Solar eclipse of November 23, 2003

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Sunday, November 23 and Monday, November 24, 2003,[1][2] with a magnitude of 1.0379. 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 25 minutes before perigee (on November 23, 2003, at 23:15 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was near its maximum.[3] Perigee did occur just past the greatest point of this eclipse.

Solar eclipse of November 23, 2003
Map
Type of eclipse
NatureTotal
Gamma−0.9638
Magnitude1.0379
Maximum eclipse
Duration117 s (1 min 57 s)
Coordinates72°42′S 88°24′E / 72.7°S 88.4°E / -72.7; 88.4
Max. width of band495 km (308 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse22:50:22
References
Saros152 (12 of 70)
Catalog # (SE5000)9516

For most solar eclipses the path of totality moves eastwards. In this case the path moved south and then west round Antarctica.

Totality was visible from a corridor in eastern Antarctica. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, southern Chile, and southern Argentina.

Observations

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A Russian icebreaker departed from Port Elizabeth, South Africa carrying tourists to observe the eclipse near the Shackleton Ice Shelf and Novolazarevskaya Station, and then sailed to Hobart, Tasmania. About 100 people from 15 countries were on board, including Iranian amateur astronomer Babak Amin Tafreshi, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center astrophysicist Fred Espenak, Williams College professor Jay Pasachoff. There are also about 200 scientists and tourists taking two commercial charter flights to observe it over Antarctica. This was the first time humans observed a total solar eclipse from Antarctica.[4][5][6]


Images

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A photo of the eclipse.

 

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.[7]

November 23, 2003 Solar Eclipse Times
Event Time (UTC)
First Penumbral External Contact 2003 November 23 at 20:47:10.0 UTC
First Umbral External Contact 2003 November 23 at 22:20:25.7 UTC
First Central Line 2003 November 23 at 22:23:45.1 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact 2003 November 23 at 22:27:31.3 UTC
Greatest Duration 2003 November 23 at 22:50:18.7 UTC
Greatest Eclipse 2003 November 23 at 22:50:21.7 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction 2003 November 23 at 23:00:01.3 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction 2003 November 23 at 23:21:19.7 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact 2003 November 23 at 23:12:52.0 UTC
Last Central Line 2003 November 23 at 23:16:38.4 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact 2003 November 23 at 23:19:57.9 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact 2003 November 24 at 00:53:20.5 UTC
November 23, 2003 Solar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter Value
Eclipse Magnitude 1.03789
Eclipse Obscuration 1.07721
Gamma −0.96381
Sun Right Ascension 15h56m23.2s
Sun Declination -20°24'22.8"
Sun Semi-Diameter 16'11.8"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9"
Moon Right Ascension 15h55m07.5s
Moon Declination -21°20'45.7"
Moon Semi-Diameter 16'44.7"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 1°01'27.3"
ΔT 64.5 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 November 2003
November 9
Ascending node (full moon)
November 23
Descending node (new moon)
   
Total lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 126
Total solar eclipse
Solar Saros 152
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Eclipses in 2003

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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 2000–2003

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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.[8]

The partial solar eclipses on February 5, 2000 and July 31, 2000 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 2000 to 2003
Ascending node   Descending node
Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma
117 July 1, 2000
 
Partial
−1.28214 122
 
Partial projection in Minneapolis, MN, USA
December 25, 2000
 
Partial
1.13669
127
 
Totality in Lusaka, Zambia
June 21, 2001
 
Total
−0.57013 132
 
Partial in Minneapolis, MN, USA
December 14, 2001
 
Annular
0.40885
137
 
Partial in Los Angeles, CA, USA
June 10, 2002
 
Annular
0.19933 142
 
Totality in Woomera, South Australia
December 4, 2002
 
Total
−0.30204
147
 
Annularity in Culloden, Scotland
May 31, 2003
 
Annular
0.99598 152
 
November 23, 2003
 
Total
−0.96381

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.[9]

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 September 12, 1931 and July 1, 2011
September 11–12 June 30–July 1 April 17–19 February 4–5 November 22–23
114 116 118 120 122
 
September 12, 1931
 
June 30, 1935
 
April 19, 1939
 
February 4, 1943
 
November 23, 1946
124 126 128 130 132
 
September 12, 1950
 
June 30, 1954
 
April 19, 1958
 
February 5, 1962
 
November 23, 1965
134 136 138 140 142
 
September 11, 1969
 
June 30, 1973
 
April 18, 1977
 
February 4, 1981
 
November 22, 1984
144 146 148 150 152
 
September 11, 1988
 
June 30, 1992
 
April 17, 1996
 
February 5, 2000
 
November 23, 2003
154 156
 
September 11, 2007
 
July 1, 2011

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 eclipses on November 16, 2134 (part of Saros 164) and October 16, 2145 (part of Saros 165) are also a part of this series but are not included in the table below.

Series members between 1801 and 2069
 
June 6, 1807
(Saros 134)
 
May 5, 1818
(Saros 135)
 
April 3, 1829
(Saros 136)
 
March 4, 1840
(Saros 137)
 
February 1, 1851
(Saros 138)
 
December 31, 1861
(Saros 139)
 
November 30, 1872
(Saros 140)
 
October 30, 1883
(Saros 141)
 
September 29, 1894
(Saros 142)
 
August 30, 1905
(Saros 143)
 
July 30, 1916
(Saros 144)
 
June 29, 1927
(Saros 145)
 
May 29, 1938
(Saros 146)
 
April 28, 1949
(Saros 147)
 
March 27, 1960
(Saros 148)
 
February 25, 1971
(Saros 149)
 
January 25, 1982
(Saros 150)
 
December 24, 1992
(Saros 151)
 
November 23, 2003
(Saros 152)
 
October 23, 2014
(Saros 153)
 
September 21, 2025
(Saros 154)
 
August 21, 2036
(Saros 155)
 
July 22, 2047
(Saros 156)
 
June 21, 2058
(Saros 157)
 
May 20, 2069
(Saros 158)

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
 
April 13, 1801
(Saros 145)
 
March 24, 1830
(Saros 146)
 
March 4, 1859
(Saros 147)
 
February 11, 1888
(Saros 148)
 
January 23, 1917
(Saros 149)
 
January 3, 1946
(Saros 150)
 
December 13, 1974
(Saros 151)
 
November 23, 2003
(Saros 152)
 
November 3, 2032
(Saros 153)
 
October 13, 2061
(Saros 154)
 
September 23, 2090
(Saros 155)
 
September 5, 2119
(Saros 156)
 
August 14, 2148
(Saros 157)
 
July 25, 2177
(Saros 158)

Notes

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  1. ^ "November 23–24, 2003 Total Solar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Eclipse of sun viewed on Antarctic for first time". Whitehorse Daily Star. 2003-11-24. p. 16. Retrieved 2023-10-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  4. ^ "Ice and fire: A total solar eclipse over Antarctica". Australian Antarctic Division. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016.
  5. ^ "Antarctica – 23 November 2003". Archived from the original on 7 March 2016.
  6. ^ Glenn Schneider. "TSE 2003 & TOTAL ECLIPSE IMAGING From the Flight Deck of QF2901/Antarctica 23 November 2003". Archived from the original on 20 December 2015.
  7. ^ "Total Solar Eclipse of 2003 Nov 23". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  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. ^ "NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 152". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.

References

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Photos: