Jump to content

Solar eclipse of February 26, 1998

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Solar eclipse of February 26, 1998
Total eclipse near Guadeloupe
Map
Type of eclipse
NatureTotal
Gamma0.2391
Magnitude1.0441
Maximum eclipse
Duration249 s (4 min 9 s)
Coordinates4°42′N 82°42′W / 4.7°N 82.7°W / 4.7; -82.7
Max. width of band151 km (94 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse17:29:27
References
Saros130 (51 of 73)
Catalog # (SE5000)9503

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Thursday, February 26, 1998,[1] with a magnitude of 1.0441. 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. Occurring about 1.1 days before perigee (on February 27, 1998, at 19:50 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[2]

Totality was visible in the Galápagos Islands, Panama, Colombia, the Paraguaná Peninsula in northwestern Venezuela, all of Aruba, most of Curaçao and the northwestern tip of Bonaire (belonging to Netherlands Antilles which dissolved later), all of Montserrat, Guadeloupe and Antigua and Barbuda. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Mexico, the southern and eastern United States, Central America, the Caribbean, northern South America, West Africa, and the Iberian Peninsula.

Observations

[edit]

Jay Pasachoff led a team from Williams College, Massachusetts to Aruba and studied the rapid oscillations of the corona and coronal temperature, and also recorded coronal and other solar images in the visible and infrared parts of the spectrum. The team also photographed the corona using the same green filter onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, providing calibration for the spacecraft.[3] Fred Espenak, an astrophysicist of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center also observed it in Aruba. Clouds gradually gathered at the beginning of the eclipse, and it rained for a while. This was the first precipitation on the island in 6 months. Later, the sky gradually cleared up and totality was successfully seen.[4] The wind speed on the island was often larger than 30 knots.[3]

A team of the Johnson Space Center observed the eclipse in Curaçao. Curaçao got the first precipitation in 4 months on the morning of the eclipse day, but it gradually cleared up afterwards. During the totality, the sky was completely clear. The corona was extending in the east-west direction, and helmet streamers could be seen at the poles of the sun.[5]

[edit]

The 2001 Japanese film Orozco the Embalmer briefly featured the total eclipse as seen from Colombia.

Eclipse details

[edit]

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.[6]

February 26, 1998 Solar Eclipse Times
Event Time (UTC)
First Penumbral External Contact 1998 February 26 at 14:51:26.2 UTC
First Umbral External Contact 1998 February 26 at 15:47:48.6 UTC
First Central Line 1998 February 26 at 15:48:32.9 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact 1998 February 26 at 15:49:17.2 UTC
First Penumbral Internal Contact 1998 February 26 at 16:48:32.4 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction 1998 February 26 at 17:26:58.5 UTC
Greatest Duration 1998 February 26 at 17:28:01.9 UTC
Greatest Eclipse 1998 February 26 at 17:29:26.7 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction 1998 February 26 at 17:36:39.9 UTC
Last Penumbral Internal Contact 1998 February 26 at 18:10:10.1 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact 1998 February 26 at 19:09:29.1 UTC
Last Central Line 1998 February 26 at 19:10:14.8 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact 1998 February 26 at 19:11:00.5 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact 1998 February 26 at 20:07:20.7 UTC
February 26, 1998 Solar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter Value
Eclipse Magnitude 1.04411
Eclipse Obscuration 1.09017
Gamma 0.23909
Sun Right Ascension 22h38m18.9s
Sun Declination -08°36'05.1"
Sun Semi-Diameter 16'09.1"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9"
Moon Right Ascension 22h38m02.5s
Moon Declination -08°22'08.5"
Moon Semi-Diameter 16'35.2"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 1°00'52.6"
ΔT 63.0 s

Eclipse season

[edit]

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 February–March 1998
February 26
Descending node (new moon)
March 13
Ascending node (full moon)
Total solar eclipse
Solar Saros 130
Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 142
[edit]

Eclipses in 1998

[edit]

Metonic

[edit]

Tzolkinex

[edit]

Half-Saros

[edit]

Tritos

[edit]

Solar Saros 130

[edit]

Inex

[edit]

Triad

[edit]

Solar eclipses of 1997–2000

[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.[7]

The partial solar eclipses on July 1, 2000 and December 25, 2000 occur in the next lunar year eclipse set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1997 to 2000
Descending node   Ascending node
Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma
120

Totality in Chita, Russia
March 9, 1997

Total
0.9183 125 September 2, 1997

Partial
−1.0352
130

Totality near Guadeloupe
February 26, 1998

Total
0.2391 135 August 22, 1998

Annular
−0.2644
140 February 16, 1999

Annular
−0.4726 145

Totality in France
August 11, 1999

Total
0.5062
150 February 5, 2000

Partial
−1.2233 155 July 31, 2000

Partial
1.2166

Saros 130

[edit]

