A total

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six mo ...

occurred on July 20, 1963. A

occurs when the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width ...

passes between

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surf ...

and the

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared rad ...

, 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 The angular diameter, angular size, apparent diameter, or apparent size is an angular distance describing how large a sphere or circle appears from a given point of view. In the vision sciences, it is called the visual angle, and in optics, it is ...

is at least the same size as the Sun's or larger, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with a partial solar eclipse visible over the surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Totality was visible from

Hokkaido is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...

in Japan and

Kuril Islands The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands (; rus, Кури́льские острова́, r=Kuril'skiye ostrova, p=kʊˈrʲilʲskʲɪjə ɐstrɐˈva; Japanese: or ) are a volcanic archipelago currently administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

(now belonging to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

) on July 21, and

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...

, and

Maine Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

and also

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

on July 20. Astronomer

Charles H. Smiley Charles Hugh Smiley (September 6, 1903 – July 26, 1977) was an American astronomer and academic, and the author of a column on astronomy, “Planets and Stars” (''Providence Journal'', 1938–1957). The main belt asteroid 1613 Smiley is named ...

observed the eclipse from a U.S. Air Force F-104D Starfighter

supersonic aircraft A supersonic aircraft is an aircraft capable of supersonic flight, that is, flying faster than the speed of sound (Mach number 1). Supersonic speed, Supersonic aircraft were developed in the second half of the twentieth century. Supersonic airc ...

that was "racing the moon's shadow" at extending the duration of totality to 4 minutes 3 seconds. The moon was 375,819 km (233,523 mi) from the Earth. The moon's apparent diameter was 4.8 arcseconds smaller than the January 25, 1963 annular solar eclipse. This was a total solar eclipse because it occurred in July when the earth is near aphelion (furthest from the Sun). The moon's apparent diameter was just over 2.2% larger than the Sun's. Occurring about 4.1 days after perigee (Perigee on July 16, 1963), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.

In popular culture

The eclipse was featured in the comic strip ''

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ' ...

'' (July 15–20, 1963), with Linus demonstrating a safe way of observing the eclipse as opposed to looking directly at the eclipse. On the day the eclipse passed over his area, Linus was left helplessly standing in the rain with cloud cover entirely too thick to witness the eclipse. This particular eclipse event plays an important part in two of

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high ...

's novels, '' Gerald's Game'' (1992) and ''

Dolores Claiborne ''Dolores Claiborne'' () is a 1992 psychological thriller novel by Stephen King. The novel is narrated by the title character. Atypically for a King novel, it has no chapters, double-spacing between paragraphs, or other section breaks; thus, t ...

'' (1992). The eclipse is mentioned in passing in John Updike' s novel Couples (1968) in relation to Piet and Foxy. The eclipse was featured in the

season 3 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

episode of ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its ...

'' entitled "Seven Twenty Three" (2009, S03E07).AMC (2011). Episode 7: Seven Twenty Three (Details tab). Originally retrieved from http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men/episodes/season-3/seven-twenty-three. Archived on 2011-04-11 at https://web.archive.org/web/20110411231230/http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men/episodes/season-3/seven-twenty-three.

Related eclipses

Tzolkinex

* Preceded:

Solar eclipse of June 8, 1956 A total solar eclipse occurred on June 8–9, 1956. 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' ...

* Followed: Solar eclipse of August 31, 1970

Sar (Half-Saros), Lunar Saros 138

* Preceded: Lunar eclipse of July 16, 1954 * Followed: Lunar eclipse of July 26, 1972

Tritos

* Preceded: Solar eclipse of August 20, 1952 * Followed: Solar eclipse of June 20, 1974

Solar Saros 145

* Preceded:

Solar eclipse of July 9, 1945 A total solar eclipse occurred on July 9, 1945. 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 ap ...

* Followed:

Solar eclipse of July 31, 1981 A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of the orbit on July 31, 1981. 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 ...

Inex

* Preceded:

Solar eclipse of August 10, 1934 An annular solar eclipse occurred on August 10, 1934, with an eclipse magnitude of 0.9436. 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 a ...

* Followed:

Solar eclipse of June 30, 1992 A total solar eclipse occurred on June 30, 1992. 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' ...

Solar eclipses of 1961–1964

Saros 145

Inex series

In the 19th century: * Solar saros 140: total solar eclipse of October 29, 1818 * Solar saros 141: annular solar eclipse of October 9, 1847 * Solar saros 142: total solar eclipse of September 17, 1876 In the 22nd century: * Solar saros 150: partial solar eclipse of April 11, 2108 * Solar saros 151: annular solar eclipse of March 21, 2137 * Solar saros 152: total solar eclipse of March 2, 2166 * Solar saros 153: annular solar eclipse of February 10, 2195

Metonic series

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solar Eclipse Of July 20, 1963 1963 07 20 1963 in science 1963 07 20 July 1963 events