Solar eclipse of July 10, 1972

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Monday, July 10, 1972, with a magnitude of 1.0379. 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 2.9 days after perigee (on July 7, 1972), the Moon's diameter was relatively large.

It was visible as a total eclipse along a path of totality that began in Sea of Okhotsk and traversed the far eastern portions of the Soviet Union (which now belongs to Russia) on July 11 local time, northern Alaska in the United States, Northern Canada, eastern Quebec and the Canadian Maritimes on July 10 local time. A partial eclipse was visible over Siberia, Canada and the northern and eastern United States.

The eclipse was mostly seen on July 10, 1972, except for the Asian part of Soviet Union and Japanese island Hokkaido, where either a partial or a total eclipse was seen on July 11 local time, and part of the Soviet Union along the coast of Kara Sea, where a partial eclipse started on July 10, passing midnight and ended on July 11 due to the midnight sun.

Observations
A team of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union observed the total solar eclipse in Russkaya Koshka, Magadan Oblast (now separated into Chukotka Autonomous Okrug) on the coast of Gulf of Anadyr. The weather condition was clear, and the team successfully took images of the corona and made polarization observations to study its structure and physical characteristics. In Nova Scotia, Canada, the eclipse was clouded out and could not be observed. Besides that, 850 passengers boarded a cruise ship from New York City and saw a total eclipse successfully in North Atlantic Ocean. Many scientists also boarded the ship and did research, and some also gave classes in meteorology, oceanography, etc., which almost all passengers attended.

"You're So Vain"
The eclipse is referenced in the lyrics of Carly Simon's 1972 hit song "You're So Vain." The subject of the song, after witnessing his racehorse win "naturally" at the Saratoga Race Course, flies his Learjet to Nova Scotia to see the eclipse; Simon uses the two phenomena as examples of how the subject seems to be "where (he) should be all the time." Simon released the song four months after the eclipse.

Eclipses in 1972

 * An annular solar eclipse on January 16, 1972.
 * A total lunar eclipse on January 30, 1972.
 * A total solar eclipse on July 10, 1972.
 * A partial lunar eclipse on July 26, 1972.

Metonic

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 22, 1968
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 29, 1976

Tzolkinex

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 30, 1965
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 22, 1979

Half-Saros

 * Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of July 6, 1963
 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of July 17, 1981

Tritos

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 11, 1961
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 11, 1983

Solar Saros 126

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 30, 1954
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 22, 1990

Inex

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 1, 1943
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 21, 2001

Triad

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 8, 1885
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 11, 2059