Solar eclipse of June 8, 1956

40°48′S 140°42′W / 40.8°S 140.7°W / -40.8; -140.7Max. width of band429 km (267 mi)Times (UTC)Greatest eclipse21:20:39ReferencesSaros146 (24 of 76)Catalog # (SE5000)9412

A total solar eclipse occurred on June 8–9, 1956. 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. It began near sunrise over New Zealand on June 9 (Saturday), and ended west of South America on June 8 (Friday).

More details

Eclipse Magnitude: 1.05810

Eclipse Obscuration: 1.11958

Gamma: -0.89341

Saros Series: 146th (24 of 76)

Greatest Eclipse: 08 Jun 1956 21:20:07.7 UTC (21:20:39.3 TD)

Ecliptic Conjunction: 08 Jun 1956 21:29:07.4 UTC (21:29:39.0 TD)

Equatorial Conjunction: 08 Jun 1856 21:20:45.9 UTC (21:21:17.5 TD)

Sun right ascension: 5.13

Moon right ascension: 5.13

Earth's shadow right ascension: 17.13

Sun declination: 22.9

Moon declination: 22

Earth's shadow declination: -22.9

Sun diameter: 1890.4 arcseconds

Moon diameter: 1985.8 arcseconds

Path Width at Greatest Eclipse: 428.7 km (266.4 mi)

Path Width at Greatest Duration: 428.7 km (266.4 mi)

Central Duration at Greatest Eclipse: 4 minutes, 44.85 seconds

Central Duration at Greatest Duration: 4 minutes, 44.86 seconds

Related eclipses

Solar eclipses of 1953–1956

This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse 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.^[1]

Note: Partial solar eclipse of February 14, 1953 and August 9, 1953 belong to the last lunar year set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1953 to 1956
Descending node			Ascending node
Saros	Map		Saros	Map
116	1953 July 11 Partial		121	1954 January 5 Annular
126	1954 June 30 Total		131	1954 December 25 Annular
136	1955 June 20 Total		141	1955 December 14 Annular
146	1956 June 8 Total		151	1956 December 2 Partial

Saros 146

It is a part of Saros cycle 146, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 76 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on September 19, 1541. It contains total eclipses from May 29, 1938, through October 7, 2154, hybrid eclipses from October 17, 2172, through November 20, 2226, and annular eclipses from December 1, 2244, through August 10, 2659. The series ends at member 76 as a partial eclipse on December 29, 2893. The longest duration of totality was 5 minutes, 21 seconds on June 30, 1992.

Series members 21-37 occur between 1901 and 2200:
21	22	23
May 7, 1902	May 18, 1920	May 29, 1938
24	25	26
June 8, 1956	June 20, 1974	June 30, 1992
27	28	29
July 11, 2010	July 22, 2028	August 2, 2046
30	31	32
August 12, 2064	August 24, 2082	September 4, 2100
33	34	35
September 15, 2118	September 26, 2136	October 7, 2154
36	37
October 17, 2172	October 29, 2190

Notes

References

• Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
  • Google interactive map
  • Besselian elements