Wikipedia

Solar eclipse of March 29, 2006

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Wednesday, March 29, 2006,[1][2][3] with a magnitude of 1.0515. 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 1.1 days after perigee (on March 28, 2006, at 8:10 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[4]

Solar eclipse of March 29, 2006
Totality from Side, Turkey
Map
Type of eclipse
NatureTotal
Gamma0.3843
Magnitude1.0515
Maximum eclipse
Duration247 s (4 min 7 s)
Coordinates23°12′N 16°42′E / 23.2°N 16.7°E / 23.2; 16.7
Max. width of band184 km (114 mi)
Times (UTC)
(P1) Partial begin7:36:50
(U1) Total begin8:34:20
Greatest eclipse10:12:23
(U4) Total end11:47:55
(P4) Partial end12:45:35
References
Saros139 (29 of 71)
Catalog # (SE5000)9521

This was the second solar eclipse visible in Africa within just 6 months.

Visibility

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Animated path

The path of totality of the Moon's shadow began at sunrise in Brazil and extended across the Atlantic to Africa, traveling across Ghana, the southeastern tip of Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Libya, and a small corner of northwest Egypt, from there across the Mediterranean Sea to Greece (Kastellórizo) and Turkey, then across the Black Sea via Georgia, Russia, and Kazakhstan to Western Mongolia, where it ended at sunset. A partial eclipse was seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including eastern South America, the northern two-thirds of Africa, the whole of Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia.

Observations

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People around the world gathered in areas where the eclipse was visible to view the event. The Manchester Astronomical Society, the Malaysian Space Agency, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, as well as dozens of tour groups met at the Apollo temple and the theater in Side, Turkey. The San Francisco Exploratorium featured a live webcast from the site, where thousands of observers were seated in the ancient, Roman-style theater.[5]

Almost all actively visited areas in the path of totality had perfect weather. Many observers reported an unusually beautiful eclipse, with many or all effects visible, and a very nice corona, despite the proximity to the solar minimum. The partial phase of the eclipse was also visible from the International Space Station, where the astronauts on board took spectacular pictures of the moon's shadow on Earth's surface. It initially appeared as though an orbit correction set for the middle of March would bring the ISS into the path of totality, but this correction was postponed.

The Paris Observatory sent a team of students and coordinators to Savalou, Benin. The team took clear images of the corona. A team of Williams College, Massachusetts did many experiments and took images of the corona on the Greek island of Kastellórizo with 3 minutes of totality, which is close to the coast of Turkey and the only place in the European Union covered by the path of totality. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory also made auxiliary observations to compare images taken from space and from the ground.[6][7][8] Another research simulated the changing colours of the sky in the path of totality with a three-dimensional model while considering multiple scattering. Monte Carlo method was used in the experiment to predict the colour and brightness of the sky. In addition, the direct irradiation of the corona was also studied. The goal was to plan and optimise studies on incoming solar irradiance.[9] Russian scientists studied on coronal polarization in the Baksan River Gorge surrounded by snow mountains in the North Caucasus. The location has an altitude of 1,800 metres and is 25 kilometres from Mount Elbrus, the highest peak in Russia and also Europe.[10]

Libya under Muammar Gaddafi was under sanctions because of bombing the Pan Am Flight 103 and had a strict alcohol ban. It was the least visited region around the Mediterranean. To promote tourism, the Libyan government mobilized 5 state-owned tourism companies to attract more tourists, and built a tent village that could accommodate 7,000 people in Waw an Namus inside the Sahara Desert with excellent observation conditions. However, it was only open to astronomers, while ordinary tourists were directed to Patan, near the border with Egypt. Despite Libya's desire to attract tourists from all over the world, Israelis were still banned from entering the country.[11][12] NASA scientists also did joint observation and research with Libyan scientists, taking images and videos.[8][13]

A team of 20 people from the Chinese Astronomical Society [zh] took images of Baily's beads, corona and prominences in Sallum, Egypt. The weather conditions were good in Sallum and also neighbouring Libya. Then Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Minister of Defense Muhammad Tantawi and other officials also went there by helicopter and observed the eclipse with scientists and tourists.[14][15]

