Solar eclipse of November 12, 1985

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Tuesday, November 12, 1985,[1] with a magnitude of 1.0388. 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 2 hours after perigee (on November 12, 1985, at 12:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[2] Perigee did occur during the early portion of the eclipse.

Solar eclipse of November 12, 1985
Map
Type of eclipse
NatureTotal
Gamma−0.9795
Magnitude1.0388
Maximum eclipse
Duration119 s (1 min 59 s)
Coordinates68°36′S 142°36′W / 68.6°S 142.6°W / -68.6; -142.6
Max. width of band690 km (430 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse14:11:27
References
Saros152 (11 of 70)
Catalog # (SE5000)9477

Totality was visible only near Antarctica. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of southern South America and Antarctica.

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.[3]

November 12, 1985 Solar Eclipse Times
Event Time (UTC)
First Penumbral External Contact 1985 November 12 at 12:09:38.7 UTC
First Umbral External Contact 1985 November 12 at 13:47:16.4 UTC
First Central Line 1985 November 12 at 13:51:51.3 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact 1985 November 12 at 13:57:51.7 UTC
Greatest Duration 1985 November 12 at 14:11:16.8 UTC
Greatest Eclipse 1985 November 12 at 14:11:26.9 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction 1985 November 12 at 14:21:15.4 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction 1985 November 12 at 14:50:17.6 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact 1985 November 12 at 14:24:37.2 UTC
Last Central Line 1985 November 12 at 14:30:37.7 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact 1985 November 12 at 14:35:12.6 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact 1985 November 12 at 16:12:59.3 UTC
November 12, 1985 Solar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter Value
Eclipse Magnitude 1.03880
Eclipse Obscuration 1.07910
Gamma −0.97948
Sun Right Ascension 15h10m46.7s
Sun Declination -17°46'51.7"
Sun Semi-Diameter 16'09.6"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9"
Moon Right Ascension 15h09m15.4s
Moon Declination -18°42'51.3"
Moon Semi-Diameter 16'44.5"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 1°01'26.6"
ΔT 54.8 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 October–November 1985
October 28
Ascending node (full moon)
November 12
Descending node (new moon)
   
Total lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 126
Total solar eclipse
Solar Saros 152
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Eclipses in 1985

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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 152

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Inex

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Triad

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Solar eclipses of 1982–1985

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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.[4]

The partial solar eclipses on January 25, 1982 and July 20, 1982 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1982 to 1985
Ascending node   Descending node
Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma
117 June 21, 1982
 
Partial
−1.2102 122 December 15, 1982
 
Partial
1.1293
127 June 11, 1983
 
Total
−0.4947 132 December 4, 1983
 
Annular
0.4015
137 May 30, 1984
 
Annular
0.2755 142
 
Partial in Gisborne,
New Zealand
November 22, 1984
 
Total
−0.3132
147 May 19, 1985
 
Partial
1.072 152 November 12, 1985
 
Total
−0.9795

Saros 152

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This eclipse is a part of Saros series 152, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 70 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on July 26, 1805. It contains total eclipses from November 2, 1967 through September 14, 2490; hybrid eclipses from September 26, 2508 through October 17, 2544; and annular eclipses from October 29, 2562 through June 16, 2941. The series ends at member 70 as a partial eclipse on August 20, 3049. 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 will be produced by member 30 at 5 minutes, 16 seconds on June 9, 2328, and the longest duration of annularity will be produced by member 53 at 5 minutes, 20 seconds on February 16, 2743. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.[5]

Series members 1–22 occur between 1805 and 2200:
1 2 3
 
July 26, 1805
 
August 6, 1823
 
August 16, 1841
4 5 6
 
August 28, 1859
 
September 7, 1877
 
September 18, 1895
7 8 9
 
September 30, 1913
 
October 11, 1931
 
October 21, 1949
10 11 12
 
November 2, 1967
 
November 12, 1985
 
November 23, 2003
13 14 15
 
December 4, 2021
 
December 15, 2039
 
December 26, 2057
16 17 18
 
January 6, 2076
 
January 16, 2094
 
January 29, 2112
19 20 21
 
February 8, 2130
 
February 19, 2148
 
March 2, 2166
22
 
March 12, 2184

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.

22 eclipse events between April 8, 1902 and August 31, 1989
April 7–8 January 24–25 November 12 August 31–September 1 June 19–20
108 110 112 114 116
 
April 8, 1902
 
August 31, 1913
 
June 19, 1917
118 120 122 124 126
 
April 8, 1921
 
January 24, 1925
 
November 12, 1928
 
August 31, 1932
 
June 19, 1936
128 130 132 134 136
 
April 7, 1940
 
January 25, 1944
 
November 12, 1947
 
September 1, 1951
 
June 20, 1955
138 140 142 144 146
 
April 8, 1959
 
January 25, 1963
 
November 12, 1966
 
August 31, 1970
 
June 20, 1974
148 150 152 154
 
April 7, 1978
 
January 25, 1982
 
November 12, 1985
 
August 31, 1989

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.

The partial solar eclipse on November 4, 2116 (part of Saros 164) is also a part of this series but is not included in the table below.

Series members between 1801 and 2029
 
March 24, 1811
(Saros 136)
 
February 21, 1822
(Saros 137)
 
January 20, 1833
(Saros 138)
 
December 21, 1843
(Saros 139)
 
November 20, 1854
(Saros 140)
 
October 19, 1865
(Saros 141)
 
September 17, 1876
(Saros 142)
 
August 19, 1887
(Saros 143)
 
July 18, 1898
(Saros 144)
 
June 17, 1909
(Saros 145)
 
May 18, 1920
(Saros 146)
 
April 18, 1931
(Saros 147)
 
March 16, 1942
(Saros 148)
 
February 14, 1953
(Saros 149)
 
January 14, 1964
(Saros 150)
 
December 13, 1974
(Saros 151)
 
November 12, 1985
(Saros 152)
 
October 12, 1996
(Saros 153)
 
September 11, 2007
(Saros 154)
 
August 11, 2018
(Saros 155)
 
July 11, 2029
(Saros 156)

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
 
March 13, 1812
(Saros 146)
 
February 21, 1841
(Saros 147)
 
January 31, 1870
(Saros 148)
 
January 11, 1899
(Saros 149)
 
December 24, 1927
(Saros 150)
 
December 2, 1956
(Saros 151)
 
November 12, 1985
(Saros 152)
 
October 23, 2014
(Saros 153)
 
October 3, 2043
(Saros 154)
 
September 12, 2072
(Saros 155)
 
August 24, 2101
(Saros 156)
 
August 4, 2130
(Saros 157)
 
July 15, 2159
(Saros 158)
 
June 24, 2188
(Saros 159)

Notes

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  1. ^ "November 12, 1985 Total Solar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  3. ^ "Total Solar Eclipse of 1985 Nov 12". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ "NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 152". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.

References

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