A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Thursday, February 4 and Friday, February 5, 1943, with a magnitude of 1.0331. 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 22 hours after perigee (on February 4, 1943, at 1:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.

It began on the morning on February 5 (Friday) over northeastern China (then occupied by Manchukuo), Primorsky Krai in the Soviet Union (now Russia), Hokkaido and southern Kunashir Island in Japan (Kunashir now belonging to Russia) and ended at sunset on February 4 (Thursday) over Alaska and Yukon in Canada. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of East Asia, Hawaii, and western North America.

Observations In China, the eclipse occurred on February 5, the exact date of the Lunar New Year. However it was during the Second Sino-Japanese War and all the areas within the path of totality which is now in China were then under the control of Manchukuo, a Japanese puppet state. Chinese scientists did not make any observation for scientific purposes. A short report with the title "Tokyo total solar eclipse" was published in Kuomintang's official newspaper Central Daily News. Actually, Tokyo was out of the path of totality and only a partial eclipse was visible.

The Japanese headquarters of the International Latitude Observatory, the predecessor of the of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan in Mizusawa, Iwate (now part of the city of Ōshū) sent an observation team to Kushiro, Hokkaido. Seiichi Oikawa, a member of the team, took photos of the total eclipse. In Kushiro the weather conditions were good and the solar eclipse began at 6:46 am, 11 minutes after sunrise. About 1 hour and 5 minutes later, the sun was completely covered by the moon and the totality phase was seen for less than 2 minutes.

In the Territory of Alaska (now the state of Alaska), a total eclipse was visible from cities including Seward, Valdez and Kodiac. Alaska's largest city, Anchorage was located near the northern edge of the path of totality. A total eclipse was visible in the southeastern part of the city. The University of Alaska held a conference on February 4, the exact day of the eclipse, to explain in-depth information on the eclipse.

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.

+February 4, 1943 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1943 February 4 at 21:26:44.5 UTC First Umbral External Contact 1943 February 4 at 22:46:38.7 UTC First Central Line 1943 February 4 at 22:48:02.2 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 1943 February 4 at 22:49:27.4 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1943 February 4 at 23:29:20.2 UTC Greatest Duration 1943 February 4 at 23:37:07.6 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1943 February 4 at 23:38:10.3 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1943 February 4 at 23:56:42.1 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 1943 February 5 at 00:26:41.1 UTC Last Central Line 1943 February 5 at 00:28:05.3 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 1943 February 5 at 00:29:27.7 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1943 February 5 at 01:49:29.8 UTC

+February 4, 1943 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 1.03313 Eclipse Obscuration 1.06736 Gamma 0.87335 Sun Right Ascension 21h11m02.0s Sun Declination -16°15'11.5" Sun Semi-Diameter 16'13.3" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9" Moon Right Ascension 21h10m17.8s Moon Declination -15°23'06.3" Moon Semi-Diameter 16'37.6" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 1°01'01.1" ΔT 25.7 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 February 1943 February 4Descending node (new moon) February 20Ascending node (full moon) Total solar eclipseSolar Saros 120 Partial lunar eclipseLunar Saros 132

Related eclipses Eclipses in 1943 A total solar eclipse on February 4. A partial lunar eclipse on February 20. An annular solar eclipse on August 1. A partial lunar eclipse on August 15.

Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 19, 1939 Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 23, 1946

Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 25, 1935 Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 18, 1950

Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of January 30, 1934 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of February 11, 1952

Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 7, 1932 Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 5, 1954

Solar Saros 120 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 24, 1925 Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 15, 1961

Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 25, 1914 Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 16, 1972

Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 5, 1856 Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 5, 2029

Solar eclipses of 1942–1946

Saros 120

Metonic series

Tritos series

Inex series

Notes

References