A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Wednesday, October 23, 1957, with a magnitude of 1.0013. 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. Occurring about 1.4 days after perigee (on October 21, 1957, at 13:10 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
It was unusual that while it is a total solar eclipse, it is not a central one. A non-central eclipse is one where the center-line of totality does not intersect the surface of the Earth (when the gamma is between 0.9972 and 1.0260). Instead, the center line passes just above the Earth's surface. This rare type occurs when totality is only visible at sunset or sunrise in a polar region.
While totality was not visible for any land masses, a partial eclipse was visible for Southern Africa, Antarctica, and New Zealand. This was the last of 44 umbral solar eclipses in Solar Saros 123.
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.
+October 23, 1957 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1957 October 23 at 02:51:30.3 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1957 October 23 at 04:43:52.2 UTC First Umbral External Contact 1957 October 23 at 04:49:55.5 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1957 October 23 at 04:54:02.5 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 1957 October 23 at 04:57:47.0 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1957 October 23 at 05:22:28.4 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1957 October 23 at 06:56:24.8 UTC
+October 23, 1957 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 1.00130 Eclipse Obscuration - Gamma −1.00218 Sun Right Ascension 13h49m48.9s Sun Declination -11°18'19.3" Sun Semi-Diameter 16'04.7" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.8" Moon Right Ascension 13h48m44.3s Moon Declination -12°16'32.6" Moon Semi-Diameter 16'26.5" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 1°00'20.5" ΔT 32.1 s
Eclipse season
This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, 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.
+ Eclipse season of October–November 1957 October 23Ascending node (new moon) November 7Descending node (full moon) Total solar eclipseSolar Saros 123 Total lunar eclipseLunar Saros 135
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1957 A non-central annular solar eclipse on April 30. A total lunar eclipse on May 13. A non-central total solar eclipse on October 23. A total lunar eclipse on November 7.
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 5, 1954 Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 11, 1961
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 12, 1950 Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 4, 1964
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of October 18, 1948 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of October 29, 1966
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 23, 1946 Followed by: Solar eclipse of September 22, 1968
Solar Saros 123 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 12, 1939 Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 3, 1975
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 12, 1928 Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 3, 1986
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 22, 1870 Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 23, 2044
Solar eclipses of 1957–1960
Saros 123
Metonic series
Tritos series
Inex series
Notes
References