Solar eclipse of March 29, 1987
| Solar eclipse of March 29, 1987 | |
|---|---|
 Map | |
| Type of eclipse | |
| Nature | Hybrid |
| Gamma | -0.3053 |
| Magnitude | 1.0013 |
| Maximum eclipse | |
| Duration | 8 sec (0 m 8 s) |
| Coordinates | 12°18′S 2°18′W / 12.3°S 2.3°W |
| Max. width of band | 5 km (3.1 mi) |
| Times (UTC) | |
| Greatest eclipse | 12:49:47 |
| References | |
| Saros | 129 (50 of 80) |
| Catalog # (SE5000) | 9480 |
A total solar eclipse occurred on March 29, 1987. It was a hybrid eclipse, with only a small portion of the central path as total, lasting a maximum of only 8 seconds. 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.
Related eclipses
Solar eclipses of 1986-1989
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.
| Ascending node | Descending node | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saros | Map | Saros | Map | |
| 119 |  April 9, 1986 Partial |
124 |  October 3, 1986 Hybrid | |
| 129 | March 29, 1987 Hybrid |
134 |  September 23, 1987 Annular | |
| 139 |  March 18, 1988 Total |
144 |  September 11, 1988 Annular | |
| 149 |  March 7, 1989 Partial |
154 |  August 31, 1989 Partial | |
Saros 129
It is a part of Saros cycle 129, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 80 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on October 3, 1103. It contains annular eclipses on May 6, 1464 through March 18, 1969, hybrid eclipses on April 8, 2005 and April 20, 2023 and total eclipses from April 30, 2041 through July 26, 2185. The series ends at member 80 as a partial eclipse on February 21, 2528. The longest duration of totality was 3 minutes, 43 seconds on June 25, 2131 .[1]
Series members 46-56 occur between 1901 and 2100:
| 46 | 47 | 48 |
|---|---|---|
 February 14, 1915 |
 February 24, 1933 |
 March 7, 1951 |
| 49 | 50 | 51 |
 March 18, 1969 |
March 29, 1987 |
 April 8, 2005 |
| 52 | 53 | 54 |
 April 20, 2023 |
 April 30, 2041 |
 May 11, 2059 |
| 55 | 56 | |
 May 22, 2077 |
 June 2, 2095 |
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
References
- Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
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