Solar eclipse of August 1, 2008

A total solar eclipse occurred on Friday, August 1, 2008. 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. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. It had a magnitude of 1.0394[1] that was visible from a narrow corridor through northern Canada (Nunavut), Greenland, central Russia, eastern Kazakhstan, western Mongolia and China.[2] Occurring north of the arctic circle, it belonged to the so-called midnight sun eclipses. The largest city in the path of the eclipse was Novosibirsk in Russia.[3]

Solar eclipse of August 1, 2008
Totality showing corona from Yiwu County, China
Map
Type of eclipse
NatureTotal
Gamma0.8307
Magnitude1.0394
Maximum eclipse
Duration147 sec (2 m 27 s)
Coordinates65.7°N 72.3°E / 65.7; 72.3
Max. width of band237 km (147 mi)
Times (UTC)
(P1) Partial begin04:06.8
(U1) Total begin21:07.3
Greatest eclipse10:22:12
(U4) Total end21:28.3
(P4) Partial end38:27.7
References
Saros126 (47 of 72)
Catalog # (SE5000)9526

The moon's apparent diameter was 1 arcminute, 17.8 arcseconds (77.8 arcseconds) larger than the February 7, 2008 annular solar eclipse.

This was the first eclipse this season, with the second being the 16 August 2008 partial lunar eclipse.

The total eclipse lasted for 2 minutes, and covered 0.4% of the Earth's surface in a 10,200 km long path. It was the 47th eclipse of the 126th Saros cycle, which began with a partial eclipse on March 10, 1179 and will conclude with a partial eclipse on May 3, 2459.[4]

A partial eclipse could be seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including northeastern North America and most of Europe and Asia.[2]

It was described by observers as "special for its colours around the horizon. There were wonderful oranges and reds all around, the clouds lit up, some dark in silhouette, some golden, glowing yellowy-orange in the distance. You could see the shadow approaching against the clouds and then rushing away as it left."[5]

The moon's apparent diameter was larger because the eclipse was occurring only 58 hours, 56 minutes after perigee.

Start of eclipse: Canada, Greenland and Norway


Animated path

The eclipse began in the far north of Canada in Nunavut at 09:21 UT, the zone of totality being 206 km wide, and lasting for 1 minute 30 seconds. The path of the eclipse then headed north-east, crossing over northern Greenland and reaching the northernmost latitude of 83° 47′ at 09:38 UT before dipping down into Russia.[4]

The path of totality touched the northeast corner of Kvitøya, an uninhabited Norwegian island in the Svalbard archipelago, at 09:47 UT.

Greatest eclipse: Russia

The eclipse reached the Russian mainland at 10:10 UT,[4] with a path 232 km wide and a duration of 2 minutes 26 seconds. The greatest eclipse occurred shortly after, at 10:21:07 UT at coordinates 65°39′N 72°18′E (close to Nadym), when the path was 237 km wide, and the duration was 2 minutes 27 seconds. Cities in the path of the total eclipse included Megion, Nizhnevartovsk, Strezhevoy, Novosibirsk and Barnaul.[4] Around 10,000 tourists were present in Novosibirsk, the largest city to experience the eclipse.[3] For Gorno-Altaysk the eclipse was the second consecutive total solar eclipse after March 2006 eclipse.[6]

  • Partial eclipse from Moscow, Russia
  • Partial eclipse from Yekaterinburg
  • Partial eclipse at Novosibirsk, one minute before totality
  • Total eclipse from Novosibirsk (Akademgorodok)
  • Diamond ring effect from Novosibirsk
  • Maximum phase of partial eclipse in Magnitogorsk
  • The progression of a solar eclipse in Novosibirsk. All times UTC (local time was UTC+7).
  • Partial eclipse from Sakha Republic (Yakutia)

