Solar eclipse of April 8, 1959

Solar eclipse of April 8, 1959
Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Annular
Gamma	−0.4546
Magnitude	0.9401
Maximum eclipse
Duration	446 s (7 min 26 s)
Coordinates	19°06′S 137°36′E / 19.1°S 137.6°E / -19.1; 137.6
Max. width of band	247 km (153 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse	3:24:08
References
Saros	138 (28 of 70)
Catalog # (SE5000)	9418

An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Wednesday, April 8, 1959,^[1] with a magnitude of 0.9401. 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 2.9 days after apogee (on April 10, 1959, at 23:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.^[2]

Annularity was visible from Australia, southeastern tip of Milne Bay Province in the Territory of Papua New Guinea (today's Papua New Guinea), British Solomon Islands (today's Solomon Islands), Gilbert and Ellice Islands (the part now belonging to Tuvalu), Tokelau, and Swains Island in American Samoa. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Australia, Antarctica, Southeast Asia, and Oceania.