Solar eclipse of July 10, 1972

Solar eclipse of July 10, 1972
Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Total
Gamma	0.6872
Magnitude	1.0379
Maximum eclipse
Duration	156 s (2 min 36 s)
Coordinates	63°30′N 94°12′W / 63.5°N 94.2°W / 63.5; -94.2
Max. width of band	175 km (109 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse	19:46:38
References
Saros	126 (45 of 72)
Catalog # (SE5000)	9448

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Monday, July 10 and Tuesday, July 11, 1972,^[1] with a magnitude of 1.0379. 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. Occurring about 2.8 days after perigee (on July 7, 1972, at 23:50 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.^[2]

It was visible as a total eclipse along a path of totality that began in Sea of Okhotsk and traversed the far eastern portions of the Soviet Union (which now belongs to Russia) on July 11 local time, northern Alaska in the United States, Northern Canada, eastern Quebec and the Canadian Maritimes on July 10 local time. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of the northern Soviet Union, North America, the Caribbean, northern South America, and Northern Europe.

The eclipse was mostly seen on July 10, 1972, except for the Asian part of Soviet Union and Japanese island Hokkaido, where either a partial or a total eclipse was seen on July 11 local time, and part of the Soviet Union along the coast of Kara Sea, where a partial eclipse started on July 10, passing midnight and ended on July 11 due to the midnight sun.