| Solar eclipse of April 7, 1978 | |
|---|---|
 Map | |
| Type of eclipse | |
| Nature | Partial |
| Gamma | −1.1081 |
| Magnitude | 0.7883 |
| Maximum eclipse | |
| Coordinates | 71°54′S 23°18′E / 71.9°S 23.3°E |
| Times (UTC) | |
| Greatest eclipse | 15:03:47 |
| References | |
| Saros | 148 (19 of 75) |
| Catalog # (SE5000) | 9460 |
A partial solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Friday, April 7, 1978,[1] with a magnitude of 0.7883. 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 partial solar eclipse occurs in the polar regions of the Earth when the center of the Moon's shadow misses the Earth.
A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Antarctica, southern South America, and Southern Africa.
Eclipse details
[edit]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.[2]
| Event | Time (UTC) |
|---|---|
| First Penumbral External Contact | 1978 April 07 at 13:02:42.8 UTC |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1978 April 07 at 14:26:21.8 UTC |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1978 April 07 at 15:03:46.6 UTC |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1978 April 07 at 15:15:57.9 UTC |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1978 April 07 at 17:05:13.3 UTC |
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Eclipse Magnitude | 0.78828 |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 0.72528 |
| Gamma | −1.10812 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 01h04m17.8s |
| Sun Declination | +06°50'43.3" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 15'58.5" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.8" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 01h05m31.3s |
| Moon Declination | +05°50'22.8" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 15'32.4" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°57'02.1" |
| ΔT | 48.8 s |
Eclipse season
[edit]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.
| March 24 Ascending node (full moon) |
April 7 Descending node (new moon) |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Total lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 122 |
Partial solar eclipse Solar Saros 148 |
Related eclipses
[edit]Eclipses in 1978
[edit]- A total lunar eclipse on March 24.
- A partial solar eclipse on April 7.
- A total lunar eclipse on September 16.
- A partial solar eclipse on October 2.
Metonic
[edit]- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 20, 1974
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 25, 1982
Tzolkinex
[edit]- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 19, 1985
Half-Saros
[edit]- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 2, 1969
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 14, 1987
Tritos
[edit]- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 9, 1967
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 7, 1989
Solar Saros 148
[edit]- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 27, 1960
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 17, 1996
Inex
[edit]- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 28, 1949
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 19, 2007
Triad
[edit]- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 6, 1891
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 5, 2065
Solar eclipses of 1975–1978
[edit]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.[3]
| Solar eclipse series sets from 1975 to 1978 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Descending node | Ascending node | |||||
| Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma | |
| 118 | May 11, 1975 Partial |
1.0647 | 123 | November 3, 1975 Partial |
−1.0248 | |
| 128 | April 29, 1976 Annular |
0.3378 | 133 | October 23, 1976 Total |
−0.327 | |
| 138 | April 18, 1977 Annular |
−0.399 | 143 | October 12, 1977 Total |
0.3836 | |
| 148 | April 7, 1978 Partial |
−1.1081 | 153 | October 2, 1978 Partial |
1.1616 | |
Saros 148
[edit]This eclipse is a part of Saros series 148, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 75 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on September 21, 1653. It contains annular eclipses on April 29, 2014 and May 9, 2032; a hybrid eclipse on May 20, 2050; and total eclipses from May 31, 2068 through August 3, 2771. The series ends at member 75 as a partial eclipse on December 12, 2987. 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 annularity will be produced by member 22 at 22 seconds (by default) on May 9, 2032, and the longest duration of totality will be produced by member 54 at 5 minutes, 23 seconds on April 26, 2609. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.[4]
| Series members 10–31 occur between 1801 and 2200: | ||
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 11 | 12 |
 December 30, 1815 |
 January 9, 1834 |
 January 21, 1852 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 |
 January 31, 1870 |
 February 11, 1888 |
 February 23, 1906 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 |
 March 5, 1924 |
 March 16, 1942 |
 March 27, 1960 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 |
April 7, 1978 |
 April 17, 1996 |
 April 29, 2014 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 |
 May 9, 2032 |
 May 20, 2050 |
 May 31, 2068 |
| 25 | 26 | 27 |
 June 11, 2086 |
 June 22, 2104 |
 July 4, 2122 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 |
 July 14, 2140 |
 July 25, 2158 |
 August 4, 2176 |
| 31 | ||
 August 16, 2194 | ||
Metonic series
[edit]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 April 8, 1902 and August 31, 1989 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 7–8 | January 24–25 | November 12 | August 31–September 1 | June 19–20 |
| 108 | 110 | 112 | 114 | 116 |
 April 8, 1902 |
 August 31, 1913 |
 June 19, 1917 | ||
| 118 | 120 | 122 | 124 | 126 |
 April 8, 1921 |
 January 24, 1925 |
 November 12, 1928 |
 August 31, 1932 |
 June 19, 1936 |
| 128 | 130 | 132 | 134 | 136 |
 April 7, 1940 |
 January 25, 1944 |
 November 12, 1947 |
 September 1, 1951 |
 June 20, 1955 |
| 138 | 140 | 142 | 144 | 146 |
 April 8, 1959 |
 January 25, 1963 |
 November 12, 1966 |
 August 31, 1970 |
 June 20, 1974 |
| 148 | 150 | 152 | 154 | |
April 7, 1978 |
 January 25, 1982 |
 November 12, 1985 |
 August 31, 1989 | |
Tritos series
[edit]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.
| Series members between 1801 and 2087 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 August 17, 1803 (Saros 132) |
 July 17, 1814 (Saros 133) |
 June 16, 1825 (Saros 134) |
 May 15, 1836 (Saros 135) |
 April 15, 1847 (Saros 136) |
 March 15, 1858 (Saros 137) |
 February 11, 1869 (Saros 138) |
 January 11, 1880 (Saros 139) |
 December 12, 1890 (Saros 140) |
 November 11, 1901 (Saros 141) |
 October 10, 1912 (Saros 142) |
 September 10, 1923 (Saros 143) |
 August 10, 1934 (Saros 144) |
 July 9, 1945 (Saros 145) |
 June 8, 1956 (Saros 146) |
 May 9, 1967 (Saros 147) |
April 7, 1978 (Saros 148) |
 March 7, 1989 (Saros 149) |
 February 5, 2000 (Saros 150) |
 January 4, 2011 (Saros 151) |
 December 4, 2021 (Saros 152) |
 November 3, 2032 (Saros 153) |
 October 3, 2043 (Saros 154) |
 September 2, 2054 (Saros 155) |
 August 2, 2065 (Saros 156) |
 July 1, 2076 (Saros 157) |
 June 1, 2087 (Saros 158) | |||
Inex series
[edit]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 5, 1804 (Saros 142) |
 July 17, 1833 (Saros 143) |
 June 27, 1862 (Saros 144) |
 June 6, 1891 (Saros 145) |
 May 18, 1920 (Saros 146) |
 April 28, 1949 (Saros 147) |
April 7, 1978 (Saros 148) |
 March 19, 2007 (Saros 149) |
 February 27, 2036 (Saros 150) |
 February 5, 2065 (Saros 151) |
 January 16, 2094 (Saros 152) |
 December 28, 2122 (Saros 153) |
 December 8, 2151 (Saros 154) |
 November 17, 2180 (Saros 155) |
|
References
[edit]- ^ "April 7, 1978 Partial Solar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
- ^ "Partial Solar Eclipse of 1978 Apr 07". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 148". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.
External links
[edit]- Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
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