Solar eclipse of February 25, 1952

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Monday, February 25, 1952, with a magnitude of 1.0366. 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. The path of totality crossed Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

Observations
Astronomers from various countries started traveling to Khartoum, capital of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan from January 1952. The team of the United States Naval Research Laboratory made studies in radio astronomy, spectrum, luminosity of corona and spectral observations. Teams of the High Altitude Observatory of Harvard University and University of Colorado analyzed the spectrum of the Balmer series in the hydrogen spectral series. In addition, French astronomer Bernard Ferdinand Lyot, who invented the coronagraph that allows observing the solar corona at any time, not limited to total solar eclipses, died of a heart attack in Cairo, Egypt on his way back from observing the total solar eclipse in Sudan.

Eclipses in 1952

 * A partial lunar eclipse on February 11, 1952.
 * A total solar eclipse on February 25, 1952.
 * A partial lunar eclipse on August 5, 1952.
 * An annular solar eclipse on August 20, 1952.

Metonic

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 9, 1948
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 14, 1955

Tzolkinex

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 14, 1945
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 8, 1959

Half-Saros

 * Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of February 20, 1943
 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 2, 1961

Tritos

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 27, 1941
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 25, 1963

Solar Saros 139

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 14, 1934
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 7, 1970

Inex

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 17, 1923
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 4, 1981

Triad

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 25, 1865
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 26, 2038