Solar eclipse of April 29, 1976

Solar eclipse of April 29, 1976
Solar eclipse of April 29, 1976
	Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Annular
Gamma	0.3378
Magnitude	0.9421
Maximum eclipse
Duration	401 s (6 min 41 s)
Coordinates	34°00′N 18°18′E / 34°N 18.3°E
Max. width of band	227 km (141 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse	10:24:18
References
Saros	128 (56 of 73)
Catalog # (SE5000)	9456

An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of the orbit on Thursday, April 29, 1976. 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. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide. Annularity was visible from North Africa, Greece, Turkey, Middle East, central Asia, India, China. 5 of the 14 eight-thousanders in Pakistan and China—Nanga Parbat, K2, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum II and Gasherbrum I, lie in the path of annularity.

Observation edit

The Institute of Physics and Institute of Mathematics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Xinjiang Earthquake Team conducted observations of gravitational effects using gravimeters, inclinometers, pendulum clocks and seismometers in southwestern Hotan County, Hotan Prefecture, Xinjiang near the Karakoram Pass at an altitude of 5,500 metres (18,000 ft). Results showed that the gravitational acceleration had no obvious effect within the accuracy of the instruments. No inclination was recorded on the photosensitive paper of the inclinometer due to the width of its lines. Three inclinations were pen-recorded, whose time and direction were clearly related to that of the eclipse. Due to the difficult conditions with the high altitude, the observation team was unable to obtain more comparative data.^[1]

Related eclipses edit

Eclipses in 1976 edit

An annular solar eclipse on Thursday, 29 April 1976.
A partial lunar eclipse on Thursday, 13 May 1976.
A total solar eclipse on Saturday, 23 October 1976.
A penumbral lunar eclipse on Saturday, 6 November 1976.

Solar eclipses of 1975–1978 edit

There were 8 solar eclipses (at 6 month intervals) between May 11, 1975 and October 2, 1978.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1975 to 1978
Descending node			Ascending node
Saros	Map	Gamma	Saros	Map	Gamma
118	1975 May 11 Partial	1.06472	123	1975 November 3 Partial	−1.02475
128	1976 April 29 Annular	0.33783	133	1976 October 23 Total	−0.32699
138	1977 April 18 Annular	−0.39903	143	1977 October 12 Total	0.38363
148	1978 April 7 Partial	−1.10812	153	1978 October 2 Partial	1.16164

Saros 128 edit

This eclipse is a member of the Solar Saros cycle 128, which includes 73 eclipses occurring in intervals of 18 years and 11 days. The series started with partial solar eclipse on August 29, 984 AD. From May 16, 1417, through June 18, 1471, the series produced total solar eclipses, followed by hybrid solar eclipses from June 28, 1489, through July 31, 1543, and annular solar eclipses from August 11, 1561, through July 25, 2120. The series ends at member 73 as a partial eclipse on November 1, 2282. All eclipses in this series occurs at the Moon's descending node.

Series members 52–68 occur between 1901 and 2200
52	53	54
March 17, 1904	March 28, 1922	April 7, 1940
55	56	57
April 19, 1958	April 29, 1976	May 10, 1994
58	59	60
May 20, 2012	June 1, 2030	June 11, 2048
61	62	63
June 22, 2066	July 3, 2084	July 15, 2102
64	65	66
July 25, 2120	August 5, 2138 (Partial)	August 16, 2156 (Partial)
67	68
August 27, 2174 (Partial)	September 6, 2192 (Partial)

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.

21 eclipse events, progressing from north to south between July 11, 1953 and July 11, 2029
July 10–12	April 29–30	February 15–16	December 4–5	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	158	160	162	164
July 11, 2029