A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Saturday, October 23, 1976,[1] with a magnitude of 1.0572. 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 only about 9 hours before perigee (on October 23, 1976, at 14:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[2]
This total solar eclipse began at sunrise in Tanzania near the border with Burundi, with the path of totality passing just north of the large Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam. It then crossed the Indian Ocean, passing St. Pierre Island, Providence Atoll and Farquhar Atoll of Seychelles before making landfall in southeastern Australia. The largest city that saw totality was Melbourne. After leaving the Australian mainland, the path of totality left the Earth's surface just north of the north island of New Zealand. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of East Africa, Indonesia, Australia, Antarctica, and western Oceania.
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 | 1976 October 23 at 02:39:17.5 UTC | |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1976 October 23 at 03:35:21.3 UTC | |
| First Central Line | 1976 October 23 at 03:36:28.9 UTC | |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 1976 October 23 at 03:37:36.6 UTC | |
| First Penumbral Internal Contact | 1976 October 23 at 04:39:57.2 UTC | |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1976 October 23 at 05:10:25.1 UTC | |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1976 October 23 at 05:13:45.3 UTC | |
| Greatest Duration | 1976 October 23 at 05:16:15.1 UTC | |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1976 October 23 at 05:22:43.8 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral Internal Contact | 1976 October 23 at 05:47:19.5 UTC | |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1976 October 23 at 06:49:47.0 UTC | |
| Last Central Line | 1976 October 23 at 06:50:55.2 UTC | |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1976 October 23 at 06:52:03.2 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1976 October 23 at 07:48:08.1 UTC |
| Eclipse Magnitude | 1.05716 | |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 1.11758 | |
| Gamma | −0.32699 | |
| Sun Right Ascension | 13h51m21.8s | |
| Sun Declination | -11°26'48.5" | |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'04.7" | |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.8" | |
| Moon Right Ascension | 13h51m00.8s | |
| Moon Declination | -11°46'09.2" | |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'43.4" | |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 1°01'22.6" | |
| ΔT | 47.3 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.