| Total eclipse | |
.jpg) Totality fromWilliamston, NC | |
 Map | |
| Gamma | 0.4473 |
|---|---|
| Magnitude | 1.0414 |
| Maximum eclipse | |
| Duration | 208 s (3 min 28 s) |
| Coordinates | 18°12′N94°42′W / 18.2°N 94.7°W /18.2; -94.7 |
| Max. width of band | 153 km (95 mi) |
| Times (UTC) | |
| Greatest eclipse | 17:38:30 |
| References | |
| Saros | 139 (27 of 71) |
| Catalog # (SE5000) | 9442 |
A totalsolar eclipse occurred at the Moon'sascending node of orbit on Saturday, March 7, 1970,[1][2][3][4][5][6] with amagnitude of 1.0414. Asolar eclipse occurs when theMoon passes betweenEarth and theSun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon'sapparent 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 1.3 days afterperigee (on March 6, 1970, at 10:30 UTC), this eclipse occurred when the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[7]
The greatest eclipse occurred over Mexico at 11:38 amCST, with totality lasting 3 minutes and 27.65 seconds. Totality over the U.S. lasted up to 3 minutes and 10 seconds.[8] The media declaredPerry as the first municipality inFlorida 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 thesouthern states. There was not an eclipse with a greater duration of totality over thecontiguous U.S. untilApril 8, 2024, a period of54 years.
Totality was visible across southernMexico and theGulf of Mexico,Florida,Georgia,South Carolina,North Carolina,Virginia,Maryland, andNantucket,Massachusetts in theUnited States, northeast to theMaritimes of easternCanada, and northernMiquelon-Langlade in the French overseas collectivity ofSaint Pierre and Miquelon.[9] A partial eclipse was visible for parts ofHawaii,North America,Central America, theCaribbean, and northernSouth America.
This eclipse slowed a radio transmission ofatomic time fromNorth Carolina toWashington, D.C.[10]
An observation team from the Swiss Federal Observatory observed the total eclipse in Nejapa and Miahuatlán, Mexico. The weather conditions were good at both locations. Miahuatlán offered particularly good observation conditions with an altitude of 1,620 metres above sea level, high air quality andsolar zenith angle of 63° at the time of the eclipse. The team took images of thecorona and analyzed them with apolarizing filter.[11] Austrian-American physicistErwin Saxl and American physicistMildred Allen reported anomalous changes in the period of atorsion pendulum when observing a partial solar eclipse with amagnitude of 0.954 fromHarvard, Massachusetts, called the "Saxl Effect".[12]
CBS showed the first color broadcast of a total eclipse.[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]
This eclipse might be referenced in the second episode of the first season ofThe Mary Tyler Moore Show when a guest of Mary's accidentally exposes a roll of film that Howard Arnell, an ex-boyfriend of Mary's, says, "It's just the pictures I took of the total eclipse of the sun."
The eclipse may be referenced in the 1972 hit popular song “You're So Vain” byCarly Simon,[21] although in context, the lyrics more closely align with adifferent eclipse two years later.[22]
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.[23]
| Event | Time (UTC) |
|---|---|
| First Penumbral External Contact | 1970 March 7 at 15:04:56.2 UTC |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1970 March 7 at 16:04:26.6 UTC |
| First Central Line | 1970 March 7 at 16:05:14.2 UTC |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 1970 March 7 at 16:06:01.9 UTC |
| First Penumbral Internal Contact | 1970 March 7 at 17:27:53.7 UTC |
| Greatest Duration | 1970 March 7 at 17:35:20.9 UTC |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1970 March 7 at 17:38:29.7 UTC |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1970 March 7 at 17:43:07.4 UTC |
| Last Penumbral Internal Contact | 1970 March 7 at 17:48:30.7 UTC |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1970 March 7 at 18:03:52.1 UTC |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1970 March 7 at 19:10:43.5 UTC |
| Last Central Line | 1970 March 7 at 19:11:29.8 UTC |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1970 March 7 at 19:12:16.1 UTC |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1970 March 7 at 20:11:56.2 UTC |
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Eclipse Magnitude | 1.04145 |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 1.08461 |
| Gamma | 0.44728 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 23h11m11.6s |
| Sun Declination | -05°14'13.6" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'06.8" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.9" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 23h10m19.7s |
| Moon Declination | -04°50'27.0" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'31.8" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 1°00'39.8" |
| ΔT | 40.4 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.
