solar eclipse of June 30, 1973

This eclipse was observed by a group of scientists, which included Donald Liebenberg, from the Los Alamos National Laboratory. They used two airplanes to extend the apparent time of totality by flying along the eclipse path in the same direction as the Moon's shadow as it passed over Africa. One of the planes was a prototype (c/n 001) of what was later to become the Concorde, which has a top speed of almost {{convert|1300|mph|km/h}} (Mach 2). This enabled scientists from Los Alamos, the Paris Observatory, the Kitt Peak National Observatory, Queen Mary University of London, the University of Aberdeen and CNRS to extend totality to more than 74 minutes; nearly 10 times longer than is possible when viewing a total solar eclipse from a stationary location.{{cite web|url=http://library.lanl.gov/cgi-bin/getfile?02-02.pdf| title=In Flight: The Story of Los Alamos Eclipse Missions| page=42| date=1981| first=Barb| last=Mulkin| publisher=Los Alamos National Laboratory| access-date=2010-07-14}} The Concorde was specially modified with rooftop portholes for the mission, and is currently on display with the Solar Eclipse mission livery at Musée de l’air et de l’espace.{{cite magazine |url= https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-concorde-and-the-longest-solar-eclipse/ |title= When Astronomers Chased a Total Eclipse in a Concorde |author= Chris Hatherill |date= 9 March 2016 |magazine= Motherboard |publisher= Vice }} The data gathered resulted in three papers published in Nature{{cite news|last1=Hatherill|first1=Chris|title=When Astronomers Chased a Total Eclipse in a Concorde|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-concorde-and-the-longest-solar-eclipse/?trk_source=homepage-lede/|access-date=10 March 2016|work=Vice|date=9 March 2016}} and a book.{{cite book|last1=Léna|first1=Pierre|title=Racing the Moon's Shadow with Concorde 001|date=2015|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-319-21729-1|url=https://www.springer.com/cn/book/9783319217284|access-date=10 March 2016}}

The eclipse was also observed by a charter flight from Mount San Antonio College in Southern California. The DC-8 with 150 passengers intercepted the eclipse at {{convert|35000|ft}} just off the east coast of Africa and tracked the eclipse for three minutes. The passengers rotated seats every 20 seconds so that each passenger had three 20 second opportunities at the window to observe and take pictures. A separate observation opportunity was provided on a specialized commercial cruise by the S.S. Canberra, which traveled from New York City to the Canary Islands and Dakar, Senegal, observing 5 minutes and 44 seconds of totality out in the Atlantic between those two stops in Africa.{{cite news |last=Stewart Leber |first=Bay |date=July 12, 1973 |title=Voyage to Darkness |url= http://pedasfamily.com/EclipseHistory-VoyageToDarknessII.html |work=Honolulu Star-Ledger |location=Honolulu |access-date=February 12, 2020 }}{{cite news |last=Sullivan |first=Walter |date=July 1, 1973 |title=Rare Eclipse Sweeps Across Width of Africa |url= http://pedasfamily.com/EclipseHistory-RareEclipse.html |work=The New York Times |location=New York |access-date=February 12, 2020 }} That cruise's passengers included notables in the scientific community such as Neil Armstrong, Scott Carpenter, Isaac Asimov, Walter Sullivan, and the then 15-years old Neil deGrasse Tyson.{{cite book |last=Asimov |first=Isaac |date=April 1, 1980 |title=In Joy Still Felt |publisher=Doubleday |isbn=9780385155441 |url=https://archive.org/details/injoystillfelt00isaa |url-access=registration }}{{cite book |last=DeGrasse Tyson |first=Neil |date=May 1, 2004 |title=The Sky is Not the Limit |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=aOwWoZyvUV8C&q=1973+total+solar+eclipse+ss+canberra&pg=PA31 |publisher=Prometheus Books |isbn=9781616141202}}

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 1973 Jun 30|url=https://eclipsewise.com/solar/SEprime/1901-2000/SE1973Jun30Tprime.html|publisher=EclipseWise.com|access-date=8 August 2024}}

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{{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. The first and last eclipse in this sequence is separated by one synodic month.

• An annular solar eclipse on January 4.
• A penumbral lunar eclipse on January 18.
• A penumbral lunar eclipse on June 15.
• A total solar eclipse on June 30.
• A penumbral lunar eclipse on July 15.
• A partial lunar eclipse on December 10.
• An annular solar eclipse on December 24.

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 11, 1969
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 18, 1977

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 20, 1966
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 10, 1980

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 25, 1964
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of July 6, 1982

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 31, 1962
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 30, 1984

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 20, 1955
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 11, 1991

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 20, 1944
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 10, 2002

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 29, 1886
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 30, 2060

{{Solar eclipse set 1971–1974}}

{{Solar_Saros_series_136}}

{{Solar Metonic series 1931–2011}}

{{Solar Tritos series 2006 March 29}}

{{Solar Inex series 2002 June 10}}

{{reflist}}

• [http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/Solar_Corona_Shape_pg03.html Foto Solar eclipse of June 30, 1973]
• [http://www.eclipse-2008.ru/eclipse/1973.php Foto Solar eclipse of June 30, 1995 from Russia expedition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090809113834/http://eclipse-2008.ru/eclipse/1973.php |date=August 9, 2009 }}
• [http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEplot/SEplot1951/SE1973Jun30T.GIF]

{{Solar eclipses}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solar Eclipse Of June 30, 1973}}

1973 06 30

Category:1973 in science

1973 06 30

Category:June 1973