Solar eclipse of March 18, 1969


An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Tuesday, March 18, 1969, with a magnitude of 0.9954. 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. The Moon's apparent diameter was near the average diameter because it occurred 5.1 days after perigee and 7.7 days before apogee.
Annularity was visible from part of Indonesia, and two atolls in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands which belongs to the Federated States of Micronesia now. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of the Malagasy Republic, Antarctica, Australia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and northern Oceania.

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 Contact1969 March 18 at 02:07:06.0 UTC
First Umbral External Contact1969 March 18 at 03:08:38.9 UTC
First Central Line1969 March 18 at 03:09:16.7 UTC
Greatest Duration1969 March 18 at 03:09:16.7 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact1969 March 18 at 03:09:54.5 UTC
First Penumbral Internal Contact1969 March 18 at 04:16:02.5 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction1969 March 18 at 04:38:24.3 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction1969 March 18 at 04:51:59.7 UTC
Greatest Eclipse1969 March 18 at 04:54:57.2 UTC
Last Penumbral Internal Contact1969 March 18 at 05:34:13.5 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact1969 March 18 at 06:40:08.1 UTC
Last Central Line1969 March 18 at 06:40:48.6 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact1969 March 18 at 06:41:29.2 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact1969 March 18 at 07:43:01.1 UTC

ParameterValue
Eclipse Magnitude0.99545
Eclipse Obscuration0.99092
Gamma−0.27037
Sun Right Ascension23h50m32.4s
Sun Declination-01°01'31.8"
Sun Semi-Diameter16'04.0"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax08.8"
Moon Right Ascension23h51m02.7s
Moon Declination-01°15'08.8"
Moon Semi-Diameter15'44.8"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax0°57'47.6"
ΔT39.4 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 129		Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 141

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 1969

An annular solar eclipse on March 18.

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Solar Saros 129

Inex

Triad