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Eclipses (Solar and Lunar)

Solar Eclipses

The power of solar eclipses has had a tremendous effect on civilizations around the world. To the ancients, an unexpected eclipse was both awesome and terrifying. Knowledge is power and to be able to predict these events meant having the ability to control the masses.
Those who were lucky enough to witness a total solar eclipse, in an unusual surroundings with a nice weather, can testify of the outstanding beauty of such an event. An eclipse of the Sun occurs on average every 18 months (often in hardly reachable locations), but the eclipse is only visible from a small band - the Path of Totality - and with an average duration of three minutes (maximum duration just over seven minutes). This is why observing such an event must be well planned in advance as shown in those various scouting trips.

Total eclipse on Wednesday, August 11, 1999 near Coucy-le-Chateau, France
Total eclipse on Thursday, June 21, 2001 south of Lucusse, Angola
Annular eclipse on Wednesday, December 14, 2001 in Playa Guiones, Costa Rica
Total eclipse on Friday, December 4, 2002 near Andamooka, Australia
Total eclipse on Sunday, November 23, 2003 in the Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica
Hybrid eclipse on Friday, April 8, 2005 in Polynesia, South Pacific Ocean  
Annular eclipse on Monday, October 3, 2005 near Bir al Maruf, Libya
Total eclipse on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 near Waw an Namus, Libya
Annular eclipse on Friday, September 22, 2006 near Kourou, French Guiana
Annular eclipse on Thursday, February 7, 2008 in Ellsworth Land, Antarctica
Total eclipse on Friday, August 1, 2008 in China, Mongolia or Russia
Annular eclipse on Monday, January 26, 2009 in Java, Indonesia
Total eclipse on Friday, July 22, 2009 in Japan, China or Marshall Islands
Annular eclipse on Friday, January 15, 2010 from Shwe Bo, Myanmar
Total eclipse on Sunday, July 11, 2010 in French Polynesia, in Patagonia or Easter Island
Annular eclipse on Sunday, May 20, 2012 in the United States of America
Total eclipse on Wednesday, November 14, 2012 in Australia or the Coral Sea
Annular eclipse on Friday, May 10, 2013 in Australia   New
Hybrid eclipse on Sunday, November 3, 2013 in Africa or the Atlantic Ocean   New
Annular eclipse on Tuesday, April 29, 2014 in Antarctica   New
Total eclipse on Friday, March 20, 2015 from a stratospheric eclipse flight or in Svalbard   New
Total eclipse on Wednesday, March 9, 2016 in Indonesia or Micronesia   New
Annular eclipse on Thursday, September 1, 2016 in Madagascar, Tanzania or La Réunion   New
Annular eclipse on Sunday, February 26, 2017 in Chile, Argentina or Angola
Total eclipse on Monday, August 21, 2017 in the United States of America
Total eclipse on Tuesday, July 2, 2019 in Chile, Argentina or South Pacific
Annular eclipse on Thursday, December 26, 2019 from the Arabic Peninsula, India or Indonesia   New
Annular eclipse on Sunday, June 21, 2020 in Oman, India or Tibet (China)
Total eclipse on Monday, December 14, 2020 in Chile or Argentina
Annular eclipse on Thursday, June 10, 2021 in Canada or Russia (northeastern Siberia)
Total eclipse on Saturday, December 4, 2021 in Antarctica, at sea or airborne
Hybrid eclipse on Thursday, April 20, 2023 in Australia, Timor Leste or Papua
Annular eclipse on Saturday, October 14, 2023 in the United States of America, Mexico or Brazil : 
Total eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024 in Mexico, the United States of America or Canada : 
Annular eclipse on Wednesday, October 2, 2024 in Chile or Argentina : 

A few partial solar eclipses :
Partial eclipse on Tuesday, January 4, 2011 in France
Partial eclipse on Friday, July 1, 2011 off Antarctica
Partial eclipse on Friday, November 25, 2011 in Antarctica
Partial eclipse on Thursday, October 23, 2014 in New Mexico, USA
Partial eclipse on Sunday, September 13, 2015 in South Africa

Partial eclipse on Saturday, August 11, 2018 in Russia New
Partial eclipse on Sunday, January 6, 2019 in Russia New

Partial eclipse on Tuesday, October 25, 2022 in Kazakhstan : 

Various scouting trips :
Libya 2005 & 2006
Altai Republic, Russia 2008
Xinjiang, China 2008
Western Mongolia 2008

Solar Eclipse Diagram



Solar Eclipse Maestro
Solar Eclipse Maestro software

The interactive Google maps or the Google Earth kmz files let you explore the path of totality and compute local circumstances of contemporary eclipses. Or explore the Five Millennium (-1999 to +3000) Canon of Solar Eclipses and its 11,898 eclipses to help you prepare your eclipse journeys or study historical events.

You can use this solar eclipse calculator to compute the local circumstances of an eclipse, and the solar eclipse timer notifies the beginning of the various events. A time exposure calculator is there to help you choose your camera settings.

Know more about deltaT (ΔT) and leap seconds.
Having a look at the solar activity cycle is interesting to know if there is a chance to have sunspots and also know the general shape of the solar corona.

Thanks to Bill Kramer ;-) for this nice illustration!

TSE vs TLE Bill Kramer

Lunar Eclipses

The lunar eclipses, total or not, are far less outstanding than total eclipses of the Sun. However the eclipses of the Moon are visible from large areas of the Earth, roughly one hemisphere, making their observation much easier for the general public.

Total eclipse on Sunday, November 9, 2003 in Botswana
Total eclipse on Thursday, October 28, 2004 in Chile
Total eclipse on Tuesday, August 28, 2007 in the USA
Total eclipse on Thursday, February 21, 2008 in France
Total eclipse on Tuesday, December 21, 2010 in the USA   New
Total eclipse on Wednesday, June 15, 2011 in Namibia   New
Total eclipse on Saturday, December 10, 2011 in India   New
Partial eclipse on Thursday, April 25, 2013 in France   New
Total eclipse on Tuesday, April 15, 2014 in Chile   New
Total eclipse on Wedneday, October 8, 2014 in the USA or Australia   New
Total eclipse on Saturday, April 4, 2015 in the USA or Australia   New
Total eclipse on Monday, September 28, 2015 in Namibia, Chile or France   New
Total eclipse on Wednesday, January 31, 2018 in Australia, Myanmar, India or the USA
Total eclipse on Friday, July 27-28, 2018 in Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, Australia or Canary Islands
Total eclipse on Monday, January 21, 2019 in Chile, Argentina, USA or Canary Islands
Total eclipse on Wednesday, May 26, 2021 in the USA, Australia, Chile or Mexico

The next eclipses of the Moon will occur at the following dates :
Total eclipse on Friday, March 14, 2025 in Chile, Argentina, USA, Mexico or Canary Is.  

Lunar Eclipse Diagram

Lunar Eclipse Maestro
Lunar Eclipse Maestro software

To compute all the dates and types of eclipses of the Moon, a lunar eclipse calculator is available for your own use. A time exposure calculator is there to help you choose your camera settings. You can also explore the Five Millennium (-1999 to +3000) Canon of Lunar Eclipses and create Google Maps and Google Earth files for 12,064 eclipses.

Know more about deltaT (ΔT) and leap seconds.

 


Total Solar Eclipse Sun Saturn Cassini 2006
Total eclipse of the Sun seen from Cassini at Saturn on September 15, 2006
(courtesy of Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for OPerationS (CICLOPS))

 


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Last page update on May 18, 2016.
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