| Annular eclipse | |
 Map | |
| Gamma | 0.9988 |
|---|---|
| Magnitude | 0.962 |
| Maximum eclipse | |
| Duration | - |
| Coordinates | 60°54′S40°54′E / 60.9°S 40.9°E /-60.9; 40.9 |
| Max. width of band | - km |
| Times (UTC) | |
| Greatest eclipse | 15:32:01 |
| References | |
| Saros | 119 (62 of 71) |
| Catalog # (SE5000) | 9398 |
An annularsolar eclipse occurred at the Moon'sascending node of orbit on Saturday, March 18, 1950,[1] with amagnitude of 0.962. Asolar eclipse occurs when theMoon passes betweenEarth and theSun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon'sapparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like anannulus (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 3.8 days beforeapogee (on March 22, 1950, at 10:50 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.[2]
It was unusual in that while it is an annular solar eclipse, it is not a central solar eclipse. Anon-central eclipse is one where the center-line of annularity or totality, whatever it is, does not intersect the surface of the Earth (when thegamma is between 0.9972 and 1.0260). This rare type occurs when annularity is only visible at sunset or sunrise in a polar region.
Annularity was visible from a part ofAntarctica. A partial eclipse was visible for extreme southernSouth America,Antarctica, andSouthern Africa. This was the last of 54 umbral solar eclipses inSolar Saros 119.
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.[3]
| Event | Time (UTC) |
|---|---|
| First Penumbral External Contact | 1950 March 18 at 13:11:15.9 UTC |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1950 March 18 at 14:27:07.9 UTC |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1950 March 18 at 15:09:02.7 UTC |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1950 March 18 at 15:20:29.9 UTC |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1950 March 18 at 15:32:01.3 UTC |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1950 March 18 at 15:55:41.2 UTC |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1950 March 18 at 17:53:16.2 UTC |
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Eclipse Magnitude | 0.96198 |
| Eclipse Obscuration | - |
| Gamma | −0.99880 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 23h50m43.1s |
| Sun Declination | -01°00'22.1" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'03.9" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.8" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 23h52m29.2s |
| Moon Declination | -01°48'04.0" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 14'55.6" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°54'47.0" |
| ΔT | 29.2 s |
This eclipse is part of aneclipse 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 afortnight.
| March 18 Ascending node (new moon) | April 2 Descending node (full moon) |
|---|---|
|  |
| Annular solar eclipse Solar Saros 119 | Total lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 131 |
This eclipse is a member of asemester series. An eclipse in a semester series of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternatingnodes of the Moon's orbit.[4]
The partial solar eclipse onJuly 11, 1953 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.
| Solar eclipse series sets from 1950 to 1953 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ascending node | Descending node | |||||
| Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma | |
| 119 | March 18, 1950 Annular (non-central) | 0.9988 | 124 | September 12, 1950 Total | 0.8903 | |
| 129 | March 7, 1951 Annular | −0.242 | 134 | September 1, 1951 Annular | 0.1557 | |
| 139 | February 25, 1952 Total | 0.4697 | 144 | August 20, 1952 Annular | −0.6102 | |
| 149 | February 14, 1953 Partial | 1.1331 | 154 | August 9, 1953 Partial | −1.344 | |
This eclipse is a part ofSaros series 119, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on May 15, 850 AD. It contains total eclipses on August 9, 994 AD and August 20, 1012; a hybrid eclipse on August 31, 1030; and annular eclipses from September 10, 1048 throughMarch 18, 1950. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on June 24, 2112. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is oneexeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.
The longest duration of totality was produced by member 10 at 32 seconds on August 20, 1012, and the longest duration of annularity was produced by member 44 at 7 minutes, 37 seconds on September 1, 1625. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’sascending node of orbit.[5]
| Series members 54–71 occur between 1801 and 2112: | ||
|---|---|---|
| 54 | 55 | 56 |
 December 21, 1805 |  January 1, 1824 |  January 11, 1842 |
| 57 | 58 | 59 |
 January 23, 1860 |  February 2, 1878 |  February 13, 1896 |
| 60 | 61 | 62 |
 February 25, 1914 |  March 7, 1932 | March 18, 1950 |
| 63 | 64 | 65 |
 March 28, 1968 |  April 9, 1986 |  April 19, 2004 |
| 66 | 67 | 68 |
 April 30, 2022 |  May 11, 2040 |  May 22, 2058 |
| 69 | 70 | 71 |
 June 1, 2076 |  June 13, 2094 |  June 24, 2112 |
Themetonic 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 January 5, 1935 and August 11, 2018 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 4–5 | October 23–24 | August 10–12 | May 30–31 | March 18–19 |
| 111 | 113 | 115 | 117 | 119 |
 January 5, 1935 |  August 12, 1942 |  May 30, 1946 | March 18, 1950 | |
| 121 | 123 | 125 | 127 | 129 |
 January 5, 1954 |  October 23, 1957 |  August 11, 1961 |  May 30, 1965 |  March 18, 1969 |
| 131 | 133 | 135 | 137 | 139 |
 January 4, 1973 |  October 23, 1976 |  August 10, 1980 |  May 30, 1984 |  March 18, 1988 |
| 141 | 143 | 145 | 147 | 149 |
 January 4, 1992 |  October 24, 1995 |  August 11, 1999 |  May 31, 2003 |  March 19, 2007 |
| 151 | 153 | 155 | ||
 January 4, 2011 |  October 23, 2014 |  August 11, 2018 | ||
This eclipse is a part of atritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with theanomalistic 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 1801 and 2200 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 March 25, 1819 (Saros 107) |  February 23, 1830 (Saros 108) |  January 22, 1841 (Saros 109) |  November 21, 1862 (Saros 111) | |
 August 20, 1895 (Saros 114) |  July 21, 1906 (Saros 115) |  June 19, 1917 (Saros 116) | ||
 May 19, 1928 (Saros 117) |  April 19, 1939 (Saros 118) | March 18, 1950 (Saros 119) |  February 15, 1961 (Saros 120) |  January 16, 1972 (Saros 121) |
 December 15, 1982 (Saros 122) |  November 13, 1993 (Saros 123) |  October 14, 2004 (Saros 124) |  September 13, 2015 (Saros 125) |  August 12, 2026 (Saros 126) |
 July 13, 2037 (Saros 127) |  June 11, 2048 (Saros 128) |  May 11, 2059 (Saros 129) |  April 11, 2070 (Saros 130) |  March 10, 2081 (Saros 131) |
 February 7, 2092 (Saros 132) |  January 8, 2103 (Saros 133) |  December 8, 2113 (Saros 134) |  November 6, 2124 (Saros 135) |  October 7, 2135 (Saros 136) |
 September 6, 2146 (Saros 137) |  August 5, 2157 (Saros 138) |  July 5, 2168 (Saros 139) |  June 5, 2179 (Saros 140) |  May 4, 2190 (Saros 141) |
This eclipse is a part of the long periodinex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with theanomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
| Series members between 1801 and 2200 | ||
|---|---|---|
 June 26, 1805 (Saros 114) |  June 7, 1834 (Saros 115) |  May 17, 1863 (Saros 116) |
 April 26, 1892 (Saros 117) |  April 8, 1921 (Saros 118) | March 18, 1950 (Saros 119) |
 February 26, 1979 (Saros 120) |  February 7, 2008 (Saros 121) |  January 16, 2037 (Saros 122) |
 December 27, 2065 (Saros 123) |  December 7, 2094 (Saros 124) |  November 18, 2123 (Saros 125) |
 October 28, 2152 (Saros 126) |  October 8, 2181 (Saros 127) | |
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