Nature Total Magnitude 1.0592 Max. width of band 344 km (214 mi) Start date June 20, 1974 | Gamma -0.8239 Duration 309 sec (5 m 9 s) Greatest eclipse 4:48:04 | |
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A total solar eclipse occurred on June 20, 1974. 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.
Solar eclipses of 1971-1974
Each member 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.
Note: Partial solar eclipses on February 25, 1971 and August 20, 1971 occur in the next lunar year set.