Solar eclipse of 2006 March 29

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The solar eclipse that took place on March 29, 2006 was a total eclipse of the Sun that was visible from a narrow corridor which traversed half the Earth. The magnitude, that is, the ratio between the apparent sizes of the Moon and that of the Sun, was 1.052. The path of totality of the Moon's shadow began at sunrise in Brazil and extended across the Atlantic to Africa, travelling across Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Libya, and a small corner of Egypt, from there across the Mediterranean Sea to Greece (Kastellórizo) and Turkey, then across the Black Sea via Georgia, Russia, and Kazakhstan to Western Mongolia, where it ended at sunset. A partial eclipse was seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including the northern two-thirds of Africa, the whole of Europe, and Central Asia.

1 Observations
2 Notable times and coordinates
3 Type of the eclipse
4 Gallery
5 Satellite failure
6 References
7 External links
- 7.1 Photos and videos
- 7.2 Other resources

[edit] Observations

People gathered in large areas where solar eclipse is visible around the World to view the event. Manchester Astronomical Society, the Malaysian Space Agency, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, as well as dozens of tour groups met at the Apollo temple and the theater in Side, Turkey. The San Francisco Exploratorium featured a live webcast from the site, where thousands took their seats in the ancient, Roman-style theater. ^[1]

Almost all actively visited areas in the path of totality had perfect weather. Many observers reported an unusually beautiful eclipse, with many or all effects visible, and a very nice corona despite proximity to solar minimum. The partial phase of the eclipse was also visible from the International Space Station, while the astronauts on board took spectacular pictures of the shadow on the Earth's surface. At first, it looked as though an orbit correction in the middle of March would bring the ISS in the path of totality, but this correction was postponed.

Map of the solar eclipse on March 29, 2006

[edit] Notable times and coordinates

Event	Time (UTC)	Coordinates
Beginning of the general eclipse	07:36:50	14°27′42″S, 22°06′24″W
Beginning of the total eclipse	08:34:20	06°31′42″S, 36°59′06″W
Beginning of the central eclipse	08:35:25	06°18′18″S, 37°15′48″W
Greatest eclipse	10:11:20	23°08′54″N, 16°45′36″E
End of the central eclipse	11:46:55	51°33′42″N, 98°48′12″E
End of the total eclipse	11:47:55	51°20′36″N, 98°30′30″E
End of the general eclipse	12:45:35	43°26′18″N, 83°03′00″E

[edit] Type of the eclipse

Nature of the eclipses	Total
Area of visibility	Type IV
Gamma	0,3842
Magnitude	1.052
Duration at greatest eclipse point	247 s (4 min 7 s) at 10:11:18 UTC, near Chad border of Libya: 23°08′54″N, 16°45′36″E
Maximum width of band	183.5 km

[edit] Gallery

Sahara, Libya, 10:11 UTC	Smolyan, Bulgaria, 10:30 UTC	Side, Turkey, 10:55 UTC	International Space Station, 10:56:55 UTC
Berkhamsted, England, 11:01 UTC	Novosibirsk, Russia, 11:42 UTC	Krasnoyarsk, Russia, 12:21 UTC	Kalmykia, Russia, 12:22 UTC

[edit] Satellite failure

Main article: Optus fleet of satellites#Failures

The satellite responsible for SKY Network Television, a New Zealand pay TV company, failed the day after this eclipse at around 1900 local time. While SKY didn't directly attribute the failure to the eclipse, they said in a media release that it took longer to resolve the issue because of it, but this claim was refuted by astronomers. The main reason for the failure was because of an aging and increasingly faulty satellite.^[2]