Solar eclipse of October 2, 1959


A total solar eclipse occurred on October 2, 1959. 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. Totality was visible from northeastern Massachusetts and the southern tip of New Hampshire in the United States, Canary Islands, Morocco, Spanish Sahara including the capital city Laayoune, French Mauritania, Mali Federation, French Niger, British Nigeria, British Cameroons and French Cameroons, French Chad including the capital city Fort-Lamy, French Central Africa, Sudan, Ethiopia, and the Trust Territory of Somaliland.

Observations

Totality began over Boston, Massachusetts at sunrise. Viewing the eclipse was rained out, but it was reported that the brightening of the sky after the eclipse was a startling and impressive sight. A few photographers captured the eclipse from airplanes above the clouds, and a multiple exposure was made atop the R. C. A. building in New York City. The next total eclipse over Boston, the solar eclipse of May 1, 2079, will also be a sunrise event.
The event was also observed at the Canarian Island of Fuerteventura by a team of Dutch astronomers of the university of Utrecht and Amsterdam.

Related eclipses

Solar eclipses of 1957–1960

Solar 143

Inex series

Metonic series

Tritos series