Solar eclipse of April 30, 1957

Solar eclipse of April 30, 1957
Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Annular
Gamma	0.9992
Magnitude	0.9799
Maximum eclipse
Duration	-
Coordinates	70°36′N 40°18′E / 70.6°N 40.3°E / 70.6; 40.3
Max. width of band	- km
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse	0:05:28
References
Saros	118 (65 of 72)
Catalog # (SE5000)	9414

An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Tuesday, April 30, 1957,^[1] with a magnitude of 0.9799. 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. Occurring about 6.1 days after apogee (on April 23, 1957, at 22:20 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.^[2]

It will be unusual in that while it is a total solar eclipse, it is not a central solar eclipse. A non-central eclipse is one where the center-line of totality does not intersect the surface of the Earth (when the gamma is between 0.9972 and 1.0260). Instead, the center line passes just above the Earth's surface. This rare type occurs when totality is only visible at sunset or sunrise in a polar region.

Annularity was visible from northern Soviet Union (today's Russia) and Bear Island, the southernmost island of Svalbard, Norway. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of East Asia, Northeast Asia, Alaska, Canada, and the Northwestern United States. This was the last of 57 umbral eclipses in Solar Saros 118.