Solar eclipse of March 18, 1969

Solar eclipse of March 18, 1969
Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Annular
Gamma	−0.2704
Magnitude	0.9954
Maximum eclipse
Duration	26 s (0 min 26 s)
Coordinates	14°48′S 116°18′E / 14.8°S 116.3°E / -14.8; 116.3
Max. width of band	16 km (9.9 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse	4:54:57
References
Saros	129 (49 of 80)
Catalog # (SE5000)	9440

An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Tuesday, March 18, 1969,^[1] with a magnitude of 0.9954. 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. The Moon's apparent diameter was near the average diameter because it occurred 5.1 days after perigee (on March 13, 1969, at 2:50 UTC) and 7.7 days before apogee (on March 25, 1969, at 19:30 UTC).^[2]

Annularity was visible from part of Indonesia, and two atolls (Faraulep and Gaferut) in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands which belongs to the Federated States of Micronesia now. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Madagascar, Antarctica, Australia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and northern Oceania.