Conclusion: China

The path of the eclipse then moved south-east, crossing into Mongolia and just clipping Kazakhstan at around 10:58 UT. The path here was 252 km wide, but the duration was decreased to 2 minutes 10 seconds. The path then ran down the China-Mongolia border, ending in China at 11:18 UT, with an eclipse lasting 1 minute 27 seconds at sunset. The total eclipse finished at 11:21 UT. The total eclipse passed over Yiwu County, Jiuquan and Xi’an.[4] Around 10,000 people were gathered to watch the eclipse in Yiwu.[3]

  • Total eclipse from Yiwu County, Xinjiang
  • Total eclipse at Jinta County, Gansu; red prominences are clearly visible on both sides of the sun
  • Overview of the eclipse from Jinta County, Gansu; Venus and Mercury are clearly visible to the upper left of the sun
  • Total eclipse from Gansu, China

Partial eclipse

A partial eclipse was seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including the north east coast of North America and most of Europe and Asia.[2] In London, England, the partial eclipse began at 09:33 BST, with a maximum eclipse of 12% at 10:18 BST, before concluding at 11:05 BST. At Edinburgh the partial eclipse was 23.5% of the sun, whilst it was 36% in Lerwick in the Shetland Isles.[7]

  • Partial eclipse from Warsaw, Poland
  • Partial eclipse from Helsinki, Finland
  • Partial eclipse from Bergen, Norway
  • Partial eclipse from Minsk, Belarus
  • Partial eclipse from Makiivka, Ukraine
  • Partial eclipse from Chennai, India

LTU 1111

German charter airline LTU, now trading as Air Berlin, operated a special flight from Düsseldorf to the North Pole to observe the eclipse. Flight number LT 1111 spent over 11 hours in the air, returning to base at 6pm after flying a planeload of eclipse chasers, scientists, journalists and TV crews to watch the celestial event. The route also included a low-level sightseeing tour of Svalbard before the eclipse and the magnetic pole afterwards.

More details about the Total Solar Eclipse of 1 August 2008.

Eclipse Magnitude: 1.03942

Eclipse Obscuration: 1.08040

Gamma: 0.83070

Greatest Eclipse: 2008 August 01 at 10:22:12.3 TD (10:21:06.7 UTC)

Sun right ascension: 8.8

Sun declination: 17.9

Sun diameter (arcseconds): 1891.0

Moon right ascension: 8.82

Moon declination: 18.6

Moon diameter (arcseconds): 1948.2

Delta T: 1 minute, 5.7 seconds

Saros series: 126th (47 of 72)

Eclipses of 2008

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Solar Saros 126

Inex

Solar eclipses 2008–2011

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.[8]

Saros 126

It is a part of Saros cycle 126, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 72 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on March 10, 1179. It contains annular eclipses from June 4, 1323 through April 4, 1810, hybrid eclipses from April 14, 1828 through May 6, 1864 and total eclipses from May 17, 1882 through August 23, 2044. The series ends at member 72 as a partial eclipse on May 3, 2459. The longest duration of central eclipse (annular or total) was 6 minutes, 30 seconds of annularity on June 26, 1359. The longest duration of totality was 2 minutes, 36 seconds on July 10, 1972. All eclipses in this series occurs at the Moon’s descending node.

Metonic series

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 descending node.[9]

Notes
  1. Espenak, Fred; Jay Anderson (July 2004). "Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 August 01 - Parameters". NASA. Archived from the original on 2008-08-01. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  2. "Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 August 01". NASA. August 1, 2008. Archived from the original on August 1, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  3. "Total eclipse a dark show for thousands". Herald Sun. August 1, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  4. Espenak, Fred; Jay Anderson (March 2007). Total Eclipse of 2008 August 01 - NASA Technical Bulletin 2007–214149. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  5. Dr John Mason describing the eclipse directly after observing it
  6. Eclipses and Transits Visible in Gorno-Altaysk. timeanddate.com
  7. Royal Astronomical Society (August 1, 2008). "Solar Eclipse On The Morning Of August 1st". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  8. van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  9. Freeth, Tony. "Note S1: Eclipses & Predictions". plos.org. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
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References

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