A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Saturday, October 23, 1976, with a magnitude of 1.0572. 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 9 hours before perigee (on October 23, 1976, at 14:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
This total solar eclipse began at sunrise in Tanzania near the border with Burundi, with the path of totality passing just north of the large Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam. It then crossed the Indian Ocean, passing St. Pierre Island, Providence Atoll and Farquhar Atoll of Seychelles before making landfall in southeastern Australia. The largest city that saw totality was Melbourne. After leaving the Australian mainland, the path of totality left the Earth's surface just north of the north island of New Zealand. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of East Africa, Indonesia, Australia, Antarctica, and western 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.
+October 23, 1976 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1976 October 23 at 02:39:17.5 UTC First Umbral External Contact 1976 October 23 at 03:35:21.3 UTC First Central Line 1976 October 23 at 03:36:28.9 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 1976 October 23 at 03:37:36.6 UTC First Penumbral Internal Contact 1976 October 23 at 04:39:57.2 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1976 October 23 at 05:10:25.1 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1976 October 23 at 05:13:45.3 UTC Greatest Duration 1976 October 23 at 05:16:15.1 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1976 October 23 at 05:22:43.8 UTC Last Penumbral Internal Contact 1976 October 23 at 05:47:19.5 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 1976 October 23 at 06:49:47.0 UTC Last Central Line 1976 October 23 at 06:50:55.2 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 1976 October 23 at 06:52:03.2 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1976 October 23 at 07:48:08.1 UTC
+October 23, 1976 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 1.05716 Eclipse Obscuration 1.11758 Gamma −0.32699 Sun Right Ascension 13h51m21.8s Sun Declination -11°26'48.5" Sun Semi-Diameter 16'04.7" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.8" Moon Right Ascension 13h51m00.8s Moon Declination -11°46'09.2" Moon Semi-Diameter 16'43.4" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 1°01'22.6" ΔT 47.3 s
Eclipse season
This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) 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.
+ Eclipse season of October–November 1976 October 23Ascending node (new moon) November 6Descending node (full moon) Total solar eclipseSolar Saros 133 Penumbral lunar eclipseLunar Saros 145
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1976 An annular solar eclipse on April 29. A partial lunar eclipse on May 13. A total solar eclipse on October 23. A penumbral lunar eclipse on November 6.
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 4, 1973 Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 10, 1980
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 11, 1969 Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 4, 1983
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of October 18, 1967 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of October 28, 1985
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 23, 1965 Followed by: Solar eclipse of September 23, 1987
Solar Saros 133 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 12, 1958 Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 3, 1994
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 12, 1947 Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 3, 2005
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 22, 1889 Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 24, 2063
Solar eclipses of 1975–1978
Saros 133
Metonic series
Tritos series
Inex series
References
External links