Solar eclipse of January 15, 2010

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Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Solar eclipse". An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Friday, January 15, 2010,[1][2][3] with a magnitude of 0.919. 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. Occurring about 1.75 days before apogee (on January 17, 2010, at 1:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.[4]

This was the longest annular solar eclipse of the millennium,[5] 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.[6] 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.)[7]

It was seen as an annular eclipse within a narrow stretch of Script error: No such module "convert". width across the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, the Maldives, South Kerala (India), South Tamil Nadu (India), Sri Lanka and parts of Bangladesh, Burma and China. The eclipse was visible as only a partial eclipse in much of Africa, Southeastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Visibility of the eclipse

File:Solar annular eclipse of January 15, 2010 in Bangui, Central African Republic.JPG
The eclipse in Bangui, Central African Republic at sunrise

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.[8]

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.

File:Eclipse5.jpg
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.[9] Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, situated in Trivandrum, analysed the atmospheric-ionospheric parameters during the eclipse.[10] Many scientists camped in the city to witness and study the eclipse.[11]

At Rameswaram, the sunrise was not visible due to thick clouds, but it started getting clear at around 9Script error: No such module "String".am local time and became almost totally clear by the time the eclipse began. The sky had a thin layer of cirrus clouds till 2:30Script error: No such module "String".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

Eclipse details

Shown below are two tables displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. The first table outlines times at which the moon's penumbra or umbra attains the specific parameter, and the second table describes various other parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[12]

January 15, 2010 Solar Eclipse Times
Event Time (UTC)
First Penumbral External Contact 2010 January 15 at 04:06:33.7 UTC
First Umbral External Contact 2010 January 15 at 05:15:01.1 UTC
First Central Line 2010 January 15 at 05:18:40.9 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact 2010 January 15 at 05:22:22.0 UTC
First Penumbral Internal Contact 2010 January 15 at 06:51:13.0 UTC
Greatest Duration 2010 January 15 at 06:55:35.8 UTC
Greatest Eclipse 2010 January 15 at 07:07:39.2 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction 2010 January 15 at 07:12:28.5 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction 2010 January 15 at 07:21:27.5 UTC
Last Penumbral Internal Contact 2010 January 15 at 07:23:43.9 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact 2010 January 15 at 08:52:46.6 UTC
Last Central Line 2010 January 15 at 08:56:28.9 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact 2010 January 15 at 09:00:10.0 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact 2010 January 15 at 10:08:41.4 UTC
January 15, 2010 Solar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter Value
Eclipse Magnitude 0.91903
Eclipse Obscuration 0.84462
Gamma 0.40016
Sun Right Ascension 19h47m51.0s
Sun Declination -21°07'38.7"
Sun Semi-Diameter 16'15.5"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9"
Moon Right Ascension 19h47m25.3s
Moon Declination -20°46'54.8"
Moon Semi-Diameter 14'44.3"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°54'05.4"
ΔT 66.0 s

Eclipse season

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.

Eclipse season of December 2009–January 2010
December 31
Descending node (full moon)
 January 15
Ascending node (new moon)
File:Lunar eclipse chart close-2009Dec31.png File:SE2010Jan15A.png
Partial lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 115		 Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 141

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 2010

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Solar Saros 141

Inex

Triad

Solar eclipses of 2008–2011

Template:Solar eclipse set 2008–2011

Saros 141

Template:Solar Saros series 141

Metonic series

Template:Solar Metonic series 1964–2036

Tritos series

Template:Solar Tritos series 2010 January 15

Inex series

Template:Solar Inex series 2010 January 15

Notes

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ NASA – Solar Eclipse Search Engine
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Annular Solar Eclipse Occurs on January 15, 2010
  8. ↑ NASA: Eclipses During 2010: Annular Solar Eclipse of January 15
  9. ↑ Facilities to view the solar eclipse in Trivandrum
  10. ↑ VSSC expects insights from eclipse
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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References

Template:Solar eclipse NASA reference

External links

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