Solar eclipse of April 29, 1976

Solar eclipse of April 29, 1976
Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Annular
Gamma	0.3378
Magnitude	0.9421
Maximum eclipse
Duration	401 s (6 min 41 s)
Coordinates	34°00′N 18°18′E / 34°N 18.3°E / 34; 18.3
Max. width of band	227 km (141 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse	10:24:18
References
Saros	128 (56 of 73)
Catalog # (SE5000)	9456

An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Thursday, April 29, 1976,^[1] with a magnitude of 0.9421. 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 1.9 days after apogee (on April 27, 1976, at 13:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.^[2]

Annularity was visible from North Africa, Greece, Turkey, Middle East, central Asia, India, China. 5 of the 14 eight-thousanders in Pakistan and China—Nanga Parbat, K2, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum II and Gasherbrum I, lie in the path of annularity. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of the Canadian Maritimes, North Africa, Central Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia.