Solar eclipse of March 29, 1987

Summary

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of the orbit 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 7.57 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. Totality of this eclipse was not visible on any land, while annularity was visible in southern Argentina, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Sudan (part of the path of annularity crossed today's South Sudan), Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somaliland.

Solar eclipse of March 29, 1987
Map
Type of eclipse
NatureHybrid
Gamma−0.3053
Magnitude1.0013
Maximum eclipse
Duration8 s (0 min 8 s)
Coordinates12°18′S 2°18′W / 12.3°S 2.3°W / -12.3; -2.3
Max. width of band5 km (3.1 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse12:49:47
References
Saros129 (50 of 80)
Catalog # (SE5000)9480

Related eclipses edit

Eclipses of 1987 edit

Solar eclipses of 1986–1989 edit

There were 8 solar eclipses between April 9, 1986 and August 31, 1989.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1986 to 1989
Ascending node   Descending node
Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma
119  
1986 April 9
Partial
−1.08215 124  
1986 October 3
Hybrid
0.99305
129  
1987 March 29Hybrid −0.30531 134  
1987 September 23
Annular
0.27869
139  
1988 March 18
Total
0.41879 144  
1988 September 11
Annular
−0.46811
149  
1989 March 7
Partial
1.09815 154  
1989 August 31
Partial
−1.19279

Saros 129 edit

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 from March 29, 1987 through 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 . All eclipses in this series occurs at the Moon’s ascending node.[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 edit

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.

21 eclipse events, progressing from south to north 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 edit

  1. ^ Espenak, F. "NASA Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 129". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.

References edit

  • Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
    • Google interactive map
    • Besselian elements