Solar eclipse of January 25, 1963

{{Infobox solar eclipse|1963Jan25

| previous = Solar eclipse of July 31, 1962

| next = Solar eclipse of July 20, 1963

}}

An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Friday, January 25, 1963,{{cite web|title=January 25, 1963 Annular Solar Eclipse|url=https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/1963-january-25|publisher=timeanddate|access-date=7 August 2024}} with a magnitude of 0.9951. 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. The Moon's apparent diameter was near the average diameter because it occurred 8.2 days after apogee (on January 17, 1963, at 8:00 UTC) and 3.7 days before perigee (on January 29, 1963, at 7:20 UTC).{{cite web|title=Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England|url=https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/distance.html?year=1963&n=136|publisher=timeanddate|access-date=7 August 2024}}

The moon's apparent diameter was 4.8 arcseconds larger than the July 20, 1963 total solar eclipse. This was an annular solar eclipse because it occurred in January and the earth is near its perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) in January.

The path of annularity crossed Chile, Argentina, South Africa, southern Basutoland (today's Lesotho) and Malagasy Republic (today's Madagascar). A partial eclipse was visible for parts of southern and central South America, Antarctica, Southern Africa, and Eastern Africa.

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 1963 Jan 25|url=https://eclipsewise.com/solar/SEprime/1901-2000/SE1963Jan25Aprime.html|publisher=EclipseWise.com|access-date=7 August 2024}}

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|+January 25, 1963 Solar Eclipse Times

! Event

! Time (UTC)

First Penumbral External Contact

| 1963 January 25 at 10:57:14.2 UTC

First Umbral External Contact

| 1963 January 25 at 12:01:54.0 UTC

First Central Line

| 1963 January 25 at 12:02:36.0 UTC

Greatest Duration

| 1963 January 25 at 12:02:36.0 UTC

First Umbral Internal Contact

| 1963 January 25 at 12:03:18.1 UTC

Equatorial Conjunction

| 1963 January 25 at 13:29:27.8 UTC

Greatest Eclipse

| 1963 January 25 at 13:37:11.7 UTC

Ecliptic Conjunction

| 1963 January 25 at 13:42:27.8 UTC

Last Umbral Internal Contact

| 1963 January 25 at 15:11:13.0 UTC

Last Central Line

| 1963 January 25 at 15:11:52.2 UTC

Last Umbral External Contact

| 1963 January 25 at 15:12:31.4 UTC

Last Penumbral External Contact

| 1963 January 25 at 16:17:06.6 UTC

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|+January 25, 1963 Solar Eclipse Parameters

! Parameter

! Value

Eclipse Magnitude

| 0.99511

Eclipse Obscuration

| 0.99025

Gamma

| −0.48984

Sun Right Ascension

| 20h28m50.7s

Sun Declination

| -19°03'07.2"

Sun Semi-Diameter

| 16'14.7"

Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax

| 08.9"

Moon Right Ascension

| 20h29m08.2s

Moon Declination

| -19°31'24.1"

Moon Semi-Diameter

| 15'56.3"

Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax

| 0°58'29.7"

ΔT

| 34.5 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 January 1963

! January 9
Ascending node (full moon) !! January 25
Descending node (new moon)

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| Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 114

Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 140