Solar eclipse of March 17, 1923

{{Infobox solar eclipse|1923Mar17

| previous = Solar eclipse of September 21, 1922

| next = Solar eclipse of September 10, 1923

}}

An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Saturday, March 17, 1923,{{cite web|title=March 17, 1923 Annular Solar Eclipse|url=https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/1923-march-17|publisher=timeanddate|access-date=2 August 2024}} with a magnitude of 0.931. 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 1.7 days before apogee (on March 19, 1923, at 20:30 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=1923&n=136|publisher=timeanddate|access-date=2 August 2024}}

Annularity was visible from Chile, Argentina, Falkland Islands including capital Stanley, Gough Island in Tristan da Cunha, South West Africa (today's Namibia), Bechuanaland Protectorate (today's Botswana, Southern Rhodesia (today's Zimbabwe) including capital Salisbury, Portuguese Mozambique (today's Mozambique), Nyasaland (today's Malawi), French Madagascar (the part now belonging to Madagascar, and the Islands of Juan de Nova and Tromelin). A partial eclipse was visible for parts of southern South America, Southern Africa, Central Africa, 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 1923 Mar 17|url=https://eclipsewise.com/solar/SEprime/1901-2000/SE1923Mar17Aprime.html|publisher=EclipseWise.com|access-date=2 August 2024}}

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|+March 17, 1923 Solar Eclipse Times

! Event

! Time (UTC)

First Penumbral External Contact

| 1923 March 17 at 09:50:46.8 UTC

First Umbral External Contact

| 1923 March 17 at 11:02:32.4 UTC

First Central Line

| 1923 March 17 at 11:05:55.6 UTC

First Umbral Internal Contact

| 1923 March 17 at 11:09:20.9 UTC

Equatorial Conjunction

| 1923 March 17 at 12:24:30.3 UTC

Greatest Duration

| 1923 March 17 at 12:44:57.5 UTC

Greatest Eclipse

| 1923 March 17 at 12:44:57.7 UTC

Ecliptic Conjunction

| 1923 March 17 at 12:51:27.3 UTC

Last Umbral Internal Contact

| 1923 March 17 at 14:20:49.0 UTC

Last Central Line

| 1923 March 17 at 14:24:15.1 UTC

Last Umbral External Contact

| 1923 March 17 at 14:27:39.2 UTC

Last Penumbral External Contact

| 1923 March 17 at 15:39:20.9 UTC

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|+March 17, 1923 Solar Eclipse Parameters

! Parameter

! Value

Eclipse Magnitude

| 0.93100

Eclipse Obscuration

| 0.86676

Gamma

| −0.54381

Sun Right Ascension

| 23h44m59.2s

Sun Declination

| -01°37'34.5"

Sun Semi-Diameter

| 16'04.2"

Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax

| 08.8"

Moon Right Ascension

| 23h45m34.9s

Moon Declination

| -02°05'35.9"

Moon Semi-Diameter

| 14'46.5"

Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax

| 0°54'13.4"

ΔT

| 23.1 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 March 1923

! March 3
Ascending node (full moon) !! March 17
Descending node (new moon)

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| Partial lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 112

Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 138