Solar eclipse of July 31, 1962


An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Tuesday, July 31, 1962, with a magnitude of 0.9716. 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 4.75 days before apogee, the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
Places inside the annular eclipse included Venezuela, northern Roraima in Brazil, British Guiana, Dutch Guiana including the capital city Paramaribo, Senegal, Gambia Colony and Protectorate including the southern part of the capital city Banjul, Mali including the capital city Bamako, Upper Volta, Ghana, Togo, Dahomey, Nigeria, Cameroon including the capital city Yaoundé, Congo-Brazzaville, Congo-Léopoldville, Tanganyika, northeastern tip of Portuguese Mozambique, French Comoros, Mayotte, and the Malagasy Republic. The greatest eclipse was in the area of Kouoro, Mali at 12 N, 5.7 W at 12:25 and lasted for 3 minutes. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of the Caribbean, northern South America, Africa, Southern Europe, and the Middle East.

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 Contact1962 July 31 at 09:26:25.2 UTC
First Umbral External Contact1962 July 31 at 10:29:36.6 UTC
First Central Line1962 July 31 at 10:31:02.3 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact1962 July 31 at 10:32:28.1 UTC
First Penumbral Internal Contact1962 July 31 at 11:36:22.9 UTC
Greatest Duration1962 July 31 at 12:19:39.3 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction1962 July 31 at 12:24:14.3 UTC
Greatest Eclipse1962 July 31 at 12:25:32.5 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction1962 July 31 at 12:27:38.6 UTC
Last Penumbral Internal Contact1962 July 31 at 13:14:37.8 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact1962 July 31 at 14:18:33.6 UTC
Last Central Line1962 July 31 at 14:20:01.9 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact1962 July 31 at 14:21:30.3 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact1962 July 31 at 15:24:44.6 UTC

ParameterValue
Eclipse Magnitude0.97158
Eclipse Obscuration0.94397
Gamma−0.11296
Sun Right Ascension08h40m53.9s
Sun Declination+18°19'06.7"
Sun Semi-Diameter15'45.4"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax08.7"
Moon Right Ascension08h40m49.8s
Moon Declination+18°12'57.5"
Moon Semi-Diameter15'04.6"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax0°55'19.7"
ΔT34.3 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. The first and last eclipse in this sequence is separated by one synodic month.
July 17
Descending node 		July 31
Ascending node
August 15
Descending node
Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 109		Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 135		Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 147

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 1962

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Solar Saros 135

Inex

Triad