Solar eclipse of June 29, 1927

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Wednesday, June 29, 1927, with a magnitude of 1.0128. 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 far northern Europe and Asia, including the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Soviet Union (today's Russia) on June 29 (Wednesday), and finally passed Amukta in Alaska on June 28 (Tuesday).

Observation in England
This was the first total eclipse visible from British mainland soil for 203 years. The Astronomer Royal set up a camp to observe the eclipse from the grounds of Giggleswick School in North Yorkshire, which was on the line of totality. An observer at Southport, where an estimated quarter of a million people were on the shore to watch, described the eclipse for the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, describing it as "those memorable 23 seconds ... a landmark forever in the lives of those privileged to see for the first time the Sun's Corona, whose secrets are only revealed to us for some few minutes in each century."

This eclipse is referenced in the closing pages of Dorothy L. Sayers' novel Unnatural Death. Frances Brody's 2017 novel Death in the Stars is set at Giggleswick School while crowds were there to view the eclipse.

Virginia Woolf recorded her impression of the eclipse, including the words "We had fallen. It was extinct. There was no colour. The earth was dead."

Eclipses in 1927

 * An annular solar eclipse on January 3, 1927.
 * A total lunar eclipse on June 15, 1927.
 * A total solar eclipse on June 29, 1927.
 * A total lunar eclipse on December 8, 1927.
 * A partial solar eclipse on December 24, 1927.

Metonic

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 10, 1923
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 18, 1931

Tzolkinex

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 18, 1920
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 10, 1934

Half-Saros

 * Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of June 24, 1918
 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of July 4, 1936

Tritos

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 30, 1916
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 29, 1938

Solar Saros 145

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 17, 1909
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 9, 1945

Inex

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 18, 1898
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 8, 1956

Triad

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 27, 1840
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 29, 2014