Solar eclipse of August 31, 1970

{{Infobox solar eclipse|1970Aug31

| previous = Solar eclipse of March 7, 1970

| next = Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971

}}

An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Monday, August 31 and Tuesday, September 1, 1970,{{cite web|title=August 31–September 1, 1970 Annular Solar Eclipse|url=https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/1970-august-31|publisher=timeanddate|access-date=8 August 2024}} with a magnitude of 0.94. 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. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 20 hours after apogee (on August 31, 1970, at 2:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.{{cite web|title=Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England|url=https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/distance.html?year=1970&n=136|publisher=timeanddate|access-date=8 August 2024}}

Annularity was visible from the Territory of Papua and New Guinea (today's Papua New Guinea), Gilbert and Ellice Islands (the part that belongs to Tuvalu now) on September 1 (Tuesday), West Samoa (name changed to Samoa later) and the whole American Samoa except Swains Island on August 31 (Monday). A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Eastern Australia, Oceania, and Antarctica.

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.{{cite web|title=Annular Solar Eclipse of 1970 Aug 31|url=https://eclipsewise.com/solar/SEprime/1901-2000/SE1970Aug31Aprime.html|publisher=EclipseWise.com|access-date=8 August 2024}}

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|+August 31, 1970 Solar Eclipse Times

! Event

! Time (UTC)

First Penumbral External Contact

| 1970 August 31 at 19:00:38.3 UTC

First Umbral External Contact

| 1970 August 31 at 20:12:19.4 UTC

First Central Line

| 1970 August 31 at 20:15:18.7 UTC

First Umbral Internal Contact

| 1970 August 31 at 20:18:19.6 UTC

Greatest Duration

| 1970 August 31 at 21:42:42.2 UTC

Greatest Eclipse

| 1970 August 31 at 21:55:29.9 UTC

Ecliptic Conjunction

| 1970 August 31 at 22:01:53.6 UTC

Equatorial Conjunction

| 1970 August 31 at 22:28:51.4 UTC

Last Umbral Internal Contact

| 1970 August 31 at 23:32:19.4 UTC

Last Central Line

| 1970 August 31 at 23:35:20.4 UTC

Last Umbral External Contact

| 1970 August 31 at 23:38:19.7 UTC

Last Penumbral External Contact

| 1970 September 1 at 00:50:07.5 UTC

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|+August 31, 1970 Solar Eclipse Parameters

! Parameter

! Value

Eclipse Magnitude

| 0.93997

Eclipse Obscuration

| 0.88354

Gamma

| −0.53640

Sun Right Ascension

| 10h38m53.2s

Sun Declination

| +08°32'52.7"

Sun Semi-Diameter

| 15'50.8"

Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax

| 08.7"

Moon Right Ascension

| 10h37m59.0s

Moon Declination

| +08°07'17.6"

Moon Semi-Diameter

| 14'42.6"

Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax

| 0°53'59.0"

ΔT

| 40.8 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.

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|+ Eclipse season of August 1970

! August 17
Ascending node (full moon)
!! August 31
Descending node (new moon)

200px

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| Partial lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 118

Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 144