Solar eclipse of May 30, 1965

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Sunday, May 30, 1965, with a magnitude of 1.0544. 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. Totality was visible from northwestern Northland Region in New Zealand on May 31 (Monday), and Manuae in Cook Islands, Manuae and Motu One in French Polynesia, and Peru on May 30 (Sunday).

As most of the eclipse's path was over open ocean, a prolonged observation was made by a jet transport; flying parallel to the path of the eclipse at 587 mph, this gave scientists what was at the time the "longest probe in man's history into the conditions of a solar eclipse", for nearly ten minutes. The expedition involved scientists from NASA, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland; in total, 30 researchers and 13 separate research projects were represented on the plane. The plane, operated by NASA, took off from Hilo, Hawaii, and met up with the path of the eclipse approximately 1000 mi south of there. While mostly invisible from land, some ground-based observers in an 85-mile-wide strip of northern New Zealand were able to clearly view the event.

Observations
New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Japan and the Soviet Union sent observation teams to Manuae, Cook Islands to observe the total eclipse. The New Zealand government deployed ships to transport passengers from Rarotonga, the island where the national capital Avarua is located, to Manuae. The atoll has a total area of 1,524 hectares, and only a few copra workers lived there permanently. During the totality, there were 85 scientists as well as their assistants on the atoll. The sun was covered by clouds during the eclipse and observations were not successful. In the northern part of New Zealand's North Island, the total eclipse occurred shortly after sunrise on May 31 local time. Although there were some clouds in the sky on the previous evening, the eclipse was seen successfully. In addition, scientists also launched rockets to obtain observation data from high altitude.

Eclipses in 1965

 * A total solar eclipse on May 30, 1965.
 * A partial lunar eclipse on June 14, 1965.
 * An annular solar eclipse on November 23, 1965.
 * A penumbral lunar eclipse on December 8, 1965.

Metonic

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 11, 1961
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 18, 1969

Tzolkinex

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 19, 1958
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 10, 1972

Half-Saros

 * Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 24, 1956
 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of June 4, 1974

Tritos

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 30, 1954
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 29, 1976

Solar Saros 127

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 20, 1947
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 11, 1983

Inex

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 19, 1936
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 10, 1994

Triad

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 29, 1878
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 30, 2052