A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Wednesday, August 31 and Thursday, September 1, 1932,[1] with a magnitude of 1.0257. 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. Occurring about 3 days before perigee (on September 3, 1932, at 19:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.[2]
Totality was visible from Northwest Territories (today's Northwest Territories and Nunavut) and Quebec in Canada, and northeastern Vermont, New Hampshire, southwestern Maine, the northeastern tip of Massachusetts, and northeastern Cape Cod in the United States. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of the eastern Soviet Union (on September 1 local time), North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America.
Members of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada made observations in Maskinongé, Magog, Acton Vale, Sorel-Tracy and Louisville in Quebec. The sky in Quebec was covered in clouds on the morning of August 31. In the afternoon, the clouds gradually dispersed, and observations of totality were successful.[3] In the northeastern United States, scientists also studied the reactions of animals during the eclipse.[4]
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.[5]
| First Penumbral External Contact | 1932 August 31 at 17:44:58.8 UTC | |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1932 August 31 at 19:03:55.7 UTC | |
| First Central Line | 1932 August 31 at 19:04:44.4 UTC | |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 1932 August 31 at 19:05:33.5 UTC | |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1932 August 31 at 19:17:18.7 UTC | |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1932 August 31 at 19:54:55.5 UTC | |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1932 August 31 at 20:03:41.1 UTC | |
| Greatest Duration | 1932 August 31 at 20:04:47.8 UTC | |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1932 August 31 at 21:02:15.0 UTC | |
| Last Central Line | 1932 August 31 at 21:03:06.5 UTC | |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1932 August 31 at 21:03:57.4 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1932 August 31 at 22:22:37.3 UTC |
| Eclipse Magnitude | 1.02572 | |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 1.05209 | |
| Gamma | 0.83068 | |
| Sun Right Ascension | 10h39m17.5s | |
| Sun Declination | +08°30'34.8" | |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 15'51.0" | |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.7" | |
| Moon Right Ascension | 10h40m49.4s | |
| Moon Declination | +09°14'00.7" | |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'06.8" | |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°59'08.4" | |
| ΔT | 23.9 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.
| September 14 Ascending node (full moon) | ||
| Total solar eclipse Solar Saros 124 | Partial lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 136 |