1978 Solar Eclipse Facts For The Budding Astronomer In You
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When a portion of the Earth is covered in a shadow cast by the Moon as it blocks out sunlight, it is known as a solar eclipse.
A solar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Moon and Earth align. Alignments like these indicate that the Moon is close to the ecliptic plane.
In a total eclipse, the Sun is completely obscured by the Moon, while partial and annular eclipses only cover a part of the Sun.
If the Moon was in the same orbital plane as the Earth, and a little closer, there would be a solar eclipse every New Moon. This cannot happen as the Moon's orbit is tilted more than five degrees towards the Earth's orbit; the Earth misses the Moon's shadow.
The only times when solar eclipses can occur is when the Moon is close to the ecliptic plane during every New Moon.
As Solar and lunar eclipses only happen in eclipse seasons, only five solar eclipses take place during the whole year. Total eclipses are rarer as the timing must be exact during the eclipse season.
The elliptical orbit of the Moon takes the Moon far away from the Earth, which makes the shadow too small to cover the visibility of the Sun.
Everyone knows that solar eclipses are a natural phenomenon, but there were times when people believed them to be bad omens. A total solar eclipse was frightening to a person who has no idea about its astronomical explanation, as the Sun would not be visible during the day, and the sky would darken in just a few minutes.
Indirect viewing techniques and special eye protection are used when looking at solar eclipses as directly viewing the Sun can damage your eyes. This practice must be carried out carefully and with supervision, as a small mistake can have a great impact on your life.
A partial solar eclipse is when the Sun and the Moon are not perfectly in line with the Earth. The Moon only partially covers the visibility of the Sun.
Many eclipses are seen as a partial solar eclipse because in a partial eclipse the umbra passes the Earth's polar regions and does not intersect with the Earth's surface.
Partial eclipses are usually very hard to notice as the Sun is 90% visible and does not cause any darkening in the sky. The longest eclipse was the eclipse that occurred on June 21, 2001; this eclipse was about six to seven minutes long.
On Friday, March 24 1978, an eclipse of the Moon occurred. The eclipse was at its peak at 16:22 UT. The Moon pushed Earth into darkness; this darkness lasted for one hour and 31 minutes! It was a deep and total eclipse, and only 45% of the Moon's diameter could be seen through the Earth's umbral shadow.
The visual effects of the eclipse were dependent on the Earth's atmosphere; the Moon was stained with a dark red color. The partial eclipse lasted for about three hours and 39 minutes.
While the partial eclipse lasted for three hours and 39 minutes, the penumbral eclipse lasted for five hours and 45 minutes, and the total eclipse lasted for one hour and 31 minutes.
The greatest eclipse occurred in 1978; this was 1.9 days before the Moon had reached its peak. During this eclipse, the Sun was in the constellation known as Scorpius.
The synodic month in which the eclipse had taken place had a brown lunation number. All of these eclipses are known to occur on the Moon's descending node. With respect to the node with each succeeding eclipse, the Moon moves northward and the gamma increases.
A partial solar eclipse took place on April 7, 1978, where the Moon passed between the Earthand the Sun, and the Moon darkened the sky by hiding the Sun's visibility.
A total solar eclipse occurred on October 16. Following the total solar eclipse was a partial eclipse that took place on October 30.
If you enjoy this article, why not also read about the 1776 solar eclipse or the 1979 total eclipse here on Kidadl?
What time marked the solar eclipse in 1978?
The greatest eclipse took place on October 16, 1978, at 08:01:31 TD. This occurred 1.9 days before the Moon reached its perigee.
The Sun was in the constellation Scorpius during this eclipse, The month in which the eclipse took place was called the synodic month. This synodic month had a brown lunation number. In data, the predictions were both in terrestrial dynamical time (TD) and in the Universal time (UT).
The parameter ΔT is used to convert between these two times. ΔT has a value of 45875.1 seconds for this eclipse.
*We've been unable to source an image of the 1978 Solar Eclipse and have used an image of a generic solar eclipse instead. If you are able to provide us with a royalty-free image of the 1978 Solar Eclipse, we would be happy to credit you. Please contact us at hello@kidadl.com
Where could you observe the 1978 solar eclipse from?
From an observer's point of view, a solar eclipse must not be watched directly as it can harm their eyes. However, they can look at the solar eclipse through special eye protection.
On viewing a solar eclipse, as the Sun is not visible due to being covered by the Moon, the sky gets dark. This eclipse can be observed globally.
How many eclipses occurred in 1978?
In 1978 there were four eclipses in total that took place throughout the year. There were two partial solar eclipses and two total lunar eclipses that took place in the year 1978.
Did the 1978 solar eclipse have any effects?
The effects of the 1978 solar eclipse were not many, but some people believe that a solar eclipse is a bad omen. This was mostly believed in the past because the Sun would not be visible and would darken the sky during the day.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our 1978 solar eclipse facts for the budding astronomer in you, then why not take a look at our articles on the 1944 Vesuvius eruption or the 1966 North Dakota blizzard?
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