A partial
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 Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...
occurred at the Moon's
ascending node
An orbital node is either of the two points where an orbit intersects a plane of reference to which it is inclined. A non-inclined orbit, which is contained in the reference plane, has no nodes.
Planes of reference
Common planes of referenc ...
of orbit on Thursday, February 25, 1971, with a
magnitude
Magnitude may refer to:
Mathematics
*Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction
*Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object
*Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector
*Order of ...
of 0.7872. A
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 Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...
occurs when the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
passes between
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
and the
Sun
The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...
, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A partial solar eclipse occurs in the polar regions of the Earth when the center of the Moon's shadow misses the Earth.
A partial eclipse was visible for parts of
North Africa
North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...
and
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
.
Eclipse details
Shown below are two tables displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. The first table outlines times at which the moon's penumbra or umbra attains the specific parameter, and the second table describes various other parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
Eclipse season
This eclipse is part of an
eclipse season
An eclipse season is a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Eclipse seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of the Orbit of the Moon, Moon's orbital plane (orbital inclination, tilted five degrees to the ecliptic, Earth ...
, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a
fortnight
A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term , meaning "" (or "fourteen days", since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights).
Astronomy and tides
In astronomy, a ''lunar fortnight'' is hal ...
.
Related eclipses
Eclipses in 1971
*
A total lunar eclipse on February 10.
* A partial solar eclipse on February 25.
*
A partial solar eclipse on July 22.
*
A total lunar eclipse on August 6.
*
A partial solar eclipse on August 20.
Metonic
* Preceded by:
Solar eclipse of May 9, 1967
* Followed by:
Solar eclipse of December 13, 1974
Tzolkinex
* Preceded by:
Solar eclipse of January 14, 1964
* Followed by:
Solar eclipse of April 7, 1978
Half-Saros
* Preceded by:
Lunar eclipse of February 19, 1962
* Followed by:
Lunar eclipse of March 1, 1980
Tritos
* Preceded by:
Solar eclipse of March 27, 1960
* Followed by:
Solar eclipse of January 25, 1982
Solar Saros 149
* Preceded by:
Solar eclipse of February 14, 1953
* Followed by:
Solar eclipse of March 7, 1989
Inex
* Preceded by:
Solar eclipse of March 16, 1942
* Followed by:
Solar eclipse of February 5, 2000
Triad
* Preceded by:
Solar eclipse of April 25, 1884
* Followed by:
Solar eclipse of December 26, 2057
Solar eclipses of 1968–1971
Saros 149
Metonic series
Tritos series
Inex series
References
External links
{{commons category
1971 2 25
1971 in science
1971 2 25
February 1971