Solar eclipse of March 18, 1950
An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Saturday, March 18, 1950, with a magnitude of 0.962. 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 3.8 days before apogee, the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
It was unusual in that while it is an annular solar eclipse, it is not a central solar eclipse. A non-central eclipse is one where the center-line of annularity or totality, whatever it is, does not intersect the surface of the Earth. This rare type occurs when annularity is only visible at sunset or sunrise in a polar region.
Annularity was visible from a part of Antarctica. A partial eclipse was visible for extreme southern South America, Antarctica, and Southern Africa. This was the last of 54 umbral solar eclipses in Solar Saros 119.
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.| Event | Time |
| First Penumbral External Contact | 1950 March 18 at 13:11:15.9 UTC |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1950 March 18 at 14:27:07.9 UTC |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1950 March 18 at 15:09:02.7 UTC |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1950 March 18 at 15:20:29.9 UTC |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1950 March 18 at 15:32:01.3 UTC |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1950 March 18 at 15:55:41.2 UTC |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1950 March 18 at 17:53:16.2 UTC |
| Parameter | Value |
| Eclipse Magnitude | 0.96198 |
| Eclipse Obscuration | - |
| Gamma | −0.99880 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 23h50m43.1s |
| Sun Declination | -01°00'22.1" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'03.9" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.8" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 23h52m29.2s |
| Moon Declination | -01°48'04.0" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 14'55.6" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°54'47.0" |
| ΔT | 29.2 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.| March 18 Ascending node | April 2 Descending node |
| Annular solar eclipse Solar Saros 119 | Total lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 131 |
Related eclipses
Eclipses in 1950
An annular solar eclipse on March 18.- A total lunar eclipse on April 2.
- A total solar eclipse on September 12.
- A total lunar eclipse on September 26.
Metonic
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 30, 1946
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 5, 1954
Tzolkinex
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 4, 1943
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 30, 1957
Half-Saros
- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 13, 1941
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 24, 1959
Tritos
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 19, 1939
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 15, 1961
Solar Saros 119
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 7, 1932
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 28, 1968
Inex
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 8, 1921
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 26, 1979
Triad
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 17, 1863
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 16, 2037