Solar eclipse of February 15, 1961

Solar eclipse of February 15, 1961
Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Total
Gamma	0.883
Magnitude	1.036
Maximum eclipse
Duration	165 sec (2 m 45 s)
Coordinates	47°24′N 40°00′E / 47.4°N 40°E
Max. width of band	258 km (160 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse	8:19:48
References
Saros	120 (58 of 71)
Catalog # (SE5000)	9422

A total solar eclipse occurred on February 15, 1961. 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.

Related eclipses

Solar eclipses of 1961-1964

Each member 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.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1961-1964

Ascending node			Descending node
Saros	Map		Saros	Map
120	February 15, 1961 Total		125	August 11, 1961 Annular
130	February 5, 1962 Total		135	July 31, 1962 Annular
140	January 25, 1963 Annular		145	July 20, 1963 Total
150	January 14, 1964 Partial		155	July 9, 1964 Partial
Partial solar eclipses of June 10, 1964 and December 4, 1964 belong in the next lunar year set.

Saros 120

It is a part of Saros cycle 120, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 71 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on May 27, 933 AD, and reached an annular eclipse on August 11, 1059. It was a hybrid event for 3 dates: May 8, 1510, through May 29, 1546, and total eclipses from June 8, 1564, through March 30, 2033. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on July 7, 2195. The longest duration of totality was 2 minutes, 50 seconds on March 9, 1997.^[1]

Series members 55–65 occur between 1901 and 2100 

55	56	57
January 14, 1907	January 24, 1925	February 4, 1943
58	59	60
February 15, 1961	February 26, 1979	March 9, 1997
61	62	63
March 20, 2015	March 30, 2033	April 11, 2051
64	65
April 21, 2069	May 2, 2087

Metonic series

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).

21 eclipse events between July 11, 1953 and July 11, 2029 

July 10-11	April 29-30	February 15-16	December 4	September 21-23
116	118	120	122	124
July 11, 1953	April 30, 1957	February 15, 1961	December 4, 1964	September 22, 1968
126	128	130	132	134
July 10, 1972	April 29, 1976	February 16, 1980	December 4, 1983	September 23, 1987
136	138	140	142	144
July 11, 1991	April 29, 1995	February 16, 1999	December 4, 2002	September 22, 2006
146	148	150	152	154
July 11, 2010	April 29, 2014	February 15, 2018	December 4, 2021	September 21, 2025
156
July 11, 2029

See also

• List of solar eclipses visible from the United Kingdom 1000–2090 AD

Notes

1. http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsaros/SEsaros120.html

References

• Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
  • Google interactive map
  • Besselian elements
• Solar eclipse of February 15, 1961 in Russia