Solar eclipse of January 15, 2010

Solar eclipse of January 15, 2010
Solar eclipse of January 15, 2010
	Annularity from Jinan, China
	Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Annular
Gamma	0.4002
Magnitude	0.919
Maximum eclipse
Duration	668 s (11 min 8 s)
Coordinates	1°36′N 69°18′E / 1.6°N 69.3°E
Max. width of band	333 km (207 mi)
Times (UTC)
(P1) Partial begin	4:05:28
(U1) Total begin	5:13:55
Greatest eclipse	7:07:39
(U4) Total end	8:59:04
(P4) Partial end	10:07:35
References
Saros	141 (23 of 70)
Catalog # (SE5000)	9529

An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of the orbit on January 15, 2010,^[1]^[2] with a magnitude of 0.91903. 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,^[3] 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.^[4] 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.)^[5]

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.

Summary of the Annular Solar Eclipse of January 15, 2010[edit]

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 (406,433 km (252,546 mi))

Event	UTC time
First Penumbral External Contact	2010 Jan 15 at 04:05:27.6 UTC
First Umbral External Contact	2010 Jan 15 at 05:13:55.0 UTC
First Central Line	2010 Jan 15 at 05:17:34.8 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact	2010 Jan 15 at 05:21:15.9 UTC
First Penumbral Internal Contact	2010 Jan 15 at 06:50:06.9 UTC
Greatest Eclipse	2010 Jan 15 at 07:06:33.2 UTC
Last Penumbral Internal Contact	2010 Jan 15 at 07:22:37.8 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact	2010 Jan 15 at 08:51:40.5 UTC
Last Central Line	2010 Jan 15 at 08:55:22.8 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact	2010 Jan 15 at 08:59:03.9 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact	2010 Jan 15 at 10:07:35.3 UTC

Visibility of the eclipse[edit]

The eclipse started in the Central African Republic near the border with Chad, traversed DR Congo, Uganda, Kenya, passed through the northern tip of Tanzania, southwestern Somalia and three islands of Seychelles (Bird, Denis and Aride), before it entered the Indian Ocean, where it reached its greatest visibility. It then passed through Maldives. The annular eclipse at Malé, the capital city of the country, started at 12:20:17 and ended at 12:31:02 local time (UTC+5), lasting for 10 minutes and 45 seconds (645 seconds). This was also the longest duration of any eclipse with an international airport in its track.^[6]

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 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.

The eclipse from Thiruvananthapuram, India where the eclipse was 92%

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.^[7] Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, situated in Trivandrum, analysed the atmospheric-ionospheric parameters during the eclipse.^[8] Many scientists camped in the city to witness and study the eclipse.^[9]

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, the antumbra passed through the southern tip of Bangladesh, Myanmar and China before leaving the Earth.

Gallery[edit]

Photographic equipment may allow the planet Venus to be shown about 1.5 degrees west and south of the annular ring of the sun.
Animation of path
Satellite image showing the moon's antumbra falling over India and the Bay of Bengal
Degania A, Israel, 5:41 UTC
Bangalore, India, 7:20 UTC
Jaffna, Sri Lanka, 7:56 UTC
Sanda, Hyogo, 7:59 UTC
Bandar Pusat Jengka, Malaysia, 8:05 UTC
Akashi, Hyogo, 8:05 UTC
Chennai, India, 8:10 UTC
Reflection of the eclipse from Pallipalayam, India
Stages of annular eclipse from Thiruvananthapuram, India
Batticaloa, Sri Lanka, 8:28 UTC
Hanoi, Vietnam, 8:36 UTC
Central, Hong Kong, 8:40 UTC
Bangui, Central African Republic
Taichung, Taiwan, 9:19 UTC

Related eclipses[edit]

Eclipses of 2010[edit]

Solar eclipses 2008–2011[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.^[10]

Solar eclipse series sets from 2008 to 2011
Saros	Map	Gamma	Saros	Map	Gamma
Ascending node			Descending node
121 Partial from Christchurch, NZ	2008 February 07 Annular	−0.95701	126 Novosibirsk, Russia	2008 August 01 Total	0.83070
131 Palangka Raya, Indonesia	2009 January 26 Annular	−0.28197	136 Kurigram, Bangladesh	2009 July 22 Total	0.06977
141 Bangui, Central African Republic	2010 January 15 Annular	0.40016	146 Hao, French Polynesia	2010 July 11 Total	−0.67877
151 Partial from Vienna, Austria	2011 January 04 Partial (north)	1.06265	156	2011 July 01 Partial (south)	−1.49171

Partial solar eclipses on June 1, 2011, and November 25, 2011, occur on the next lunar year eclipse set.

Saros 141[edit]

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.^[11]

Series members 17–36 occur between 1901 and 2259
17	18	19
November 11, 1901	November 22, 1919	December 2, 1937
20	21	22
December 14, 1955	December 24, 1973	January 4, 1992
23	24	25
January 15, 2010	January 26, 2028	February 5, 2046
26	27	28
February 17, 2064	February 27, 2082	March 10, 2100
29	30	31
March 22, 2118	April 1, 2136	April 12, 2154
32	33	34
April 23, 2172	May 4, 2190	May 15, 2208
35	36
May 27, 2226	June 6, 2244

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