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Solar eclipse of May 20, 1947

{{Short description|Total eclipse}}

{{Infobox solar eclipse|1947May20

| previous = Solar eclipse of November 23, 1946

| next = Solar eclipse of November 12, 1947

}}

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Tuesday, May 20, 1947,{{cite web|title=May 20, 1947 Total Solar Eclipse|url=https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/1947-may-20|publisher=timeanddate|access-date=4 August 2024}} with a magnitude of 1.0557. 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. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent 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 1.8 days before perigee (on May 22, 1947, at 9:10 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.{{cite web|title=Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England|url=https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/distance.html?year=1947&n=136|publisher=timeanddate|access-date=4 August 2024}}

Totality was visible from Chile including the capital city Santiago, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Liberia, French West Africa (the parts now belonging to Ivory Coast and Benin), British Gold Coast (today's Ghana) including capital Accra, French Togoland (today's Togo) including capital Lomé, British Nigeria (today's Nigeria) including capital Lagos, French Cameroons (now belonging to Cameroon), French Equatorial Africa (the parts now belonging to Central African Republic and R. Congo), Belgian Congo (today's DR Congo), British Uganda (today's Uganda), British Tanganyika (now belonging to Tanzania), and British Kenya (today's Kenya). The southern part of Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside Asia, and Iguazu Falls, one of the largest waterfalls systems in the world, lay in the path of totality. A partial eclipse was visible for most of South America and Africa.

Observations

The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada sent a team to Araxa, Brazil. On the morning of the eclipse day, the sky was covered with clouds. Although a slight part of sunlight was seen through the gaps in the clouds around the first contact (the beginning of the partial phase), the weather did not improve after that. The eclipse ended at noon, and the sky began to clear up in the afternoon. The team documented changes in winds and luminance of the sky.{{cite journal|author=James Hargreaves|title=Observations of the Total Solar Eclipse at Araxa, Brazil, 1947, May 20|journal=Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada|url=http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/1949JRASC..43..229H|volume=43|pages=229–236|archive-date=5 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190605014903/http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/1949JRASC..43..229H}} Australian radio astronomers originally planned to go to Brazil to make radio observations to promote the development of radio astronomy in Australia. However, the shipping of the equipments could only be made via London at that time, and it was not made before the eclipse in the end, so the plan was not successful. Another team from the Soviet Union successfully made radio observations in Brazil.{{cite journal|title=The Australian solar eclipse expeditions of 1947 and 1949|author=Harry Wendt, Wayne Orchiston, Bruce Slee|journal=Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage|url=http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/6524/1/6524_Wendt_et_al_2008.pdf|year=2008|volume=11|issue=1|pages=71–78|issn=1440-2807|archive-date=24 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190624102027/https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/6524/1/6524_Wendt_et_al_2008.pdf}}

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=Total Solar Eclipse of 1947 May 20|url=https://eclipsewise.com/solar/SEprime/1901-2000/SE1947May20Tprime.html|publisher=EclipseWise.com|access-date=4 August 2024}}

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|+May 20, 1947 Solar Eclipse Times

! Event

! Time (UTC)

First Penumbral External Contact

| 1947 May 20 at 11:11:14.5 UTC

First Umbral External Contact

| 1947 May 20 at 12:08:46.7 UTC

First Central Line

| 1947 May 20 at 12:09:53.9 UTC

First Umbral Internal Contact

| 1947 May 20 at 12:11:01.1 UTC

First Penumbral Internal Contact

| 1947 May 20 at 13:16:38.2 UTC

Equatorial Conjunction

| 1947 May 20 at 13:35:31.5 UTC

Ecliptic Conjunction

| 1947 May 20 at 13:44:07.5 UTC

Greatest Eclipse

| 1947 May 20 at 13:47:47.0 UTC

Greatest Duration

| 1947 May 20 at 13:54:23.9 UTC

Last Penumbral Internal Contact

| 1947 May 20 at 14:19:13.8 UTC

Last Umbral Internal Contact

| 1947 May 20 at 15:24:38.7 UTC

Last Central Line

| 1947 May 20 at 15:25:47.7 UTC

Last Umbral External Contact

| 1947 May 20 at 15:26:56.7 UTC

Last Penumbral External Contact

| 1947 May 20 at 16:24:20.8 UTC

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|+May 20, 1947 Solar Eclipse Parameters

! Parameter

! Value

Eclipse Magnitude

| 1.05567

Eclipse Obscuration

| 1.11445

Gamma

| −0.35279

Sun Right Ascension

| 03h45m52.5s

Sun Declination

| +19°52'36.9"

Sun Semi-Diameter

| 15'48.2"

Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax

| 08.7"

Moon Right Ascension

| 03h46m20.8s

Moon Declination

| +19°32'28.8"

Moon Semi-Diameter

| 16'25.3"

Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax

| 1°00'16.3"

ΔT

| 28.0 s

{{clear}}

Eclipse season

{{See also|Eclipse cycle}}

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.

class="wikitable"

|+ Eclipse season of May–June 1947

! May 20
Ascending node (new moon) !! June 3
Descending node (full moon)

200px200px
align=center

| Total solar eclipse
Solar Saros 127

Partial lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 139

Related eclipses

= Eclipses in 1947 =

= Metonic =

= Tzolkinex =

= Half-Saros =

= Tritos =

= Solar Saros 127 =

= Inex =

= Triad =

= Solar eclipses of 1946–1949 =

{{Solar eclipse set 1946–1949}}

= Saros 127 =

{{Solar Saros series 127}}

= Metonic series =

{{Solar Metonic series 1916–2000}}

= Tritos series =

{{Solar Tritos series 2001 December 14}}

= Inex series =

{{Solar Inex series 2005 April 8}}

References

{{reflist}}

External links

{{Solar eclipse NASA reference|1901/SE1947May20T|19470502}}

  • [http://www.eclipse-2008.ru/eclipse/1947.php Russia expedition for solar eclipse of May 20, 1947] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090810164012/http://eclipse-2008.ru/eclipse/1947.php |date=August 10, 2009 }}

{{Solar eclipses}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solar Eclipse Of May 20, 1947}}

1947 05 20

Category:1947 in science

1947 05 20

Category:May 1947