| February 21 Descending node (full moon) | March 7 Ascending node (new moon) |
|---|---|
 | |
| Partial lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 113 | Total solar eclipse Solar Saros 139 |
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.[24]
The partial solar eclipse onJuly 22, 1971 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.
| Solar eclipse series sets from 1968 to 1971 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ascending node | Descending node | |||||
| Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma | |
| 119 | March 28, 1968 Partial | −1.037 | 124 | September 22, 1968 Total | 0.9451 | |
| 129 | March 18, 1969 Annular | −0.2704 | 134 | September 11, 1969 Annular | 0.2201 | |
| 139 Totality inWilliamston, NC USA | March 7, 1970 Total | 0.4473 | 144 | August 31, 1970 Annular | −0.5364 | |
| 149 | February 25, 1971 Partial | 1.1188 | 154 | August 20, 1971 Partial | −1.2659 | |
This eclipse is a part ofSaros series 139, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on May 17, 1501. It contains hybrid eclipses from August 11, 1627 through December 9, 1825 and total eclipses from December 21, 1843 through March 26, 2601. There are no annular eclipses in this set. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on July 3, 2763. 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 will be produced by member 61 at 7 minutes, 29.22 seconds onJuly 16, 2186. This date is the longest solar eclipse computed between 4000 BC and AD 6000.[25] All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’sascending node of orbit.[26]
| Series members 18–39 occur between 1801 and 2200: | ||
|---|---|---|
| 18 | 19 | 20 |
 November 29, 1807 |  December 9, 1825 |  December 21, 1843 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 |
 December 31, 1861 |  January 11, 1880 |  January 22, 1898 |
| 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 | ||
 July 16, 2186 | ||
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 December 24, 1916 and July 31, 2000 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 24–25 | October 12 | July 31–August 1 | May 19–20 | March 7 |
| 111 | 113 | 115 | 117 | 119 |
 December 24, 1916 |  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 | ||
 December 24, 1992 |  October 12, 1996 |  July 31, 2000 | ||
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 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 June 16, 1806 (Saros 124) |  May 16, 1817 (Saros 125) |  April 14, 1828 (Saros 126) |  March 15, 1839 (Saros 127) |  February 12, 1850 (Saros 128) |
 January 11, 1861 (Saros 129) |  December 12, 1871 (Saros 130) |  November 10, 1882 (Saros 131) |  October 9, 1893 (Saros 132) |  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) |  February 28, 2101 (Saros 151) |  January 29, 2112 (Saros 152) |  December 28, 2122 (Saros 153) |
 November 26, 2133 (Saros 154) |  October 26, 2144 (Saros 155) |  September 26, 2155 (Saros 156) |  August 25, 2166 (Saros 157) |  July 25, 2177 (Saros 158) |
 June 24, 2188 (Saros 159) |  May 24, 2199 (Saros 160) | |||
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 16, 1825 (Saros 134) |  May 26, 1854 (Saros 135) |  May 6, 1883 (Saros 136) |
 April 17, 1912 (Saros 137) |  March 27, 1941 (Saros 138) | March 7, 1970 (Saros 139) |
 February 16, 1999 (Saros 140) |  January 26, 2028 (Saros 141) |  January 5, 2057 (Saros 142) |
 December 16, 2085 (Saros 143) |  November 27, 2114 (Saros 144) |  November 7, 2143 (Saros 145) |
 October 17, 2172 (Saros 146) | ||
Glenn A. Walsh, who was Astronomical Observatory Coordinator and a Planetarium Lecturer for Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium, told us: ... In fact, one day in mid-June of 1972, a colleague and I were in the radio station when the record was played. When that particular lyric was heard, he turned to me and said, 'that would be nice.' I knew he meant that it would be nice to fly to Nova Scotia and see the eclipse the next month.
Maps:
News:
Photos and observations
.jpg)
