An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Tuesday, November 23, 1965,[1] with a magnitude of 0.9656. 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 kilometres wide. Occurring about 6.3 days before apogee (on November 29, 1965, at 12:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.[2]
Annularity was visible from the Soviet Union (today's eastern Turkmenistan, southern Uzbekistan and southwestern Tajikistan), Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China, Nepal (including the capital city Kathmandu), southwestern Sikkim (now merged with India), Burma, southwestern tip of Sainyabuli Province in Laos, Cambodia, South Vietnam (now belonging to Vietnam), Spratly Islands, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Territory of Papua New Guinea (today's Papua New Guinea), and Gilbert and Ellice Islands (the part now belonging to Kiribati). 8 of the 14 eight-thousanders—Dhaulagiri, Annapurna, Manaslu, Shishapangma, Cho Oyu, Everest, Lhotse and Makalu, as well as the highest peak of Oceania, Puncak Jaya, lie in the path of annularity. A partial eclipse was visible for most of Asia, Australia, and Oceania.
An observation team of the Lockheed Corporation and the United States Air Force observed the annular eclipse near Chiang Mai, Thailand's second largest city. They calculated the relationship between the angular diameters of the moon and the sun during annularity, and the flattening of the moon based on the results.[3]
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.[4]
| First Penumbral External Contact | 1965 November 23 at 01:24:37.4 UTC | |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1965 November 23 at 02:29:29.3 UTC | |
| First Central Line | 1965 November 23 at 02:31:10.9 UTC | |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 1965 November 23 at 02:32:52.8 UTC | |
| First Penumbral Internal Contact | 1965 November 23 at 03:52:46.9 UTC | |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1965 November 23 at 04:00:47.7 UTC | |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1965 November 23 at 04:10:27.3 UTC | |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1965 November 23 at 04:14:51.0 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral Internal Contact | 1965 November 23 at 04:37:14.5 UTC | |
| Greatest Duration | 1965 November 23 at 04:40:27.4 UTC | |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1965 November 23 at 05:56:56.0 UTC | |
| Last Central Line | 1965 November 23 at 05:58:40.8 UTC | |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1965 November 23 at 06:00:25.4 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1965 November 23 at 07:05:17.0 UTC |
| Eclipse Magnitude | 0.96561 | |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 0.93240 | |
| Gamma | 0.39061 | |
| Sun Right Ascension | 15h54m02.2s | |
| Sun Declination | -20°17'39.6" | |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'11.9" | |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.9" | |
| Moon Right Ascension | 15h54m30.7s | |
| Moon Declination | -19°56'39.6" | |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 15'24.9" | |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°56'34.5" | |
| ΔT | 36.5 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.