Solar eclipse of October 2, 1959


A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Friday, October 2, 1959, with a magnitude of 1.0325. 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 about 2.4 days before perigee, the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
Totality was visible from northeastern Massachusetts and the southern tip of New Hampshire in the United States, the Canary Islands, Morocco, Spanish Sahara including the capital city Laayoune, French Mauritania, Mali Federation, French Niger, British Nigeria, British Cameroons and French Cameroons, French Chad including the capital city Fort-Lamy, French Central Africa, Sudan, Ethiopia, and the Trust Territory of Somaliland. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of eastern North America, the eastern Caribbean, Europe, Africa, West Asia, and Central Asia.

Observations

Totality began over Boston, Massachusetts at sunrise. Viewing the eclipse was rained out, but it was reported that the brightening of the sky after the eclipse was a startling and impressive sight. A few photographers captured the eclipse from airplanes above the clouds, and a multiple exposure was made atop the R. C. A. building in New York City. The next total eclipse over Boston, the solar eclipse of May 1, 2079, will also be a sunrise event.
The event was also observed at the Canarian Island of Fuerteventura by a team of Dutch astronomers of the university of Utrecht and Amsterdam.
Maurice Allais, a French polymath, reported the alleged anomalous behavior of pendulums or gravimeters, later named as Allais effect. He first reported the effect after observing the solar eclipse of June 30, 1954, and reported another observation of the effect during this solar eclipse using the paraconical pendulum he invented.

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 Contact1959 October 2 at 09:49:42.6 UTC
First Umbral External Contact1959 October 2 at 10:50:25.8 UTC
First Central Line1959 October 2 at 10:50:55.8 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact1959 October 2 at 10:51:25.7 UTC
First Penumbral Internal Contact1959 October 2 at 12:08:39.3 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction1959 October 2 at 12:12:52.0 UTC
Greatest Eclipse1959 October 2 at 12:27:00.1 UTC
Greatest Duration1959 October 2 at 12:29:26.6 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction1959 October 2 at 12:31:24.6 UTC
Last Penumbral Internal Contact1959 October 2 at 12:45:44.7 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact1959 October 2 at 14:02:42.2 UTC
Last Central Line1959 October 2 at 14:03:14.3 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact1959 October 2 at 14:03:46.4 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact1959 October 2 at 15:04:19.6 UTC

ParameterValue
Eclipse Magnitude1.03251
Eclipse Obscuration1.06608
Gamma0.42075
Sun Right Ascension12h31m27.3s
Sun Declination-03°23'42.1"
Sun Semi-Diameter15'58.8"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax08.8"
Moon Right Ascension12h31m57.6s
Moon Declination-02°59'50.0"
Moon Semi-Diameter16'15.2"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax0°59'39.0"
ΔT33.0 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.
September 17
Descending node 		October 2
Ascending node
Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 117		Total solar eclipse
Solar Saros 143

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 1959

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Solar Saros 143

Inex

Triad