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Solar eclipse of September 21, 1941

{{Short description|Total eclipse}}

{{Infobox solar eclipse|1941Sep21

| previous = Solar eclipse of March 27, 1941

| next = Solar eclipse of March 16, 1942

}}

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Sunday, September 21, 1941,{{cite web|title=September 21, 1941 Total Solar Eclipse|url=https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/1941-september-21|publisher=timeanddate|access-date=4 August 2024}} with a magnitude of 1.0379. 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 2.25 days before perigee (on September 23, 1941, at 10:40 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=1941&n=136|publisher=timeanddate|access-date=4 August 2024}}

The path of totality crossed the Soviet Union (today's Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan), China, Taiwan, Okinawa Prefecture and South Seas Mandate (the parts now belonging to Northern Mariana and Marshall Islands) in Japan, and ended in the Pacific Ocean. A partial eclipse was visible for most of Asia, Northern Australia, and northern Oceania.

Observations

= China =

The Chinese Solar Eclipse Observation Committee sent two teams - one led by Zhang Yuzhe and Gao Lu to the Taiyue Temple in Lintao County, Gansu,{{Cite news|title=观赏金边日环食，回望我国抗战期间的日食长征|date=19 September 2020|work=游系人生|url=https://www.toutiao.com/article/6840388788443677188/|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20231215051743/https://www.toutiao.com/article/6840388788443677188/?wid=1702617485062|language=zh|archivedate=15 December 2023}}{{cite news|title=武汉68年前沦陷时的日食观测经历生死考验|date=21 July 2009|work= Chutian Metropolis Daily|url=http://news.sohu.com/20090721/n265366616_1.shtml|language=zh}} and the other to Chong'an County (now Wuyishan City), Fujian.{{cite web|title=20世纪中国日全食观测小史|date=16 July 2009 |url=http://news.163.com/09/0716/14/5EBNGC9P00013H9Q.html|language=zh|archive-date=17 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017233253/http://news.163.com/09/0716/14/5EBNGC9P00013H9Q.html}} The Lintao team started from Kunming, where a number of universities and institutes of higher education were evacuated during the war, on June 30, 1941, and arrived in Lintao on August 13. They traveled by car for a total of 3,200 kilometres and made science popularization speeches along the way.

China was under the rule of the Republic of China and the eclipse occurred during the Second Sino-Japanese War. An artillery regiment was stationed near Lintao, and 20 fighter jets were stationed at Lanzhou Airport ready to intercept Japanese planes. The foggy weather in Lintao suddenly cleared up during the eclipse, making the observation successful. The solar chromosphere spectrum, a movie of the process of the eclipse and three corona images were taken. The brightness of the corona was measured to be 0.37 times that of the full moon. In Chong'an, the cloudy weather resulted in poor results of astronomical observations, but data of the change in Earth's magnetic field during the total phase was still measured.

In November 1934, astronomer {{ill|Gao Lu (astronomer)|zh|高魯 (天文學家)|lt=Gao Lu}} organized the Chinese Solar Eclipse Observation Committee to prepare for observations of the solar eclipse of June 19, 1936 and this eclipse in 1941.{{cite book|author=Jiang Xiaoyuan, Wu Yan|title=紫金山天文台史|publisher=Hebei University Press|date=January 2004|isbn=7-81028-974-8|url=http://211.67.182.138/date/books/014/001/97706.pdf|language=zh}} Due to the Soviet-German War and the Second Sino-Japanese War, European and American astronomers did not make field observations in the Soviet Union and China.{{cite journal|author=Sadler, D. H.|year=1941|title=The Total Solar Eclipse of September 21, 1941|journal=Nature|volume=148|issue=3750|pages=308|doi=10.1038/148308a0 |bibcode=1941Natur.148..308S |url = http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v148/n3750/pdf/148308a0.pdf}}

= Japan =

Several universities in Japan made observations in Ishigaki Island in Okinawa, Pengjia Islet in Taiwan under Japanese rule, and Chinese sites including Dongyin Island in Fujian, Nanchang in Jiangxi, {{ill|Heshengqiao Township|zh|贺胜桥镇|lt=Heshengqiao}} in Xianning, Hubei, {{ill|Yanzhouwan Township|zh|簰洲湾镇|lt=Yanzhou}} in Jiayu, Hubei, and Hankou (now in Wuhan). Among them, Ishigaki Island had the sunniest weather and the most successful observation results. Results were poor due to thick clouds in Heshengqiao and Yanzhou where teams of Tokyo Imperial University, Kyoto Imperial University, and Tohoku Imperial University went.{{cite web|title=中支日食觀測談|last=小穴純|page=107-110|url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/photogrst1934/7/3/7_3_107/_pdf|language=ja}}

= Soviet Union =

The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union began preparations in 1939. It was originally planned to involve 28 agencies, but due to the outbreak of World War II, only 7 observation teams were formed. The observation sites were Almaty and Kyzylorda in present-day Kazakhstan. The weather was good in Almaty with many observation results, while there were some clouds in Kyzylorda but several images were still taken.{{cite web |title=Полное солнечное затмение 21 сентября 1941 года |url=http://www.eclipse-2008.ru/eclipse/1941.php |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090808013055/http://www.eclipse-2008.ru/eclipse/1941.php |language=ru|archivedate=8 August 2009}} European and American astronomers did not go to the Soviet Union due to the war.

