Solar eclipse of December 26, 2019

An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Thursday, December 26, 2019,[1][2][3][4][5] with a magnitude of 0.9701. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring 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.[6] The Moon's apparent diameter was near the average diameter because it occurred 7.3 days after perigee (on December 18, 2019, at 20:25 UTC) and 6.2 days before apogee (on January 2, 2020, at 1:30 UTC).[7]

Solar eclipse of December 26, 2019
Annular eclipse
Annularity as seen from Jaffna, Sri Lanka
Map
Gamma0.4135
Magnitude0.9701
Maximum eclipse
Duration220 s (3 min 40 s)
Coordinates1°00′N 102°18′E / 1°N 102.3°E / 1; 102.3
Max. width of band118 km (73 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse5:18:53
References
Saros132 (46 of 71)
Catalog # (SE5000)9552

Annularity was visible in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, southern India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of East Africa, Asia, and northern Australia.

Visibility and viewing

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Animated path

It was the last solar eclipse of 2019. The central path of the 2019 annular eclipse passed through the Saudi Arabian peninsula, southern India, Sumatra, Borneo, Philippines and Guam. A partial eclipse was visible thousands of kilometers wide from the central path. It covered small parts of Eastern Europe, much of Asia, North and West Australia, Eastern Africa, the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean.[6][8] The eclipse started with an antumbra having a magnitude of 0.96; it stretched 164 kilometers wide, and traveled eastwards at an average rate of 1.1 kilometers per second. The longest duration of annularity was 3 minutes and 40 seconds, at 5.30 UT1 occurring in the South China Sea (0°45'54.0"N 105°29'06.0"E).[6]

 
Map showing the visibility of the annular solar eclipse on December 26, 2019, in India
Time-lapse video of the eclipse as seen from Kinnigoli, India

The eclipse began in Saudi Arabia about 220 kilometers northeast of Riyadh at 03:43 UT1 and ended in Guam at 06:59.4 UT1. It reached India near Kannur, Kerala, at 03:56 UT1. The shadow reached the southeast coast of India at 04:04 UT1. Traveling through northern Sri Lanka, it headed into the Bay of Bengal. The next main visible places were Palau (Malaysia), Sumatra and Singapore. It then passed through the South China Sea, crossed Borneo and the Celebes Sea, the Philippines archipelago and then headed towards the western Pacific. The antumbral shadow encountered Guam at 6:56 UT1 and rose back into space.[6]

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Eclipse details

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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.[9]

December 26, 2019 solar eclipse times
Event Time (UTC)
First penumbral external contact 2019 December 26 at 02:31:00.8 UTC
First umbral external contact 2019 December 26 at 03:35:41.7 UTC
First central line 2019 December 26 at 03:37:13.6 UTC
First umbral internal contact 2019 December 26 at 03:38:45.8 UTC
First penumbral internal contact 2019 December 26 at 05:02:35.5 UTC
Ecliptic conjunction 2019 December 26 at 05:14:17.0 UTC
Equatorial conjunction 2019 December 26 at 05:15:43.8 UTC
Greatest eclipse 2019 December 26 at 05:18:53.1 UTC
Greatest duration 2019 December 26 at 05:29:39.4 UTC
Last penumbral internal contact 2019 December 26 at 05:35:14.2 UTC
Last umbral internal contact 2019 December 26 at 06:59:00.2 UTC
Last central line 2019 December 26 at 07:00:35.4 UTC
Last umbral external contact 2019 December 26 at 07:02:10.4 UTC
Last penumbral external contact 2019 December 26 at 08:06:53.4 UTC
December 26, 2019 solar eclipse parameters
Parameter Value
Eclipse magnitude 0.97010
Eclipse obscuration 0.94110
Gamma 0.41351
Sun right ascension 18h17m56.7s
Sun declination -23°22'19.2"
Sun semi-diameter 16'15.7"
Sun equatorial horizontal parallax 08.9"
Moon right ascension 18h18m03.7s
Moon declination -22°58'50.4"
Moon semi-diameter 15'33.0"
Moon equatorial horizontal parallax 0°57'04.0"
ΔT 69.8 s

Eclipse season

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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 2019–January 2020
December 26
Descending node (new moon)
January 10
Ascending node (full moon)
   
Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 132
Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 144
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Eclipses in 2019

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Astronomers Without Borders collected eclipse glasses for redistribution to Latin America and Asia for their 2019 eclipses from the solar eclipse of August 21, 2017.[10]

Metonic

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Tzolkinex

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Half-Saros

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Tritos

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Solar Saros 132

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Inex

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Triad

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Solar eclipses of 2018–2021

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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.[11]

The partial solar eclipses on February 15, 2018 and August 11, 2018 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 2018 to 2021
Ascending node   Descending node
Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma
117
 
