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Solar eclipse of May 29, 1938

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Solar eclipse of May 29, 1938
Map
Type of eclipse
NatureTotal
Gamma−0.9607
Magnitude1.0552
Maximum eclipse
Duration245 s (4 min 5 s)
Coordinates52°42′S 22°00′W / 52.7°S 22°W / -52.7; -22
Max. width of band675 km (419 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse13:50:19
References
Saros146 (23 of 76)
Catalog # (SE5000)9371

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Sunday, May 29, 1938,[1] with a magnitude of 1.0552. 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 1.2 days before perigee (on May 30, 1938, at 17:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[2]

The path of totality was mostly on the sea. The only land that was covered was South Orkney Islands of Antarctica, as well as South Georgia except for its northwestern part, Zavodovski Island and Visokoi Island controlled by the United Kingdom. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of southern and central South America and Southern Africa. This was the first of 41 umbral eclipses of Solar Saros 146.

Eclipse details

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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.[3]

May 29, 1938 solar eclipse times
Event Time (UTC)
First penumbral external contact 1938 May 29 at 11:46:36.9 UTC
First umbral external contact 1938 May 29 at 13:17:53.5 UTC
First central line 1938 May 29 at 13:22:34.9 UTC
First umbral internal contact 1938 May 29 at 13:28:10.1 UTC
Equatorial conjunction 1938 May 29 at 13:43:32.0 UTC
Greatest eclipse 1938 May 29 at 13:50:18.5 UTC
Greatest duration 1938 May 29 at 13:50:38.6 UTC
Ecliptic conjunction 1938 May 29 at 13:59:56.4 UTC
Last umbral internal contact 1938 May 29 at 14:12:30.3 UTC
Last central line 1938 May 29 at 14:18:06.8 UTC
Last umbral external contact 1938 May 29 at 14:22:49.5 UTC
Last penumbral external contact 1938 May 29 at 15:54:00.6 UTC
May 29, 1938 solar eclipse parameters
Parameter Value
Eclipse magnitude 1.05523
Eclipse obscuration 1.11351
Gamma −0.96068
Sun right ascension 04h22m54.3s
Sun declination +21°34'16.3"
Sun semi-diameter 15'46.6"
Sun equatorial horizontal parallax 08.7"
Moon right ascension 04h23m11.2s
Moon declination +20°36'05.3"
Moon semi-diameter 16'34.8"
Moon equatorial horizontal parallax 1°00'50.8"
ΔT 24.0 s

Eclipse season

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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.

Eclipse season of May 1938
May 14
Ascending node (full moon)
May 29
Descending node (new moon)
Total lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 120
Total solar eclipse
Solar Saros 146
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Eclipses in 1938

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Metonic

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Tzolkinex

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Half-Saros

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Tritos

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Solar Saros 146

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Inex

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Triad

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Solar eclipses of 1935–1938

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This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.[4]

The partial solar eclipses on February 3, 1935 and July 30, 1935 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1935 to 1938
Ascending node   Descending node
Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma
111 January 5, 1935

Partial
−1.5381 116 June 30, 1935

Partial
1.3623
121 December 25, 1935

Annular
−0.9228 126 June 19, 1936

Total
0.5389
131 December 13, 1936

Annular
−0.2493 136

Totality in Kanton Island,
Kiribati
June 8, 1937

Total
−0.2253
141 December 2, 1937

Annular
0.4389 146 May 29, 1938

Total
−0.9607
151 November 21, 1938

Partial
1.1077

Saros 146

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This eclipse is a part of Saros series 146, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 76 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on September 19, 1541. It contains total eclipses from May 29, 1938 through October 7, 2154; hybrid eclipses from October 17, 2172 through November 20, 2226; and annular eclipses from November 30, 2244 through August 10, 2659. The series ends at member 76 as a partial eclipse on December 29, 2893. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.

The longest duration of totality was produced by member 26 at 5 minutes, 21 seconds on June 30, 1992, and the longest duration of annularity will be produced by member 63 at 3 minutes, 30 seconds on August 10, 2659. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.[5]

Series members 16–37 occur between 1801 and 2200:
16 17 18

March 13, 1812

March 24, 1830

April 3, 1848
19 20 21

April 15, 1866

April 25, 1884

May 7, 1902
22 23 24

May 18, 1920

May 29, 1938

June 8, 1956
25 26 27

June 20, 1974

June 30, 1992

July 11, 2010
28 29 30

July 22, 2028

August 2, 2046

August 12, 2064
31 32 33

August 24, 2082

September 4, 2100

September 15, 2118
34 35 36

September 26, 2136

October 7, 2154

October 17, 2172
37

October 29, 2190

Metonic series

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The metonic series repeats eclipses every 19 years (6939.69 days), lasting about 5 cycles. Eclipses occur in nearly the same calendar date. In addition, the octon subseries repeats 1/5 of that or every 3.8 years (1387.94 days). All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's descending node.

22 eclipse events between March 16, 1866 and August 9, 1953
March 16–17 January 1–3 October 20–22 August 9–10 May 27–29
108 110 112 114 116

March 16, 1866

August 9, 1877

May 27, 1881
118 120 122 124 126

March 16, 1885

January 1, 1889

October 20, 1892

August 9, 1896

May 28, 1900
128 130 132 134 136

March 17, 1904

January 3, 1908

October 22, 1911

August 10, 1915

May 29, 1919
138 140 142 144 146

March 17, 1923

January 3, 1927

October 21, 1930

August 10, 1934

May 29, 1938
148 150 152 154

March 16, 1942

January 3, 1946

October 21, 1949

August 9, 1953

Tritos series

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This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

The partial solar eclipses on November 16, 2134 (part of Saros 164) and October 16, 2145 (part of Saros 165) are also a part of this series but are not included in the table below.

Series members between 1801 and 2069

June 6, 1807
(Saros 134)

May 5, 1818
(Saros 135)

April 3, 1829
(Saros 136)

March 4, 1840
(Saros 137)

February 1, 1851
(Saros 138)

December 31, 1861
(Saros 139)

November 30, 1872
(Saros 140)

October 30, 1883
(Saros 141)

September 29, 1894
(Saros 142)

August 30, 1905
(Saros 143)

July 30, 1916
(Saros 144)

June 29, 1927
(Saros 145)

May 29, 1938
(Saros 146)

April 28, 1949
(Saros 147)

March 27, 1960
(Saros 148)

February 25, 1971
(Saros 149)

January 25, 1982
(Saros 150)

December 24, 1992
(Saros 151)

November 23, 2003
(Saros 152)

October 23, 2014
(Saros 153)

September 21, 2025
(Saros 154)

August 21, 2036
(Saros 155)

July 22, 2047
(Saros 156)

June 21, 2058
(Saros 157)

May 20, 2069
(Saros 158)

Inex series

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This eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

Series members between 1801 and 2200

August 16, 1822
(Saros 142)

July 28, 1851
(Saros 143)

July 7, 1880
(Saros 144)

June 17, 1909
(Saros 145)

May 29, 1938
(Saros 146)

May 9, 1967
(Saros 147)

April 17, 1996
(Saros 148)

March 29, 2025
(Saros 149)

March 9, 2054
(Saros 150)

February 16, 2083
(Saros 151)

January 29, 2112
(Saros 152)

January 8, 2141
(Saros 153)

December 18, 2169
(Saros 154)

November 28, 2198
(Saros 155)

References

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  1. ^ "May 29, 1938 Total Solar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  3. ^ "Total Solar Eclipse of 1938 May 29". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  4. ^ van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  5. ^ "NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 146". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.