Solar eclipse of May 20, 1947

Solar eclipse of May 20, 1947
Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Total
Gamma	-0.3528
Magnitude	1.0557
Maximum eclipse
Duration	313 sec (5 m 13 s)
Coordinates	0°12′N 21°24′W / 0.2°N 21.4°W
Max. width of band	196 km (122 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse	13:47:47
References
Saros	127 (54 of 82)
Catalog # (SE5000)	9392

A total solar eclipse occurred on May 20, 1947. 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 1946-1949

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 1946-1949

Ascending node			Descending node
117	May 30, 1946 Partial		122	November 23, 1946 Partial
127	May 20, 1947 Total		132	November 12, 1947 Annular
137	May 9, 1948 Annular		142	November 1, 1948 Total
147	April 28, 1949 Partial		152	October 21, 1949 Partial

Saros 127

It is a part of Saros cycle 127, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 82 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on October 10, 991 AD. It contains total eclipses from May 14, 1352 through August 15, 2091. The series ends at member 82 as a partial eclipse on March 21, 2452. The longest duration of totality was 5 minutes, 40 seconds on August 30, 1532.^[1]

Series members 52-62 occur between 1901 and 2100: 

52	53	54
April 28, 1911	May 9, 1929	May 20, 1947
55	56	57
May 30, 1965	June 11, 1983	June 21, 2001
58	59	60
July 2, 2019	July 13, 2037	July 24, 2055
61	62
August 3, 2073	August 15, 2091

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 31, 1924 and July 31, 2000 

July 31-Aug 1	May 19-20	March 7	December 24-25	October 12
115	117	119	121	123
July 31, 1924	May 19, 1928	March 7, 1932	December 25, 1935	October 12, 1939
125	127	129	131	133
August 1, 1943	May 20, 1947	March 7, 1951	December 25, 1954	October 12, 1958
135	137	139	141	143
July 31, 1962	May 20, 1966	March 7, 1970	December 24, 1973	October 12, 1977
145	147	149	151	153
July 31, 1981	May 19, 1985	March 7, 1989	December 24, 1992	October 12, 1996
155
July 31, 2000

References

1. http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsaros/SEsaros127.html

External links

• Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
  • Google interactive map
  • Besselian elements
• Russia expedition for solar eclipse of May 20, 1947