| Solar eclipse of August 1, 2008 | |
|---|---|
Totality showing corona |
|
|
Map
|
|
| Type of eclipse | |
| Nature | Total |
| Gamma | 0.8307 |
| Magnitude | 1.0394 |
| Maximum eclipse | |
| Duration | 2m 27s |
| Coordinates | 65.7N 72.3E |
| Max. width of band | 237 km |
| Times (UTC) | |
| (P1) Partial begin | 04:06.8 |
| (U1) Total begin | 21:07.3 |
| Greatest eclipse | 10:22:12 |
| (U4) Total end | 21:28.3 |
| (P4) Partial end | 38:27.7 |
| References | |
| Saros | 126 (47 of 72) |
| Catalog # (SE5000) | 9526 |
A total solar eclipse occurred on August 1, 2008. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partially 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, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across the surface of the Earth, while a partial solar eclipse will be visible over a region thousands of kilometres wide.
It had a magnitude of 1.0394[1] that was visible from a narrow corridor through northern Canada (Nunavut), Greenland, central Russia, eastern Kazakhstan, western Mongolia and China.[2] Occurring north of the arctic circle, it belonged to the so-called midnight sun eclipses. The largest city on the path of the eclipse was Novosibirsk in Russia.[3]
The total eclipse lasted for 2 minutes, and covered 0.4% of the Earth's surface in a 10,200 km long path. It was the 47th eclipse of the 126th Saros cycle, which began with a partial eclipse on March 10, 1179 and will conclude with a partial eclipse on May 3, 2459.[4]
A partial eclipse could be seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including northeastern North America and most of Europe and Asia.[2]
It was described by observers as "special for its colours around the horizon. There were wonderful oranges and reds all around, the clouds lit up, some dark in silhouette, some golden, glowing yellowy-orange in the distance. You could see the shadow approaching against the clouds and then rushing away as it left"[5]
Contents |
The eclipse began in the far north of Canada in Nunavut at 09:21 UT, the zone of totality being 206 km wide, and lasting for 1 minute 30 seconds. The path of the eclipse then headed north-east, crossing over northern Greenland and reaching the northernmost latitude of 83° 47′ at 09:38 UT before dipping down into Russia.[4]
The path of totality touched the northeast corner of Kvitøya, an uninhabited Norwegian island in the Svalbard archipelago, at 09:47 UT.
The eclipse reached the Russian mainland at 10:10 UT,[4] with a path 232 km wide and a duration of 2 minutes 26 seconds. The greatest eclipse occurred shortly after, at 10:21:07 UT at coordinates (close to Nadym), when the path was 237 km wide, and the duration was 2 minutes 27 seconds. Cities in the path of the total eclipse included Megion, Nizhnevartovsk, Strezhevoy, Novosibirsk and Barnaul.[4] Around 10,000 tourists were present in Novosibirsk, the largest city to experience the eclipse.[3]
The path of the eclipse then moved south-east, crossing into Mongolia and just clipping Kazakhstan at around 10:58 UT. The path here was 252 km wide, but the duration was decreased to 2 minutes 10 seconds. The path then ran down the China-Mongolia border, ending in China at 11:18 UT, with an eclipse lasting 1 minute 27 seconds at sunset. The total eclipse finished at 11:21 UT. The total eclipse passed over Yiwu, Juiquan and Xi’an.[4] Around 10,000 people were gathered to watch the eclipse in Yiwu.[3]
A partial eclipse was seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including the north east coast of North America and most of Europe and Asia.[2] In London, England, the partial eclipse began at 08:33 GMT, with a maximum eclipse of 12% at 09:18 GMT, before concluding at 10:05 GMT. At Edinburgh the partial eclipse was 23.5% of the sun, whilst it was 36% in Lerwick in the Shetland Isles.[6]
German charter airline LTU, now trading as Air Berlin, operated a special flight from Düsseldorf to the North Pole to observe the eclipse. Flight number LT 1111 spent over 11 hours in the air, returning to base at 6pm after flying a planeload of eclipse chasers, scientists, journalists and TV crews to watch the celestial event. The route also included a low-level sightseeing tour of Svalbard before the eclipse and the magnetic pole afterwards.
This set of solar eclipses repeat approximately every 177 days and 4 hours at alternating nodes of the moon's orbit.
| Ascending node | Descending node | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saros | Map | Saros | Map | |||
| 121 Partial from New Zealand |
2008 February 7 Annular |
126 Total from Novosibirsk, Russia |
2008 August 1 Total |
|||
| 131 Bandar Lampung, Indonesia |
2009 January 26 Annular |
136 Total from Bangladesh |
2009 July 22 Total |
|||
| 141 Bangui, Central African Republic |
2010 January 15 Annular |
146 Total from French Polynesia |
2010 July 11 Total |
|||
| 151 Partial from Poland |
2011 January 4 Partial (north) |
156 | 2011 July 1 Partial (south) |
|||
| Partial solar eclipses on June 1, 2011 and November 25, 2011 occur on the next lunar year eclipse set. | ||||||
It is a part of Saros cycle 126, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 71 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on March 10, 1179. It contains annular eclipses from June 4, 1323 through April 4, 1810 and hybrid eclipses from April 14, 1828 through May 6, 1864. It contains total eclipses from May 17, 1882 through August 23, 2044. The series ends at member 72 as a partial eclipse on May 3, 2459. The longest duration of central eclipse (annular or total) was 5 minutes, 46 seconds of annularity on November 22, 1593. The longest duration of totality was 2 minutes, 36 seconds on July 10, 1972.[7]
Series members 39-49 occur between 1901 and 2100:
| 39 | 40 | 41 |
|---|---|---|
June 8, 1918 |
June 19, 1936 |
June 30, 1954 |
| 42 | 43 | 44 |
July 10, 1972 |
July 22, 1990 |
August 1, 2008 |
| 45 | 46 | 47 |
August 12, 2026 |
August 23, 2044 |
September 3, 2062 |
| 48 | 49 | |
September 13, 2080 |
September 25, 2098 |
The metonic series repeats eclipses every 19 years (6939.69 days), lasting about 5 cycles. Eclipses occur in nearly the same calendar date. In addition the octon subseries repeats 1/5 of that or every 3.8 years (1387.94 days).
This series has 21 eclipse events between May 21, 1993 and May 20, 2069.
| May 20-21 | March 9 | December 25-26 | October 13-14 | August 1-2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 118 | 120 | 122 | 124 | 126 |
May 21, 1993 |
March 9, 1997 |
December 25, 2000 |
October 14, 2004 |
August 1, 2008 |
| 128 | 130 | 132 | 134 | 136 |
May 20, 2012 |
March 9, 2016 |
December 26, 2019 |
October 14, 2023 |
August 2, 2027 |
| 138 | 140 | 142 | 144 | 146 |
May 21, 2031 |
March 9, 2035 |
December 26, 2038 |
October 14, 2042 |
August 2, 2046 |
| 148 | 150 | 152 | 154 | 156 |
May 20, 2050 |
March 9, 2054 |
December 26, 2057 |
October 13, 2061 |
August 2, 2065 |
| 158 | ||||
May 20, 2069 |
Photos:
Video
