Solar eclipse of January 4, 1992

An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit between Saturday, January 4 and Sunday, January 5, 1992,[1] with a magnitude of 0.9179. 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 1.5 days before apogee (on January 6, 1992, at 11:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.[2]

Solar eclipse of January 4, 1992
Map
Type of eclipse
NatureAnnular
Gamma0.4091
Magnitude0.9179
Maximum eclipse
Duration701 s (11 min 41 s)
Coordinates1°00′N 169°42′W / 1°N 169.7°W / 1; -169.7
Max. width of band340 km (210 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse23:05:37
References
Saros141 (22 of 70)
Catalog # (SE5000)9490

The duration of annularity at maximum eclipse (closest to but slightly shorter than the longest duration) was 11 minutes, 40.9 seconds in the Pacific. It will have been the longest annular solar eclipse until January 2, 3062, but the solar eclipse of December 24, 1973 lasted longer.[3]

Annularity was visible in the Federal States of Micronesia, Nauru, Kiribati, Baker Island, Palmyra Atoll, Kingman Reef, and southwestern California, including the southwestern part of Los Angeles.[4] A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Northeast Asia, Northern Australia, Oceania, Hawaii, and western North America.

Observations

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In San Diego, the eclipse was described as "thrilling", with one observer saying it "looked like God was putting out a fire in the ocean".[5] At other locations (like northeast Australia and the southern Philippines), it was partially obscured by clouds.[5] Most attempts to view the eclipse from Los Angeles were unsuccessful[6] due to cloud cover (and rain which ruined several campsites set up for eclipse-viewing).[7] An astronomer there said that, while around ten thousand people had gathered there to watch the event, it was "completely socked up" and "as if there was no eclipse at all".[5]

While it was only a partial eclipse in Hawaii, people nonetheless gathered to watch it; a museum reported 3,000 people in attendance during the event, although it was noted that "it was hard to tell who were there for the eclipse and who just kind of stumbled upon it".[8]

Images

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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]

January 4, 1992 Solar Eclipse Times
Event Time (UTC)
First Penumbral External Contact 1992 January 04 at 20:04:35.0 UTC
First Umbral External Contact 1992 January 04 at 21:13:17.2 UTC
First Central Line 1992 January 04 at 21:17:01.0 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact 1992 January 04 at 21:20:46.2 UTC
First Penumbral Internal Contact 1992 January 04 at 22:52:57.9 UTC
Greatest Duration 1992 January 04 at 22:56:52.3 UTC
Greatest Eclipse 1992 January 04 at 23:05:37.0 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction 1992 January 04 at 23:10:33.0 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction 1992 January 04 at 23:15:42.7 UTC
Last Penumbral Internal Contact 1992 January 04 at 23:18:00.0 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact 1992 January 05 at 00:50:20.4 UTC
Last Central Line 1992 January 05 at 00:54:06.6 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact 1992 January 05 at 00:57:51.5 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact 1992 January 05 at 02:06:36.8 UTC
January 4, 1992 Solar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter Value
Eclipse Magnitude 0.91791
Eclipse Obscuration 0.84256
Gamma 0.40908
Sun Right Ascension 19h00m10.0s
Sun Declination -22°43'13.0"
Sun Semi-Diameter 16'15.9"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9"
Moon Right Ascension 18h59m50.7s
Moon Declination -22°21'37.6"
Moon Semi-Diameter 14'43.6"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°54'02.8"
ΔT 58.3 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 1991–January 1992
December 21
Descending node (full moon)
January 4
Ascending node (new moon)
   
Partial lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 115
Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 141
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Eclipses in 1992

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Metonic

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Tzolkinex

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Half-Saros

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Tritos

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Solar Saros 141

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Inex

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Triad

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Solar eclipses of 1990–1992

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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.[10]

Solar eclipse series sets from 1990 to 1992
Ascending node   Descending node
Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma
121 January 26, 1990
 
Annular
−0.9457 126
 
Partial in Finland
July 22, 1990
 
Total
0.7597
131 January 15, 1991
 
Annular
−0.2727 136
 
Totality in Playas del Coco,
Costa Rica
July 11, 1991
 
Total
−0.0041
141 January 4, 1992
 
Annular
0.4091 146 June 30, 1992
 
Total
−0.7512
151 December 24, 1992
 
Partial
1.0711

Saros 141

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This eclipse is a part of Saros series 141, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 70 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on May 19, 1613. It contains annular eclipses from August 4, 1739 through October 14, 2640. There are no hybrid or total eclipses in this set. The series ends at member 70 as a partial eclipse on June 13, 2857. 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 20 at 12 minutes, 9 seconds on December 14, 1955. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.[11]

Series members 12–33 occur between 1801 and 2200:
12 13 14
 
September 17, 1811
 
September 28, 1829
 
October 9, 1847
15 16 17
 
October 19, 1865
 
October 30, 1883
 
November 11, 1901
18 19 20
 
November 22, 1919
 
December 2, 1937
 
December 14, 1955
21 22 23
 
December 24, 1973
 
January 4, 1992
 
January 15, 2010
24 25 26
 
January 26, 2028
 
February 5, 2046
 
February 17, 2064
27 28 29
 
February 27, 2082
 
March 10, 2100
 
March 22, 2118
30 31 32
 
April 1, 2136
 
April 12, 2154
 
April 23, 2172
33
 
May 4, 2190

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 ascending node.

