A partial eclipse of the Sun occurred on Friday 20 August, 1971 UT, with maximum eclipse at 22:38 UT. A moderate partial eclipse, with 51% of the Sun covered for viewers closest to the center, created an interesting spectacle.

Maximum eclipse was at 22:38:49 UT.

During this eclipse the Sun was 0.527° in apparent diameter, 1.1% smaller than average. The Moon was just 4 days before apogee, making it very small. At maximum eclipse it was 0.498° in apparent diameter, which is 6.3% smaller than average. This has no real effect on this eclipse, since the Moon's central shadow misses the Earth, making this a partial eclipse. The statistics page has information on the ranges of the sizes of the Sun and Moon, and the Moon data page displays detailed information on the Moon's key dates.

Overview Map

This map sourced from NASA Goddard Space flight Center: GSFC Eclipse Web SiteGSFC Eclipse Web Site
The primary source of all the information on eclipses presented here at Hermit Eclipse. (NASA Goddard Space flight Center)
https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse.html
shows the visibility of the partial solar eclipse. (Click on it for the full-sized version.)

Eclipse Season and Saros Series

This eclipse season contains 3 eclipses:

This was the 4th eclipse in solar Saros series 154.The surrounding eclipses in this Saros series are:

This Saros series, solar Saros series 154, is linked to lunar Saros series 147. The nearest partner eclipses in that series are:

Eclipse Parameters

UT Date/time (max) 22:38:49 on 20 Aug UT TDT Date/time (max) 22:39:31 on 20 Aug TDT
Saros Series 154 Number in Series 4
Penumbral Magnitiude Central Magnitiude 0.508
Gamma -1.2659 Path Width (km) 0
Delta T 0m42s Error ± 0m00s (95%)
Penumbral Duration Partial Duration
Total Duration
Partial Rating Total Rating
Sun Distance 151362120 km (88.3%) Moon Distance 399972 km (86.6%)
Sun Diameter 0.527° Moon Diameter 0.498° - 0.498°
Perigee 01:04 on 9 Aug UT Apogee 19:43 on 24 Aug UT

Note that while all dates and times on this site (except where noted) are in UT, which is within a second of civil time, the dates and times shown in NASA's eclipse listingsGSFC Eclipse Web Site
The primary source of all the information on eclipses presented here at Hermit Eclipse. (NASA Goddard Space flight Center)
https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse.html
are in the TDT timescale.

The Sun and Moon distances are shown in km, and as a percentage of their minimum - maximum distances; hence 0% is the closest possible (Earth's perihelion, or the Moon's closest possible perigee) and 100% is the farthest (aphelion, the farthest apogee). The statistics page has information on the ranges of sizes of the Sun and Moon, and the Moon data page displays detailed information on the Moon's key dates.

Data last updated: 2015-06-21 22:11:46 UTC.