Annular Solar Eclipse of 15 January 2010

Headline:
The first eclipse of 2010 will begin by the Annular Solar Eclipse on 15 January 2010. The first solar eclipse of 2010 occurs at the Moon’s ascending node in western Sagittarius. An annular eclipse will be visible from a 300-km-wide track that traverses central Africa, the Indian Ocean and eastern Asia (Espenak and Anderson, 2008). A partial eclipse is seen within the much broader path of the Moon’s penumbral shadow, which includes Eastern Europe, most of Africa, Asia and Indonesia.

Description:
The annular path begins in western most Central African Republic at 05:14 UT. Because the Moon passes through apogee two days later (17 January 2010 at 01:41 UT), its large distance from Earth produces an unusually wide path of annularity. Traveling eastward, the shadow quickly sweeps through Uganda, Kenya and Somalia while the central line duration of annularity grows from 7 to 9 minutes.

For the next two hours, the antumbra crosses the Indian Ocean, its course slowly curving from east-southeast to northeast. The instant of greatest eclipse occurs at 07:06:33 UT (15:06:33pm GMT+8) when the eclipse magnitude will reach 0.9190. At this instant, the duration of annularity is 11minutes 08seconds, the path width is 333 kilometers and the Sun is 66° above the flat horizon formed by the open ocean. Such a long annular duration will not be exceeded for over 1000 years (23 December 3043).

The central track continues northeast where it finally encounters land in the Maldive Islands (07:26 UT). The capital city Male experiences an annular phase lasting 10minutes 45seconds. This is the longest duration of any city having an international airport in the eclipse track.

When the antumbra reaches Asia the central line passes directly between the southern tip of India and northern Sri Lanka (07:51 UT). Both regions lie within the path where maximum annularity lasts 10minutes 15seconds. Quickly sweeping over the Bay of Bengal the shadow reaches Burma where the central line duration is 08minutes 48seconds and the Sun’s altitude is 34°.

By 08:41 UT (16:41pm GMT+8), the central line enters China. The shadow crosses the Himalayas through Yunnan and Sichuan provinces Chongqing lies directly on the central line and witnesses a duration of 07minutes 50seconds with the Sun 15° above the horizon. Racing through parts of Shaanxi and Hubei provinces, the antumbra’s speed increases as the duration decreases. In its final moments, the antumbra travels down the Shandong Peninsula and leaves Earth’s surface (08:59 UT) (16:59pm GMT+8).

During the course of its 3 ¾-hour (3hours 45minutes) trajectory, the antumbra’s track is approximately 12,900km long that covers 0.87% of Earth’s surface area. Path coordinates and central line circumstances are presented in Table 1.
Partial phase of the eclipse are visible primarily from Africa, Asia and Indonesia. Local circumstances for a number of cities are found in Table 2. All times are given in Universal Time (UT). The Sun’s altitude and azimuth, the eclipse magnitude and obscuration 3 are all given at the instant of maximum eclipse.

This is the 23rd eclipse of Saros 141 (Espenak and Meeus, 2006). The family began with a series of 6 partial eclipses starting on 19 May 1613. The first annular eclipse took place on 04 August 1739 and had a maximum duration just under 04minutes. Subsequent members of Saros 141 were all annular eclipses with increasing durations, the maximum of which was reached on 14 December 1955 and lasted 12minutes 09seconds. This event was the longest annular eclipse of the entire Second Millennium. The duration of annularity of each succeeding eclipse is now dropping and will dwindle to 01minutes 09seconds when the last annular eclipse of the series occurs on 14 October 2460. Saros 141 terminates on 13 June 2857 after a long string of 22 partial eclipses. Complete details for the 70 eclipses in the series (29 partial and 41 annular) may be found at:
[NASA Saros 141]

Eclipse Viewer:
On 15 January 2010, Friday morning, there will be an Annular Solar Eclipse occurs. The eclipse will be occurring at the Ecliptic Conjunction of 07:12:28.5 TD (07:11:22.4 UT), and the Greatest Eclipse of 07:07:39.0 TD (07:06:33.0 UT). At the moment, the Eclipse Magnitude will be at 0.9190 and the Gamma of 0.4002. The Saros Series will be at 141 and the member will be at 23 of 70.

Easy Capture (1):
Ecliptic Conjunction = 07:12:28.5 TD (07:11:22.4 UT)
Greatest Eclipse = 07:07:39.0 TD (07:06:33.0 UT)

Eclipse Magnitude = 0.9190
Gamma = 0.4002

Saros Series = 141
Member = 23 of 70

Sun at Greatest Eclipse (Geocentric Coordinates):
When the eclipse occur, the Sun will be in the Right Ascension for 19hours 47minutes 51.1seconds. The Declination of the Sun will be in -21°07’38.7”, Apparent Semi-Diameter of 00°16’15.5”, and the Horizontal Parallax of 00°00’08.9”.

Easy Capture (2):
R.A. = 19h47m51.1s
Dec. = -21°07’38.7”
S.D. = 00°16’15.5”
H.P. = 00°00’08.9”

Moon at Greatest Eclipse (Geocentric Coordinates):
When the eclipse occur, the Moon will be in the Right Ascension for 19hours 47minutes 25.3seconds. The Declination of the Sun will be in -20°46’54.8”, Apparent Semi-Diameter of 00°14’44.3”, and the Horizontal Parallax of 00°54’05.4”.

Easy Capture (3):
R.A. = 19h47m25.3s
Dec. = -20°46’54.8”
S.D. = 00°14’44.3”
H.P. = 00°54’05.4”
External/Internal (Contacts of Penumbra):
P1= 04:05:27.5 UT
P2= 06:50:06.7 UT
P3= 07:22:37.6 UT
P4= 10:07:35.1 UT

External/Internal (Contacts of Umbra):
U1= 05:13:54.8 UT
U2= 05:21:15.8 UT
U3= 08:51:40.3 UT
U4= 08:59:03.7 UT

Eclipse Occur Duration:
Kota Bharu, Malaysia: 16:30pm ~ 16:41:08pm
Observation Started: 15:22:37.6pm

Constant & Ephemeris:
ΔT = 66.0s
k1 = 0.2725076
k2 = 0.2722810
ΔB= 0.0”
ΔL= 0.0”
Eph. = JPL DE200/LE200

Geocentric Libration (Optical + Physical):
L= 1.48°
B= -0.48°
C= -8.81°
Brown Lun. No. = 1077

Local Circumstances at Greatest Eclipse:
Latitude= 01°37.4’N
Longitude= 069°17.4’E
Sun Altitude= 66.4°
Sun Azimuth= 164.9°
Path Width= 333.1 km
Duration= 11minutes 07.8seconds