Solar eclipse of January 15, 2010

Solar eclipse of January 15, 2010

Map
Type of eclipse
Nature Annular
Gamma 0.4002
Magnitude 0.919
Maximum eclipse
Duration 668 sec (11 m 8 s)
Coordinates 1°36′N 69°18′E / 1.6°N 69.3°E
Max. width of band 333 km (207 mi)
Times (UTC)
(P1) Partial begin 4:05:28
(U1) Total begin 5:13:55
Greatest eclipse 7:07:39
(U4) Total end 8:59:04
(P4) Partial end 10:07:35
References
Saros 141 (23 of 70)
Catalog # (SE5000) 9529

The solar eclipse of January 15, 2010 was an annular eclipse of the Sun with a magnitude of 0.9190. 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. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide. It was the longest annular solar eclipse of the millennium,[1] and the longest until December 23, 3043, with a maximum length of 11 minutes, 7.8 seconds. This is about 4 minutes longer than total solar eclipses could ever get. (The solar eclipse of January 4, 1992, was longer, at 11 minutes, 41 seconds, occurring in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.)[2]

The eclipse was visible as only a partial eclipse in much of Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It was seen as an annular eclipse within a narrow stretch of 300 km (190 mi) width across Central Africa, Maldives, South Kerala (India), South Tamil Nadu (India), Sri Lanka and parts of Bangladesh, Burma and China.

Visibility of the eclipse

January 15, 2010's sunrise in Central Africa

The eclipse started in the Central African Republic, traversed Cameroon, DR Congo and Uganda, passed through Nairobi, Kenya, and passed over the Indian Ocean, where it reached its greatest visibility. It then entered Maldives, where it was the longest on land with 10.8 viewable minutes. The annular eclipse at Malé, the capital city of Maldives, started at 12:20:20 and ended at 12:30:06 Maldives local time (UTC+5). This was also the longest duration of any eclipse with an international airport in its track.[3]

At approximately 13:20 IST, the annular solar eclipse entered India at Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), Kerala and exited India at Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu.

The eclipse was viewable for 10.4 minutes in India. After Rameswaram, it entered Sri Lanka at Delft Island, exited at Jaffna in Sri Lanka, crossed the Bay of Bengal and re-entered India in Mizoram.

Eclipse picture from Thiruvananthapuram, India where the eclipse was 94%

Thiruvananthapuram, which was the entry point of the eclipse in India, was equipped with telescopes and announced facilities for the public to view the eclipse.[4] Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, situated in Trivandrum, analysed the atmospheric-ionospheric parameters during the eclipse.[5] Many scientists camped in the city to witness and study the eclipse.[6]

At Rameswaram, the sunrise was not visible due to thick clouds, but it started getting clear at around 9 AM local time and became almost totally clear by the time the eclipse began. The sky had a thin layer of cirrus clouds till 2:30PM. Among the eclipse-watchers was Sky Watchers' Association of North Bengal (SWAN) from Siliguri at the foothills of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu Astronomical Association.

Dhanushkodi, which falls on the central line of the eclipse, was a good place to view the eclipse. The northernmost limit of shadow in India was Cuddalore, Neyveli, Erode, Kodaikanal, and Madurai. Other prime viewing locations in Tamil Nadu include Thoothukudi and Cape Comorin, 22 km north of the center line. The exact location of the line is between the NH end and the Dhanushkodi ruins. Dhanushkodi is about 2 km east of the central line. The degree difference is about 0.2 between the central line – with Kodandaramar Temple and Dhanushkodi ruins vice versa. Dhanushkodi is about 5 km from the Kodandaramar Temple.

After South Asia, annularity passed Myanmar and China before leaving the Earth.

Gallery

Related eclipses

Solar eclipses 2008-2011

Each member in a semester series of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.

Solar eclipse series sets from 2008–2011
Ascending node   Descending node
SarosMap SarosMap
121

Partial from Christchurch, New Zealand		 2008 February 7

Annular		 126

Novosibirsk, Russia		 2008 August 1

Total
131

Bandar Lampung, Indonesia		 2009 January 26

Annular		 136

Kurigram, Bangladesh		 2009 July 22

Total
141

Bangui, Central African Republic		 2010 January 15

Annular		 146

French Polynesia		 2010 July 11

Total
151

Partial from Vienna, Austra		 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.

Saros 141

Solar Saros 141 repeats every 18 years, 11 days and contains 70 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on May 19, 1613. It contains annular eclipses from August 4, 1739 through October 14, 2460. There are no total eclipses in this series. The series ends at member 70 as a partial eclipse on June 13, 2857. [7]

Series members 17-28 occur between 1901 and 2100:

17 18 19

November 11, 1901
November 22, 1919
December 2, 1937
20 21 22

December 14, 1955
December 24, 1973
January 4, 1992
23 24 25

January 15, 2010
January 26, 2028
February 5, 2046
26 27 28

February 17, 2064
February 27, 2082
March 10, 2100

Metonic series

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 20 eclipse events between June 10, 1964 and August 21, 2036.

June 10–11 March 27–29 January 15–16 November 3 August 21–22
117 119 121 123 125

June 10, 1964
March 28, 1968
January 16, 1972
November 3, 1975
August 22, 1979
127 129 131 133 135

June 11, 1983
March 29, 1987
January 15, 1991
November 3, 1994
August 22, 1998
137 139 141 143 145

June 10, 2002
March 29, 2006
January 15, 2010
November 3, 2013
August 21, 2017
147 149 151 153 155

June 10, 2021
March 29, 2025
January 14, 2029
November 3, 2032
August 21, 2036

Notes

  1. ↑ NASA – Solar Eclipse Search Engine
  2. ↑ Annular Solar Eclipse Occurs on January 15, 2010
  3. ↑ NASA: Eclipses During 2010: Annular Solar Eclipse of January 15
  4. ↑ Facilities to view the solar eclipse in Trivandrum
  5. ↑ VSSC expects insights from eclipse
  6. ↑ City Bureau (January 14, 2010). "Celestial treat, a day away". The Hindu.
  7. ↑ "NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 141". Eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2012-03-15.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Solar eclipse of 2010 January 15.