The path of totality of the Moon's shadow began at sunrise in Brazil and extended across the Atlantic to Africa, traveling across Ghana, the southeastern tip of Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Libya, and a small corner of northwest Egypt, from there across the Mediterranean Sea to Greece (Kastellórizo) and Turkey, then across the Black Sea via Georgia, Russia, and Kazakhstan to Western Mongolia, where it ended at sunset. A partial eclipse was seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including the northern two-thirds of Africa, the whole of Europe, and Central Asia.

People around the world gathered in areas where the eclipse was visible to view the event. The Manchester Astronomical Society, the Malaysian Space Agency, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, as well as dozens of tour groups met at the Apollo temple and the theater in Side, Turkey. The San Francisco Exploratorium featured a live webcast from the site, where thousands of observers were seated in the ancient, Roman-style theater.^[3]

Almost all actively visited areas in the path of totality had perfect weather. Many observers reported an unusually beautiful eclipse, with many or all effects visible, and a very nice corona, despite the proximity to the solar minimum. The partial phase of the eclipse was also visible from the International Space Station, where the astronauts on board took spectacular pictures of the moon's shadow on Earth's surface. It initially appeared as though an orbit correction set for the middle of March would bring the ISS into the path of totality, but this correction was postponed.

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  Cape Coast, Ghana (9:10 UTC)
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  Murzuq District, Libya (10:16 UTC)
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  Valencia, Spain (10:16 UTC)
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  Oria, Italy (10:39 UTC)
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  The Moon's shadow as seen from the International Space Station (10:50 UTC)
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  Berkhamsted, England (11:01 UTC)
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  Marousi, Greece (11:01 UTC)
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  Krasnoyarsk, Russia (11:20 UTC)
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  Lagan, Russia (11:23 UTC)
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  Novosibirsk, Russia (11:42 UTC)
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  Kathmandu, Nepal (12:01 UTC)
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  Degania A, Israel: Partial Solar Eclipse
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  Animation from Sallum, Egypt

The satellite responsible for SKY Network Television, a New Zealand pay TV company, failed the day after this eclipse at around 1900 local time. While SKY didn't directly attribute the failure to the eclipse, they said in a media release that it took longer to resolve the issue because of it, but this claim was rejected by astronomers. The main reason for the failure was because of an aging and increasingly faulty satellite.^[4]

Eclipses of 2006 edit

• A penumbral lunar eclipse on March 14.
• A total solar eclipse on March 29.
• A partial lunar eclipse on September 7.
• An annular solar eclipse on September 22.

This solar eclipse was preceded by the penumbral lunar eclipse on March 14, 2006.

Tzolkinex edit

• Preceded: Solar eclipse of February 16, 1999

• Followed: Solar eclipse of May 10, 2013

Half-Saros edit

• Preceded: Lunar eclipse of March 24, 1997

• Followed: Lunar eclipse of April 4, 2015

Tritos edit

• Preceded: Solar eclipse of April 29, 1995

• Followed: Solar eclipse of February 26, 2017

Solar Saros 139 edit

• Preceded: Solar eclipse of March 18, 1988

• Followed: Solar eclipse of April 8, 2024

Inex edit

• Preceded: Solar eclipse of April 18, 1977

• Followed: Solar eclipse of March 9, 2035

Solar eclipses 2004–2007 edit

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.^[5]

Saros 139 edit

This eclipse is a member of saros series 139, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, 8 hours, containing 71 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on May 17, 1501. It contains hybrid eclipses on August 11, 1627, through to December 9, 1825; and total eclipses from December 21, 1843, through to March 26, 2601. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on July 3, 2763. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.

The solar eclipse of June 13, 2132, will be the longest total solar eclipse since July 11, 1991, at 6 minutes, 55.02 seconds.

The longest duration of totality will be produced by member 39 at 7 minutes, 29.22 seconds on July 16, 2186.^[6] After that date, the durations of totality will decrease until the series ends. This date is the longest solar eclipse computed between 4000 BC and AD 6000.^[7] Saros series eclipses occur during the Moon's ascending node (a term related to our equator and polar-naming conventions).

Inex series edit

This eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

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.

• Fred Espenak and Jay Anderson. "Total Solar Eclipse of 2006 March 29". NASA Technical publication (NASA/TP-2004-212762), November 2004.
• NASA – Total Solar Eclipse of 2006 March 29
• Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
  • Google interactive map
  • Besselian elements
• solar-eclipse-2006.info Information about the March 29th Solar Eclipse.
• Interactive 2006 March 29 Total Solar Eclipse map with local circumstances
• Eclipse.za.net, Umbral Paths of March 29 Eclipse in Africa

Photos:

• Prof. Druckmüller's eclipse photography site. Turkey, Cappadocia
• Prof. Druckmüller's eclipse photography site. Egypt
• Prof. Druckmüller's eclipse photography site. Libya
• Total eclipse photographs from Turkey
• Another set of total eclipse photographs from Turkey
• Photo gallery from Turkey
• Phases of solar eclipse view from Antalya
• NASA videos and photos from Libya and Turkey
• Pictures taken from Smolyan, Bulgaria
• NASA video of eclipse Archived 2007-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
• Solar eclipse images and videos from Libya by traveling NASA employees and scientists
• Images by Crayford Manor House Astronomical Society from Libya and Turkey Archived 2013-02-09 at archive.today
• Spaceweather.com Eclipse gallery
• Antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov APOD, March 30, 2006, When Diamonds Aren't Forever, totality from Greek island of Kastelorizo in the eastern Aegean
• Antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov APOD, April 4, 2006, A Total Solar Eclipse over Turkey, totality from Adrasan, Kumluca, Antalya Province, Turkey
• Antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov APOD, April 7, 2006, totality from Side, Turkey, a larger version of the same picture chosen as APOD again on July 26, 2009, The Big Corona, Koenvangorp.be
• Antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov APOD, April 8, 2006, Vanishing Umbra, from Mount Hasan southeast of İncesu, Aksaray, Turkey
• The 2006 Eclipse in Turkey
• Russian scientist observed eclipse
• University of Athens – Solar Eclipse 29/3/2006, Solar Party
• Solar Total Eclipse of 2006 March 29
• Tubitak.gov.tr, 29 March 2006 Total Solar Eclipse, Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK)
• Solar Eclipse over Kemer, Turkey 060329

  Media related to Solar eclipse of 2006 March 29 at Wikimedia Commons