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 130, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 73 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on August 20, 1096. It contains total eclipses from April 5, 1475 through July 18, 2232. There are no annular or hybrid eclipses in this set. The series ends at member 73 as a partial eclipse on October 25, 2394. 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 longest duration of totality was produced by member 30 at 6 minutes, 41 seconds on July 11, 1619. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.[8]

Series members 41–62 occur between 1801 and 2200:
41 42 43

November 9, 1817

November 20, 1835

November 30, 1853
44 45 46

December 12, 1871

December 22, 1889

January 3, 1908
47 48 49

January 14, 1926

January 25, 1944

February 5, 1962
50 51 52

February 16, 1980

February 26, 1998

March 9, 2016
53 54 55

March 20, 2034

March 30, 2052

April 11, 2070
56 57 58

April 21, 2088

May 3, 2106

May 14, 2124
59 60 61

May 25, 2142

June 4, 2160

June 16, 2178
62

June 26, 2196

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 descending node.

21 eclipse events between July 22, 1971 and July 22, 2047
July 22 May 9–11 February 26–27 December 14–15 October 2–3
116 118 120 122 124

July 22, 1971

May 11, 1975

February 26, 1979

December 15, 1982

October 3, 1986
126 128 130 132 134

July 22, 1990

May 10, 1994

February 26, 1998

December 14, 2001

October 3, 2005
136 138 140 142 144

July 22, 2009

May 10, 2013

February 26, 2017

December 14, 2020

October 2, 2024
146 148 150 152 154

July 22, 2028

May 9, 2032

February 27, 2036

December 15, 2039

October 3, 2043
156

July 22, 2047

Tritos series

[edit]

This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

Series members between 1801 and 2200

September 8, 1801
(Saros 112)

August 7, 1812
(Saros 113)

July 8, 1823
(Saros 114)

June 7, 1834
(Saros 115)

May 6, 1845
(Saros 116)

April 5, 1856
(Saros 117)

March 6, 1867
(Saros 118)

February 2, 1878
(Saros 119)

January 1, 1889
(Saros 120)

December 3, 1899
(Saros 121)

November 2, 1910
(Saros 122)

October 1, 1921
(Saros 123)

August 31, 1932
(Saros 124)

August 1, 1943
(Saros 125)

June 30, 1954
(Saros 126)

May 30, 1965
(Saros 127)

April 29, 1976
(Saros 128)

March 29, 1987
(Saros 129)

February 26, 1998
(Saros 130)

January 26, 2009
(Saros 131)

December 26, 2019
(Saros 132)

November 25, 2030
(Saros 133)

October 25, 2041
(Saros 134)

September 22, 2052
(Saros 135)

August 24, 2063
(Saros 136)

July 24, 2074
(Saros 137)

June 22, 2085
(Saros 138)

May 22, 2096
(Saros 139)

April 23, 2107
(Saros 140)

March 22, 2118
(Saros 141)

February 18, 2129
(Saros 142)

January 20, 2140
(Saros 143)

December 19, 2150
(Saros 144)

November 17, 2161
(Saros 145)

October 17, 2172
(Saros 146)

September 16, 2183
(Saros 147)

August 16, 2194
(Saros 148)

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.

Series members between 1801 and 2200

June 26, 1824
(Saros 124)

June 6, 1853
(Saros 125)

May 17, 1882
(Saros 126)

April 28, 1911
(Saros 127)

April 7, 1940
(Saros 128)

March 18, 1969
(Saros 129)

February 26, 1998
(Saros 130)

February 6, 2027
(Saros 131)

January 16, 2056
(Saros 132)

December 27, 2084
(Saros 133)

December 8, 2113
(Saros 134)

November 17, 2142
(Saros 135)

October 29, 2171
(Saros 136)

October 9, 2200
(Saros 137)

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ "February 26, 1998 Total Solar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Scientific Experiments at the 1998 Eclipse: The Williams College Expedition". Williams College. Archived from the original on 26 October 2016.
  4. ^ Fred Espenak. "Report on the Total Solar Eclipse of 1998 Feb 26". Archived from the original on 16 February 2014.
  5. ^ Paul Maley. "The Caribbean Total Solar Eclipse of 26 February 1998: A Great Success!". Eclipse Tours. Archived from the original on 22 January 2016.
  6. ^ "Total Solar Eclipse of 1998 Feb 26". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ "NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 130". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.

References

[edit]
[edit]

Sites and Photos

[edit]

Videos

[edit]