An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Saturday, December 25, 1954 (also known as "The Christmas 1954 solar eclipse"),[1] with a magnitude of 0.9323. 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 kilometers wide. Occurring about 4.9 days after apogee (on December 21, 1954, at 8:50 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.[2]
Annularity was visible from the southwestern tip of South West Africa (Now Namibia), Union of South Africa (Now South Africa), Ashmore and Cartier Islands except Cartier Island, Indonesia and Portuguese Timor (Now East Timor). A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Southern Africa, Antarctica, Southeast Asia, and Australia.
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.[3]
| First Penumbral External Contact | 1954 December 25 at 04:35:22.0 UTC | |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1954 December 25 at 05:40:42.2 UTC | |
| First Central Line | 1954 December 25 at 05:43:40.3 UTC | |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 1954 December 25 at 05:46:38.6 UTC | |
| First Penumbral Internal Contact | 1954 December 25 at 06:56:43.3 UTC | |
| Greatest Duration | 1954 December 25 at 07:29:49.2 UTC | |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1954 December 25 at 07:32:58.2 UTC | |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1954 December 25 at 07:33:39.3 UTC | |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1954 December 25 at 07:36:42.4 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral Internal Contact | 1954 December 25 at 08:16:48.3 UTC | |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1954 December 25 at 09:26:50.4 UTC | |
| Last Central Line | 1954 December 25 at 09:29:46.5 UTC | |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1954 December 25 at 09:32:42.2 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1954 December 25 at 10:37:59.4 UTC |
| Eclipse Magnitude | 0.93233 | |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 0.86925 | |
| Gamma | −0.25762 | |
| Sun Right Ascension | 18h12m59.7s | |
| Sun Declination | -23°24'41.6" | |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'15.7" | |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.9" | |
| Moon Right Ascension | 18h13m07.2s | |
| Moon Declination | -23°38'40.4" | |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 14'56.4" | |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°54'49.7" | |
| ΔT | 31.1 s |
See also: Eclipse cycle. 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.
| January 8 Descending node (full moon) | ||
| Annular solar eclipse Solar Saros 131 | Penumbral lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 143 |