Solar eclipse of September 20, 1960

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.^[2]

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.

• A total lunar eclipse on March 13.
• A partial solar eclipse on March 27.
• A total lunar eclipse on September 5.
• A partial solar eclipse on September 20.

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 2, 1956
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 9, 1964

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 9, 1953
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 2, 1967

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of September 15, 1951
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of September 25, 1969

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 21, 1949
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 10, 1942
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 2, 1978

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 11, 1931
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 31, 1989

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 20, 1873
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 22, 2047

This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.^[3]

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 153, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 70 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on July 28, 1870. It contains annular eclipses from December 17, 2104 through May 26, 2970. There are no hybrid or total eclipses in this set. The series ends at member 70 as a partial eclipse on August 22, 3114. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.

The longest duration of annularity will be produced by member 38 at 7 minutes, 1 seconds on September 5, 2537. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.^[4]

The metonic series repeats eclipses every 19 years (6939.69 days), lasting about 5 cycles. Eclipses occur in nearly the same calendar date. In addition, the octon subseries repeats 1/5 of that or every 3.8 years (1387.94 days). All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's ascending node.

This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

This eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

• Eclipse of the Sun of September 20, 1960—Sky and Telescope magazine, volume 20, page 129.

• http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEplot/SEplot1951/SE1960Sep20P.GIF
• http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsearch/SEdata.php?Ecl=19600920