A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Sunday, May 29, 1938,[1] with a magnitude of 1.0552. 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 1.2 days before perigee (on May 30, 1938, at 17:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[2]
The path of totality was mostly on the sea. The only land that was covered was South Orkney Islands of Antarctica, as well as South Georgia except for its northwestern part, Zavodovski Island and Visokoi Island controlled by the United Kingdom. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of southern and central South America and Southern Africa. This was the first of 41 umbral eclipses of Solar Saros 146.
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 | 1938 May 29 at 11:46:36.9 UTC | |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1938 May 29 at 13:17:53.5 UTC | |
| First Central Line | 1938 May 29 at 13:22:34.9 UTC | |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 1938 May 29 at 13:28:10.1 UTC | |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1938 May 29 at 13:43:32.0 UTC | |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1938 May 29 at 13:50:18.5 UTC | |
| Greatest Duration | 1938 May 29 at 13:50:38.6 UTC | |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1938 May 29 at 13:59:56.4 UTC | |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1938 May 29 at 14:12:30.3 UTC | |
| Last Central Line | 1938 May 29 at 14:18:06.8 UTC | |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1938 May 29 at 14:22:49.5 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1938 May 29 at 15:54:00.6 UTC |
| Eclipse Magnitude | 1.05523 | |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 1.11351 | |
| Gamma | −0.96068 | |
| Sun Right Ascension | 04h22m54.3s | |
| Sun Declination | +21°34'16.3" | |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 15'46.6" | |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.7" | |
| Moon Right Ascension | 04h23m11.2s | |
| Moon Declination | +20°36'05.3" | |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'34.8" | |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 1°00'50.8" | |
| ΔT | 24.0 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.