Solar eclipse of June 21, 2001 | |
---|---|
Type of eclipse | |
Nature | Total |
Gamma | −0.5701 |
Magnitude | 1.0495 |
Maximum eclipse | |
Duration | 297 s (4 min 57 s) |
Coordinates | 11°18′S 2°42′E / 11.3°S 2.7°E |
Max. width of band | 200 km (120 mi) |
Times ( UTC) | |
(P1) Partial begin | 9:33:04 |
(U1) Total begin | 10:35:59 |
Greatest eclipse | 12:04:46 |
(U4) Total end | 13:31:37 |
(P4) Partial end | 14:35:25 |
References | |
Saros | 127 (57 of 82) |
Catalog # (SE5000) | 9511 |
A total solar eclipse took place on June 21, 2001, with a magnitude of 1.0495. It was the first solar eclipse of the 21st century. 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 2.2 days before perigee (June 23, 2001), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
Many people traveled to Africa to watch the eclipse; [1] [2] [3] the Daily Telegraph reported that "while some tribesmen watch a celestial crocodile eating the sun, the modern African will be counting the cash brought in by thousands of visitors". [4]
It was visible from a narrow corridor in the southern Atlantic Ocean and southern Africa, including Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, the southern tip of Malawi, and Madagascar. A partial eclipse was seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including eastern South America and most of Africa.
Within the path of totality, Angola got the best conditions with the highest solar zenith angle, longest duration and largest chance of clear weather. Sumbe, capital of Cuanza Sul Province, where the path first touched land, was the best in Angola with 4 minutes and 34 seconds of totality. However, the Angolan Civil War [5] prevented many from traveling to the county, and only about 500 people observed the eclipse there. Besides tourists, there were also scientists from the United States, France, Brazil, South Africa, the Czech Republic, Portugal and Hungary. [6]
Zambia, though inferior to its neighbouring country Angola in the chance of clear weather, attracted many scientists and tourists due to its stable political situation and also the fact that its capital city Lusaka was also located within the path of totality. [5] The Zambian government made it a national holiday with one day off, and ZamPost also issues special postage stamps and first-day covers. [7] Scientists from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, South Korea and China observed it in Zambia. [7] The Chinese Academy of Sciences sent a team of 6 people, carrying 3 gravimeters, 2 nuclear gyromagnetometers, 4 digital acquisition systems and recording systems to study the gravity anomalies recorded by Indian scientists during the total solar eclipse of October 24, 1995, and by Chinese scientists during the total solar eclipse of March 9, 1997, in Mohe County. [8] [9] With continuous observation for more than 10 years after that, China obtained the first observational evidence that the gravity field propagates at the speed of light. [10]
Besides the eclipse, the day was also the June solstice (winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere where the path of totality passed) when the sun was at the northernmost limit. It was also the closest approach of Mars since 1988. [11]
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. [12]
Partial solar eclipses on February 5, 2000 and July 31, 2000 occur in the previous lunar year set.
Ascending node | Descending node | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma | |
117 |
2000 July 01 Partial (south) |
−1.28214 | 122 |
2000 December 25 Partial (north) |
1.13669 | |
127 Totality from Lusaka, Zambia |
2001 June 21 Total |
−0.57013 | 132 Partial from Minneapolis, MN |
2001 December 14 Annular |
0.40885 | |
137 Partial from Los Angeles, CA |
2002 June 10 Annular |
0.19933 | 142 Totality from Woomera |
2002 December 04 Total |
−0.30204 | |
147 Culloden, Scotland |
2003 May 31 Annular |
0.99598 | 152 |
2003 November 23 Total |
−0.96381 |
It is a part of Saros cycle 127, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 82 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on October 10, 991 AD. It contains total eclipses from May 14, 1352 through August 15, 2091. There are no annular eclipses in this series. The series ends at member 82 as a partial eclipse on March 21, 2452. The longest duration of totality was 5 minutes, 40 seconds on August 30, 1532. All eclipses in this series occurs at the Moon’s ascending node. [13]
Series members 52–68 occur between 1901 and 2200 | ||
---|---|---|
52 | 53 | 54 |
April 28, 1911 |
May 9, 1929 |
May 20, 1947 |
55 | 56 | 57 |
May 30, 1965 |
June 11, 1983 |
June 21, 2001 |
58 | 59 | 60 |
July 2, 2019 |
July 13, 2037 |
July 24, 2055 |
61 | 62 | 63 |
August 3, 2073 |
August 15, 2091 |
August 26, 2109 (Partial) |
64 | 65 | 66 |
September 6, 2127 (Partial | September 16, 2145 (Partial) | September 28, 2163 (Partial) |
67 | 68 | |
October 8, 2181 (Partial) | October 19, 2199 (Partial) |
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 1901 and 2100 | |||
---|---|---|---|
March 29, 1903 (Saros 118) |
February 25, 1914 (Saros 119) |
January 24, 1925 (Saros 120) | |
December 25, 1935 (Saros 121) |
November 23, 1946 (Saros 122) |
October 23, 1957 (Saros 123) | |
September 22, 1968 (Saros 124) |
August 22, 1979 (Saros 125) |
July 22, 1990 (Saros 126) | |
June 21, 2001 (Saros 127) |
May 20, 2012 (Saros 128) |
April 20, 2023 (Saros 129) | |
March 20, 2034 (Saros 130) |
February 16, 2045 (Saros 131) |
January 16, 2056 (Saros 132) | |
December 17, 2066 (Saros 133) |
November 15, 2077 (Saros 134) |
October 14, 2088 (Saros 135) | |
September 14, 2099 (Saros 136) |
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.
21 eclipse events between June 21, 1982, and June 21, 2058 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
June 21 | April 8–9 | January 26 | November 13–14 | September 1–2 |
107 | 109 | 111 | 113 | 115 |
June 21, 1963 | April 9, 1967 | January 26, 1971 | November 14, 1974 | September 2, 1978 |
117 | 119 | 121 | 123 | 125 |
June 21, 1982 |
April 9, 1986 |
January 26, 1990 |
November 13, 1993 |
September 2, 1997 |
127 | 129 | 131 | 133 | 135 |
June 21, 2001 |
April 8, 2005 |
January 26, 2009 |
November 13, 2012 |
September 1, 2016 |
137 | 139 | 141 | 143 | 145 |
June 21, 2020 |
April 8, 2024 |
January 26, 2028 |
November 14, 2031 |
September 2, 2035 |
147 | 149 | 151 | 153 | 155 |
June 21, 2039 |
April 9, 2043 |
January 26, 2047 |
November 14, 2050 |
September 2, 2054 |
157 | ||||
June 21, 2058 |
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