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 1941 Sep 21|url=https://eclipsewise.com/solar/SEprime/1901-2000/SE1941Sep21Tprime.html|publisher=EclipseWise.com|access-date=4 August 2024}}

class="wikitable" align="{{{align|left}}}" style="margin:{{#ifeq:{{{align}}}|left|0 0 0.5em 1em|0 1em 0.5em 0}}"

|+September 21, 1941 Solar Eclipse Times

! Event

! Time (UTC)

First Penumbral External Contact

| 1941 September 21 at 01:58:50.4 UTC

First Umbral External Contact

| 1941 September 21 at 02:59:55.7 UTC

First Central Line

| 1941 September 21 at 03:00:37.1 UTC

First Umbral Internal Contact

| 1941 September 21 at 03:01:18.4 UTC

Equatorial Conjunction

| 1941 September 21 at 04:18:15.8 UTC

Greatest Eclipse

| 1941 September 21 at 04:34:02.9 UTC

Greatest Duration

| 1941 September 21 at 04:35:22.1 UTC

Ecliptic Conjunction

| 1941 September 21 at 04:38:53.8 UTC

Last Umbral Internal Contact

| 1941 September 21 at 06:06:56.6 UTC

Last Central Line

| 1941 September 21 at 06:07:40.0 UTC

Last Umbral External Contact

| 1941 September 21 at 06:08:23.3 UTC

Last Penumbral External Contact

| 1941 September 21 at 07:09:18.6 UTC

class="wikitable" align="{{{align|right}}}" style="margin:{{#ifeq:{{{align}}}|right|0 0 0.5em 1em|0 1em 0.5em 0}}"

|+September 21, 1941 Solar Eclipse Parameters

! Parameter

! Value

Eclipse Magnitude

| 1.03791

Eclipse Obscuration

| 1.07725

Gamma

| 0.46494

Sun Right Ascension

| 11h51m55.1s

Sun Declination

| +00°52'33.2"

Sun Semi-Diameter

| 15'55.9"

Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax

| 08.8"

Moon Right Ascension

| 11h52m29.0s

Moon Declination

| +01°18'57.7"

Moon Semi-Diameter

| 16'17.7"

Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax

| 0°59'48.1"

ΔT

| 25.2 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 September 1941

! September 5
Descending node (full moon) !! September 21
Ascending node (new moon)

200px200px
align=center

| Partial lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 117

Total solar eclipse
Solar Saros 143

Related eclipses

= Eclipses in 1941 =

= Metonic =

= Tzolkinex =

= Half-Saros =

= Tritos =

= Solar Saros 143 =

= Inex =

= Triad =

= Solar eclipses of 1939–1942 =

{{Solar eclipse set 1939–1942}}

= Saros 143 =

{{Solar Saros series 143}}

= Metonic series =

{{Solar Metonic series 1880–1964}}

= Tritos series =

{{Solar Tritos series 2007 March 19}}

= Inex series =

{{Solar Inex series 2028 July 22}}

References

{{reflist|refs=

{{Cite news

| url = https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-constitution-eclipse-awed-ch/133622466/

| date = 1941-09-22

| page = 1

| title = Eclipse-Awed Chinese Beat Gongs, Shoot Fireworks

| newspaper = The Atlanta Constitution

| location = Atlanta, Georgia

| via = Newspapers.com

| access-date = 2023-10-17

}}

{{Cite news

| url = https://www.newspapers.com/article/sunday-dispatch-there-is-a-total-eclipse/133622796/

| date = 1941-09-21

| page = 4

| title = There is a total eclipse to-day, but We Shan't See One Till 1999

| newspaper = Sunday Dispatch

| location = London, England

| via = Newspapers.com

| access-date = 2023-10-17

}}

{{Cite news

| url = https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-constitution-chinese-will-ob/133622763/

| date = 1941-09-21

| page = 15

| title = Chinese Will Observe Total Solar Eclipse

| newspaper = The Atlanta Constitution

| location = Atlanta, Georgia

| via = Newspapers.com

| access-date = 2023-10-17

}}

{{Cite news

| url = https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch-chinese-scientis/133622871/

| date = 1941-09-21

| page = 38

| title = CHINESE SCIENTISTS TO SEE FIRST FULL ECLIPSE SINCE 1856

| newspaper = St. Louis Post-Dispatch

| location = St. Louis, Missouri

| via = Newspapers.com

| access-date = 2023-10-17

}}

{{Cite news

| url = https://www.newspapers.com/article/tulsa-world-chinese-savants-to-study-ecl/133622817/

| date = 1941-09-21

| page = 4

| title = Chinese Savants To Study Eclipse

| newspaper = Tulsa World

| location = Tulsa, Oklahoma

| via = Newspapers.com

| access-date = 2023-10-17

}}

}}

External links

{{Solar eclipse NASA reference|1901/SE1941Sep21T|19410921}}

  • [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1941Natur.148..308S The Total Solar Eclipse of September 21, 1941]
  • [http://www.eclipse-2008.ru/eclipse/1941.php Solar eclipse of September 21, 1941 ]
  • [http://www.secl.ru/eclipse_catalog/1941_9_21.html Eclipse catalog]

{{Solar eclipses}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solar Eclipse Of September 21, 1941}}

1941 09 21

Category:1941 in science

1941 09 21

Category:September 1941