22 eclipse events between January 5, 1935 and August 11, 2018
January 4–5 October 23–24 August 10–12 May 30–31 March 18–19
111 113 115 117 119
 
January 5, 1935
 
August 12, 1942
 
May 30, 1946
 
March 18, 1950
121 123 125 127 129
 
January 5, 1954
 
October 23, 1957
 
August 11, 1961
 
May 30, 1965
 
March 18, 1969
131 133 135 137 139
 
January 4, 1973
 
October 23, 1976
 
August 10, 1980
 
May 30, 1984
 
March 18, 1988
141 143 145 147 149
 
January 4, 1992
 
October 24, 1995
 
August 11, 1999
 
May 31, 2003
 
March 19, 2007
151 153 155
 
January 4, 2011
 
October 23, 2014
 
August 11, 2018

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
 
June 16, 1806
(Saros 124)
 
May 16, 1817
(Saros 125)
 
April 14, 1828
(Saros 126)
 
March 15, 1839
(Saros 127)
 
February 12, 1850
(Saros 128)
 
January 11, 1861
(Saros 129)
 
December 12, 1871
(Saros 130)
 
November 10, 1882
(Saros 131)
 
October 9, 1893
(Saros 132)
 
September 9, 1904
(Saros 133)
 
August 10, 1915
(Saros 134)
 
July 9, 1926
(Saros 135)
 
June 8, 1937
(Saros 136)
 
May 9, 1948
(Saros 137)
 
April 8, 1959
(Saros 138)
 
March 7, 1970
(Saros 139)
 
February 4, 1981
(Saros 140)
 
January 4, 1992
(Saros 141)
 
December 4, 2002
(Saros 142)
 
November 3, 2013
(Saros 143)
 
October 2, 2024
(Saros 144)
 
September 2, 2035
(Saros 145)
 
August 2, 2046
(Saros 146)
 
July 1, 2057
(Saros 147)
 
May 31, 2068
(Saros 148)
 
May 1, 2079
(Saros 149)
 
March 31, 2090
(Saros 150)
 
February 28, 2101
(Saros 151)
 
January 29, 2112
(Saros 152)
 
December 28, 2122
(Saros 153)
 
November 26, 2133
(Saros 154)
 
October 26, 2144
(Saros 155)
 
September 26, 2155
(Saros 156)
 
August 25, 2166
(Saros 157)
 
July 25, 2177
(Saros 158)
 
June 24, 2188
(Saros 159)
 
May 24, 2199
(Saros 160)

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 5, 1818
(Saros 135)
 
April 15, 1847
(Saros 136)
 
March 25, 1876
(Saros 137)
 
March 6, 1905
(Saros 138)
 
February 14, 1934
(Saros 139)
 
January 25, 1963
(Saros 140)
 
January 4, 1992
(Saros 141)
 
December 14, 2020
(Saros 142)
 
November 25, 2049
(Saros 143)
 
November 4, 2078
(Saros 144)
 
October 16, 2107
(Saros 145)
 
September 26, 2136
(Saros 146)
 
September 5, 2165
(Saros 147)
 
August 16, 2194
(Saros 148)

Notes

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  1. ^ "January 4–5, 1992 Annular Solar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  3. ^ "Annular Solar Eclipses with Durations Exceeding 11m 00s: -3999 to 6000". NASA Eclipse Web Site.
  4. ^ "Sunset eclipse expected to dazzle West today". The Daily Herald. Provo, Utah. 1992-01-04.
  5. ^ a b c "Clouds Obscure Eclipse in Some Areas". Tulsa World. 1992-01-05.
  6. ^ "Clouds conceal solar eclipse". Edmonton Journal. 1992-01-05. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-10-24 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Hundreds hoping to see spectacle are disappointed". Ventura County Star. 1992-01-05. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-10-24 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Partial eclipse: Isle folk were only partially interested". The Honolulu Advertiser. 1992-01-05. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-10-24 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Annular Solar Eclipse of 1992 Jan 04". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ "NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 141". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.

References

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Photos:

Template Solar eclipses

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