Solar eclipse of March 7, 1970

18°12′N 94°42′W / 18.2°N 94.7°W / 18.2; -94.7Max. width of band153 km (95 mi)Times (UTC)Greatest eclipse17:38:30ReferencesSaros139 (27 of 71)Catalog # (SE5000)9442

A total solar eclipse occurred on March 7, 1970, visible across most of North America and Central America.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

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. As the eclipse occurring only 1.3 days after perigee (on March 6, 1970, at 09:32 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger than the Sun and thus fulfilled this condition.

Totality was visible across southern Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico, the southeast Atlantic coast of the United States, northeast to the Maritimes of eastern Canada, and northern Miquelon-Langlade in the French overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon.^[6]

Greatest eclipse occurred over Mexico at 11:38 am CST, with totality lasting 3 minutes and 27.65 seconds. Totality over the U.S. lasted up to 3 minutes and 10 seconds.^[7] The media declared Perry as the first municipality in Florida to be in the eclipse direct path.

Inclement weather obstructed the viewing from that location and most of the eclipse path through the remainder of the southern states. There will not be an eclipse with a greater duration of totality over the contiguous U.S. until April 8, 2024, a period of 54 years.

Scientific effects

This eclipse slowed a radio transmission of atomic time from North Carolina to Washington, D.C.^[8]

Images

Related eclipses

Solar eclipses of 1968–1971

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.^[9]

Solar eclipse series sets from 1968 to 1971
Ascending node				Descending node
Saros	Map	Gamma		Saros	Map	Gamma
119	1968 March 28 Partial	−1.03704		124	1968 September 22 Total	0.94507
129	1969 March 18 Annular	−0.27037		134	1969 September 11 Annular	0.22014
139	1970 March 7 Total	0.44728		144	1970 August 31 Annular	−0.53640
149	1971 February 25 Partial	1.11876		154	1971 August 20 Partial	−1.26591
A partial solar eclipse of July 22, 1971 occurs in the next lunar year set.

Saros 139

It is a part of saros series 139, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, 8 hours, containing 71 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on May 17, 1501. It contains hybrid eclipses on August 11, 1627 through to December 9, 1825 and total eclipses from December 21, 1843 through to March 26, 2601. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on July 3, 2763. Its eclipses are entabulated in three columns; each one in the same column, every third eclipse, is one exeligmos apart so cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.

The solar eclipse of June 13, 2132 will be the longest total solar eclipse since July 11, 1991 at 6 minutes, 55.02 seconds.

The longest duration of totality will be produced by member 39 at 7 minutes, 29.22 seconds on July 16, 2186.^[10] After that date each duration will decrease, until the series end. This date is the longest solar eclipse computed between 4000 BC and 6000 AD.^[11] Saros series eclipses are during the Moon’s ascending node (a term related to our equator and polar-naming conventions).

Series members 24–45 occur between 1901 and 2300
24	25	26
February 3, 1916	February 14, 1934	February 25, 1952
27	28	29
March 7, 1970	March 18, 1988	March 29, 2006
30	31	32
April 8, 2024	April 20, 2042	April 30, 2060
33	34	35
May 11, 2078	May 22, 2096	June 3, 2114
36	37	38
June 13, 2132	June 25, 2150	July 5, 2168
39	40	41
July 16, 2186	July 27, 2204	August 8, 2222
42	43	44
August 18, 2240	August 29, 2258	September 9, 2276
45
September 20, 2294

Tritos series

This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

Series members between 1901 and 2100
September 9, 1904 (Saros 133)	August 10, 1915 (Saros 134)	July 9, 1926 (Saros 135)
June 8, 1937 (Saros 136)	May 9, 1948 (Saros 137)	April 8, 1959 (Saros 138)
March 7, 1970 (Saros 139)	February 4, 1981 (Saros 140)	January 4, 1992 (Saros 141)
December 4, 2002 (Saros 142)	November 3, 2013 (Saros 143)	October 2, 2024 (Saros 144)
September 2, 2035 (Saros 145)	August 2, 2046 (Saros 146)	July 1, 2057 (Saros 147)
May 31, 2068 (Saros 148)	May 1, 2079 (Saros 149)	March 31, 2090 (Saros 150)

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). All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's ascending node.

22 eclipse events between December 24, 1916 and July 31, 2000
December 24–25	October 12–13	July 31-Aug 1	May 18–20	March 7–8
91	93	95	97	99
December 23, 1878	October 12, 1882	July 31, 1886	May 18, 1890	March 7, 1894
101	103	105	107	109
December 23, 1897	October 12, 1901	August 1, 1905	May 19, 1909	March 8, 1913
111	113	115	117	119
December 24, 1916	October 12, 1920	July 31, 1924	May 19, 1928	March 7, 1932
121	123	125	127	129
December 25, 1935	October 12, 1939	August 1, 1943	May 20, 1947	March 7, 1951
131	133	135	137	139
December 25, 1954	October 12, 1958	July 31, 1962	May 20, 1966	March 7, 1970
141	143	145	147	149
December 24, 1973	October 12, 1977	July 31, 1981	May 19, 1985	March 7, 1989
151	153	155	157	159
December 24, 1992	October 12, 1996	July 31, 2000	May 19, 2004	March 7, 2008
161	163	165	167	169
December 24, 2011	October 13, 2015	August 1, 2019	May 19, 2023	March 8, 2027

In popular culture

CBS showed the first color broadcast of a total eclipse.^{[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]}

The eclipse may be referenced in the hit popular song “You're So Vain” by Carly Simon, although in context, the lyrics more closely align with a different eclipse two years later .

Notes

References

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

Maps:

• GoogleMap of totality and partiality limits

News:

• ABC NEWS 3:40 – March 7, 1970: Total Solar Eclipse The region near Nejapa, Mexico, is first to experience total darkness in midday.

Photos and observations

• Russia expedition
• Foto Solar eclipse of March 7, 1970
• Solar Eclipse Photo Gallery 1 1970–1984, Photographs by Fred Espenak, from Windsor, NC
• Observations of coronal polarization at the solar eclipse of 7 March, 1970 Polarigraphic observations of the 7 March 1970 eclipse were made at Miahuatlán (Mexico)
• Solar Eclipse of March 7, 1970 Williamston, NC by Gerard M Foley