of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan from January 1952. The team of the United States Naval Research Laboratory made studies in radio astronomy, spectrum, luminosity of corona and spectral observations. Teams of the High Altitude Observatory of Harvard University and University of Colorado analyzed the spectrum of the Balmer series in the hydrogen spectral series. In addition, French astronomer Bernard Ferdinand Lyot, who invented the coronagraph that allows observing the solar corona at any time, not limited to total solar eclipses, died of a heart attack in Cairo, Egypt on his way back from observing the total solar eclipse in Sudan.

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 Contact1952 February 25 at 06:38:16.5 UTC
First Umbral External Contact1952 February 25 at 07:38:39.4 UTC
First Central Line1952 February 25 at 07:39:19.4 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact1952 February 25 at 07:39:59.5 UTC
Greatest Duration1952 February 25 at 09:07:12.9 UTC
Greatest Eclipse1952 February 25 at 09:11:34.8 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction1952 February 25 at 09:16:27.1 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction1952 February 25 at 09:36:51.1 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact1952 February 25 at 10:42:56.4 UTC
Last Central Line1952 February 25 at 10:43:34.9 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact1952 February 25 at 10:44:13.4 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact1952 February 25 at 11:44:46.4 UTC

ParameterValue
Eclipse Magnitude1.03660
Eclipse Obscuration1.07454
Gamma0.46973
Sun Right Ascension22h30m04.0s
Sun Declination-09°25'03.8"
Sun Semi-Diameter16'09.4"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax08.9"
Moon Right Ascension22h29m11.4s
Moon Declination-08°59'49.8"
Moon Semi-Diameter16'30.0"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax1°00'33.5"
ΔT30.0 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.
February 11
Descending node 		February 25
Ascending node
Partial lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 113		Total solar eclipse
Solar Saros 139

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 1952

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Solar Saros 139

Inex

Triad