Partial in Melbourne, Australia
July 13, 2018
 
Partial
−1.35423 122
 
Partial in Nakhodka, Russia
January 6, 2019
 
Partial
1.14174
127
 
Totality in La Serena, Chile
July 2, 2019
 
Total
−0.64656 132
 
Annularity in Jaffna, Sri Lanka
December 26, 2019
 
Annular
0.41351
137
 
Annularity in Beigang, Yunlin, Taiwan
June 21, 2020
 
Annular
0.12090 142
 
Totality in Gorbea, Chile
December 14, 2020
 
Total
−0.29394
147
 
Partial in Halifax, Canada
June 10, 2021
 
Annular
0.91516 152
 
From HMS Protector off South Georgia
December 4, 2021
 
Total
−0.95261

Saros 132

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This eclipse is a part of Saros series 132, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on August 13, 1208. It contains annular eclipses from March 17, 1569 through March 12, 2146; hybrid eclipses on March 23, 2164 and April 3, 2182; and total eclipses from April 14, 2200 through June 19, 2308. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on September 25, 2470. 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 annularity was produced by member 25 at 6 minutes, 56 seconds on May 9, 1641, and the longest duration of totality will be produced by member 61 at 2 minutes, 14 seconds on June 8, 2290. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.[12]

Series members 34–56 occur between 1801 and 2200:
34 35 36
 
August 17, 1803
 
August 27, 1821
 
September 7, 1839
37 38 39
 
September 18, 1857
 
September 29, 1875
 
October 9, 1893
40 41 42
 
October 22, 1911
 
November 1, 1929
 
November 12, 1947
43 44 45
 
November 23, 1965
 
December 4, 1983
 
December 14, 2001
46 47 48
 
December 26, 2019
 
January 5, 2038
 
January 16, 2056
49 50 51
 
January 27, 2074
 
February 7, 2092
 
February 18, 2110
52 53 54
 
March 1, 2128
 
March 12, 2146
 
March 23, 2164
55 56
 
April 3, 2182
 
April 14, 2200

Metonic series

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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 May 21, 1993 and May 20, 2069
May 20–21 March 9 December 25–26 October 13–14 August 1–2
118 120 122 124 126
 
May 21, 1993
 
March 9, 1997
 
December 25, 2000
 
October 14, 2004
 
August 1, 2008
128 130 132 134 136
 
May 20, 2012
 
March 9, 2016
 
December 26, 2019
 
October 14, 2023
 
August 2, 2027
138 140 142 144 146
 
May 21, 2031
 
March 9, 2035
 
December 26, 2038
 
October 14, 2042
 
August 2, 2046
148 150 152 154 156
 
May 20, 2050
 
March 9, 2054
 
December 26, 2057
 
October 13, 2061
 
August 2, 2065
158
 
May 20, 2069

Tritos series

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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

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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
 
May 16, 1817
(Saros 125)
 
April 25, 1846
(Saros 126)
 
April 6, 1875
(Saros 127)
 
March 17, 1904
(Saros 128)
 
February 24, 1933
(Saros 129)
 
February 5, 1962
(Saros 130)
 
January 15, 1991
(Saros 131)
 
December 26, 2019
(Saros 132)
 
December 5, 2048
(Saros 133)
 
November 15, 2077
(Saros 134)
 
October 26, 2106
(Saros 135)
 
October 7, 2135
(Saros 136)
 
September 16, 2164
(Saros 137)
 
August 26, 2193
(Saros 138)

Notes

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  1. ^ "December 26, 2019 Annular Solar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  2. ^ Malik, Tariq (December 26, 2019). "'Ring of Fire' Solar Eclipse Thrills Skywatchers Around the World (and in Space, Too!)". Space.com.
  3. ^ "Solar eclipse creates 'ring of fire' in sky over parts of Asia Dec. 26". ABC7 Chicago. December 26, 2019.
  4. ^ Chappell, Bill (December 26, 2019). "'Ring Of Fire' Eclipse Sweeps Across Skies In Middle East And Southeast Asia". NPR.com.
  5. ^ "Egg-standing test goes viral as ring-of-fire eclipse crosses Asia". December 26, 2019 – via www.reuters.com.
  6. ^ a b c d "EclipseWise - Eclipses During 2019". eclipsewise.com. Retrieved 2019-07-25.
  7. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  8. ^ "Annular Solar Eclipse on December 26, 2019". www.timeanddate.com. Retrieved 2019-07-25.
  9. ^ "Annular Solar Eclipse of 2019 Dec 26". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  10. ^ Cooper, Gael (2017-08-22). "Wait! Dig those eclipse glasses out of the garbage Here comes the sun. Astronomers Without Borders will be collecting the protective eyewear for use in future eclipses worldwide". Retrieved 2017-08-27.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ "NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 132". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.

References

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