Solar eclipse of January 4, 1973
| Solar eclipse of January 4, 1973 | |
|---|---|
 Map | |
| Type of eclipse | |
| Nature | Annular |
| Gamma | -0.2644 |
| Magnitude | 0.9303 |
| Maximum eclipse | |
| Duration | 469 sec (7 m 49 s) |
| Coordinates | 37°54′S 51°12′W / 37.9°S 51.2°W |
| Max. width of band | 271 km (168 mi) |
| Times (UTC) | |
| Greatest eclipse | 15:46:21 |
| References | |
| Saros | 131 (48 of 70) |
| Catalog # (SE5000) | 9449 |
An annular solar eclipse occurred on January 4, 1973. 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 (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide.
Related eclipses
Solar eclipses of 1971-1974
Each member in a semester series of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.
Note: Partial solar eclipses on February 25, 1971 and August 20, 1971 occur in the next lunar year set.
| Descending node | Ascending node | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saros | Map | Saros | Map | |
| 116 |  July 22, 1971 Partial |
121 |  January 16, 1972 Annular | |
| 126 |  July 10, 1972 Total |
131 | January 4, 1973 Annular | |
| 136 |  June 30, 1973 Total |
141 |  December 24, 1973 Annular | |
| 146 |  June 20, 1974 Total |
151 |  December 13, 1974 Partial | |
Saros 131
It is a part of Saros cycle 131, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 70 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on August 1, 1125. It contains total eclipses from March 27, 1522 through May 30, 1612 and hybrid eclipses from June 10, 1630 through July 24, 1702, and annular eclipses from August 4, 1720 through June 18, 2243. The series ends at member 70 as a partial eclipse on September 2, 2369. The longest duration of totality was only 58 seconds on May 30, 1612.[1]
| Series members 46–56 occur between 1901 and 2100 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 46 | 47 | 48 |
 December 3, 1918 |
 December 13, 1936 |
 December 25, 1954 |
| 49 | 50 | 51 |
January 4, 1973 |
 January 15, 1991 |
 January 26, 2009 |
| 52 | 53 | 54 |
 February 6, 2027 |
 February 16, 2045 |
 February 28, 2063 |
| 55 | 56 | |
 March 10, 2081 |
 March 21, 2099 | |
Metonic series
The metonic series repeats eclipses every 19 years (6939.69 days), lasting about 5 cycles. Eclipses occur in nearly the same calendar date. In addition the octon subseries repeats 1/5 of that or every 3.8 years (1387.94 days).
| 21 eclipse events between August 12, 1942 and August 11, 2018 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 10-12 | May 30 | March 18 | January 4-5 | October 23-24 |
| 115 | 117 | 119 | 121 | 123 |
 August 12, 1942 |
 May 30, 1946 |
 March 18, 1950 |
 January 5, 1954 |
 October 23, 1957 |
| 125 | 127 | 129 | 131 | 133 |
 August 11, 1961 |
 May 30, 1965 |
 March 18, 1969 |
January 4, 1973 |
 October 23, 1976 |
| 135 | 137 | 139 | 141 | 143 |
 August 10, 1980 |
 May 30, 1984 |
 March 18, 1988 |
 January 4, 1992 |
 October 24, 1995 |
| 145 | 147 | 149 | 151 | 153 |
 August 11, 1999 |
 May 31, 2003 |
 March 19, 2007 |
 January 4, 2011 |
 October 23, 2014 |
| 155 | ||||
 August 11, 2018 | ||||
Notess
References
- Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
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