Solar eclipse of January 15, 2010

An annular solar eclipse occurred on January 15, 2010 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 the length of maximum eclipse of 11 minutes, 7.8 seconds, and the longest duration of 11 minutes, 10.7 seconds.[2] 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, 40.9 seconds, occurring in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.)[3]

Solar eclipse of January 15, 2010
Map
Type of eclipse
NatureAnnular
Gamma0.4002
Magnitude0.919
Maximum eclipse
Duration668 sec (11 m 8 s)
Coordinates1.6°N 69.3°E / 1.6; 69.3
Max. width of band333 km (207 mi)
Times (UTC)
(P1) Partial begin4:05:28
(U1) Total begin5:13:55
Greatest eclipse7:07:39
(U4) Total end8:59:04
(P4) Partial end10:07:35
References
Saros141 (23 of 70)
Catalog # (SE5000)9529

Lasting 11 minutes and 7.8 seconds, and eclipse magnitude of only 0.91903, this was the longest and smallest annular solar eclipse of the 21st century. It was an annular solar eclipse on January 15, 2010.

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.

The tables below contain detailed predictions and additional information on the Annular Solar Eclipse of January 15, 2010

Eclipse Magnitude: 0.91903

Eclipse Obscuration: 0.84462

Gamma: 0.40016

Saros Series: 141st (23 of 70)

Sun Right Ascension: 19.8

Moon Right Ascension: 19.79

Sun Declination: -21.1

Moon Declination: -20.8

Sun Diameter: 1951.0 arcseconds

Moon Diameter: 1768.6 arcseconds

Radius of the Penumbral Shadow: 7,322.7 km (4,550.1 mi)

Radius of the Antumbral Shadow: 361.7 km (224.8 mi)

Path Width: 333.1 km (207 mi)

Greatest Eclipse: 2010 January 15 at 07:06:33.2 UTC

Apogee at 2010 January 17 at 01:41 UTC (406433 km (252,546 mi))

EventUTC time
First Penumbral External Contact2010 Jan 15 at 04:05:27.6 UTC
First Umbral External Contact2010 Jan 15 at 05:13:55.0 UTC
First Central Line2010 Jan 15 at 05:17:34.8 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact2010 Jan 15 at 05:21:15.9 UTC
First Penumbral Internal Contact2010 Jan 15 at 06:50:06.9 UTC
Greatest Eclipse2010 Jan 15 at 07:06:33.2 UTC
Last Penumbral Internal Contact2010 Jan 15 at 07:22:37.8 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact2010 Jan 15 at 08:51:40.5 UTC
Last Central Line2010 Jan 15 at 08:55:22.8 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact2010 Jan 15 at 08:59:03.9 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact2010 Jan 15 at 10:07:35.3 UTC

Visibility of the eclipse
January 15, 2010's sunrise in Bangui, Central African Republic

The eclipse started in the Central African Republic near the border with Chad, traversed DR Congo and Uganda, passed through Nairobi, Kenya, the northern tip of Tanzania, southwestern Somalia and three islands of Seychelles (Bird, Denis and Aride), 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 (9 minutes, 46 seconds (586 seconds)) Maldives local time (UTC+5). This was also the longest duration of any eclipse with an international airport in its track.[4]

At approximately 13:20 IST, the annular solar eclipse entered India at Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), the capital of 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.[5] Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, situated in Trivandrum, analysed the atmospheric-ionospheric parameters during the eclipse.[6] Many scientists camped in the city to witness and study the eclipse.[7]

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 2:30 pm. 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.

Eclipses of 2010

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros cycle

Tritos

Solar Saros 141

Inex

Triad

Solar eclipses 2008–2011

This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse 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.[8]

Saros 141

Solar saros 141, repeating every about 18 years, 11 days, and 8 hours, contains 70 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on May 19, 1613. It contains 41 annular eclipses from August 4, 1739, to 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. The longest annular eclipse occurred on December 14, 1955, with maximum duration of annularity at 12 minutes and 9 seconds. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node.[9]

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). All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's ascending node.

Notes
  1. NASA – Solar Eclipse Search Engine
  2. Espenak, Fred. "Besselian Elements for Annular Solar Eclipse of 2010 Jan 15". NASA Eclipse Web Site.
  3. Annular Solar Eclipse Occurs on January 15, 2010
  4. NASA: Eclipses During 2010: Annular Solar Eclipse of January 15
  5. Facilities to view the solar eclipse in Trivandrum
  6. VSSC expects insights from eclipse
  7. City Bureau (January 15, 2010). "Celestial treat, a day away". The Hindu.
  8. van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  9. Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses NASA Eclipse Web Site.

References
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