An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Wednesday, August 22, 1979,[1] with a magnitude of 0.9329. 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 only about 15 hours before apogee (on August 23, 1979, at 8:10 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.[2]
Annularity was visible for a part of Antarctica. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of southern South America and Antarctica. This was the last of 40 umbral eclipses in Solar Saros 125.
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 | 1979 August 22 at 14:55:55.6 UTC | |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1979 August 22 at 16:43:17.2 UTC | |
| First Central Line | 1979 August 22 at 16:51:47.8 UTC | |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 1979 August 22 at 17:03:32.7 UTC | |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1979 August 22 at 17:11:15.7 UTC | |
| Greatest Duration | 1979 August 22 at 17:22:05.7 UTC | |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1979 August 22 at 17:22:38.0 UTC | |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1979 August 22 at 17:52:40.4 UTC | |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1979 August 22 at 17:41:20.6 UTC | |
| Last Central Line | 1979 August 22 at 17:53:06.4 UTC | |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1979 August 22 at 18:01:37.8 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1979 August 22 at 19:49:07.3 UTC |
| Eclipse Magnitude | 0.93295 | |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 0.87039 | |
| Gamma | −0.96319 | |
| Sun Right Ascension | 10h04m36.4s | |
| Sun Declination | +11°48'55.0" | |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 15'48.8" | |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.7" | |
| Moon Right Ascension | 10h03m42.7s | |
| Moon Declination | +10°58'46.8" | |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 14'42.1" | |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°53'57.5" | |
| ΔT | 50.2 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.