Solar eclipse of May 9, 1948
Introduction An annular solar eclipse occurred on May 9, 1948.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. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide. Annularity was visible from Car Nicobar, the northernmost of the Nicobar Islands, and Burma, Thailand including Bangkok, French Indochina (the part now belonging to Laos), North Vietnam (now belonging to Vietnam), China, South Korea, Rebun Island in Japan, Kuril Islands in the Soviet Union (now belonging to Russia) on May 9, and Alaska on May 8.It was the first central solar eclipse visible from Bangkok from 1948 to 1958, where it is rare for a large city to witness 4 central solar eclipses in 10 years. The moon's apparent diameter was only 0.006% smaller than the Sun's, so this was an annular solar eclipse that occurred on May 9, 1948.Occurring 7.1 days after apogee (Apogee on May 2, 1948) and 6.6 days before perigee (Perigee on May 15, 1948), the Moon's apparent diameter was near the average diameter.The path width of the large annular solar eclipse of May 9, 1948, was about 200 meters and lasted only 0.3 seconds. A large annular eclipse covered over 99% of the Sun, creating a dramatic spectacle for observers in only an extremely narrow strip; however, it was fleeting, lasting just moments at the point of maximum eclipse.
Related eclipses ===Solar eclipses 1946–1949====== Saros 137 ===It is a part of Saros cycle 137, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 70 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on May 25, 1389.It contains total eclipses from August 20, 1533, through December 6, 1695, first set of hybrid eclipses from December 17, 1713, through February 11, 1804, first set of annular eclipses from February 21, 1822, through March 25, 1876, second set of hybrid eclipses from April 6, 1894, through April 28, 1930, and second set of annular eclipses from May 9, 1948, through April 13, 2507.The series ends at member 70 as a partial eclipse on June 28, 2633.The longest duration of totality was 2 minutes, 55 seconds on September 10, 1569.Solar Saros 137 has 55 umbral eclipses from August 20, 1533, through April 13, 2507 (973.62 years).Series members 30–40 occur between 1901 and 2100:303132150pxApril 17, 1912150pxApril 28, 1930150pxMay 9, 1948333435150pxMay 20, 1966150pxMay 30, 1984150pxJune 10, 2002363738150pxJune 21, 2020150pxJuly 2, 2038150pxJuly 12, 20563940150pxJuly 24, 2074150pxAugust 3, 2092===Inex series=== Inex series members between 1901 and 2100:150pxMay 29, 1919(Saros 136)150pxMay 9, 1948(Saros 137)150pxApril 18, 1977(Saros 138)150pxMarch 29, 2006(Saros 139)150pxMarch 9, 2035(Saros 140)150pxFebruary 17, 2064(Saros 141)150pxJanuary 27, 2093(Saros 142)=== Tritos series ===Series members between 1901 and 2100150pxSeptember 9, 1904(Saros 133)150pxAugust 10, 1915(Saros 134)150pxJuly 9, 1926(Saros 135)150pxJune 8, 1937(Saros 136)150pxMay 9, 1948(Saros 137)150pxApril 8, 1959(Saros 138)150pxMarch 7, 1970(Saros 139)150pxFebruary 4, 1981(Saros 140)150pxJanuary 4, 1992(Saros 141)150pxDecember 4, 2002(Saros 142)150pxNovember 3, 2013(Saros 143)150pxOctober 2, 2024(Saros 144)150pxSeptember 2, 2035(Saros 145)150pxAugust 2, 2046(Saros 146)150pxJuly 1, 2057(Saros 147)150pxMay 31, 2068(Saros 148)150pxMay 1, 2079(Saros 149)150pxMarch 31, 2090(Saros 150)=== Metonic series ===22 eclipse events between December 13, 1898, and July 20, 1982December 13–14October 1–2July 20–21May 9February 24–25111113115117119150pxDecember 13, 1898150pxJuly 21, 1906150pxMay 9, 1910150pxFebruary 25, 1914121123125127129150pxDecember 14, 1917150pxOctober 1, 1921150pxJuly 20, 1925150pxMay 9, 1929150pxFebruary 24, 1933131133135137139150pxDecember 13, 1936150pxOctober 1, 1940150pxJuly 20, 1944150pxMay 9, 1948150pxFebruary 25, 1952141143145147149150pxDecember 14, 1955150pxOctober 2, 1959150pxJuly 20, 1963150pxMay 9, 1967150pxFebruary 25, 1971151153155150pxDecember 13, 1974150pxOctober 2, 1978150pxJuly 20, 1982
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