Satellite failure

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Main article: Optus fleet of satellites § Failures

The satellite responsible for SKY Network Television, a New Zealand pay TV company, failed the day after this eclipse at around 1900 local time. While SKY didn't directly attribute the failure to the eclipse, they said in a media release that it took longer to resolve the issue because of it, but this claim was rejected by astronomers. The main reason for the failure was because of an aging and increasingly faulty satellite.[16]

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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.[17]

March 29, 2006 Solar Eclipse Times
Event Time (UTC)
First Penumbral External Contact 2006 March 29 at 07:37:53.6 UTC
First Umbral External Contact 2006 March 29 at 08:35:29.4 UTC
First Central Line 2006 March 29 at 08:36:31.5 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact 2006 March 29 at 08:37:33.6 UTC
First Penumbral Internal Contact 2006 March 29 at 09:45:42.2 UTC
Greatest Eclipse 2006 March 29 at 10:12:22.7 UTC
Greatest Duration 2006 March 29 at 10:12:45.5 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction 2006 March 29 at 10:16:20.0 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction 2006 March 29 at 10:34:22.4 UTC
Last Penumbral Internal Contact 2006 March 29 at 10:38:33.1 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact 2006 March 29 at 11:46:59.6 UTC
Last Central Line 2006 March 29 at 11:48:00.6 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact 2006 March 29 at 11:49:01.5 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact 2006 March 29 at 12:46:45.7 UTC
March 29, 2006 Solar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter Value
Eclipse Magnitude 1.05152
Eclipse Obscuration 1.10569
Gamma 0.38433
Sun Right Ascension 00h31m31.7s
Sun Declination +03°24'10.3"
Sun Semi-Diameter 16'01.1"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.8"
Moon Right Ascension 00h30m46.6s
Moon Declination +03°44'36.2"
Moon Semi-Diameter 16'34.9"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 1°00'51.4"
ΔT 64.9 s

Eclipse season

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See also: Eclipse cycle

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 March 2006
March 14
Descending node (full moon)
 March 29
Ascending node (new moon)
   
Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 113		 Total solar eclipse
Solar Saros 139
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Eclipses in 2006

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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 139

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Inex

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Triad

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Solar eclipses of 2004–2007

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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.[18]

Solar eclipse series sets from 2004 to 2007
Ascending node   Descending node
Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma
119 April 19, 2004
 
Partial 		−1.13345 124 October 14, 2004
 
Partial 		1.03481
129
 
Partial in Naiguatá, Venezuela 		April 8, 2005
 
Hybrid 		−0.34733 134
 
Annularity in Madrid, Spain 		October 3, 2005
 
Annular 		0.33058
139
 
Totality in Side, Turkey 		March 29, 2006
 
Total 		0.38433 144
 
Partial in São Paulo, Brazil 		September 22, 2006
 
Annular 		−0.40624
149
 
Partial in Jaipur, India 		March 19, 2007
 
Partial 		1.07277 154
 
Partial in Córdoba, Argentina 		September 11, 2007
 
Partial 		−1.12552

Saros 139

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This eclipse is a part of Saros series 139, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on May 17, 1501. It contains hybrid eclipses from August 11, 1627 through December 9, 1825 and total eclipses from December 21, 1843 through March 26, 2601. There are no annular eclipses in this set. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on July 3, 2763. 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 61 at 7 minutes, 29.22 seconds on July 16, 2186. This date is the longest solar eclipse computed between 4000 BC and AD 6000.[19] All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.[20]

Series members 18–39 occur between 1801 and 2200:
18 19 20
 
November 29, 1807 		 
December 9, 1825 		 
December 21, 1843
21 22 23
 
December 31, 1861 		 
January 11, 1880 		 
January 22, 1898
24 25 26
 
February 3, 1916 		 
February 14, 1934 		 
February 25, 1952
27 28 29
 
March 7, 1970 		 
March 18, 1988 		 
March 29, 2006
30 31 32
 
April 8, 2024 		 
April 20, 2042 		 
April 30, 2060
33 34 35
 
May 11, 2078 		 
May 22, 2096 		 
June 3, 2114
36 37 38
 
June 13, 2132 		 
June 25, 2150 		 
July 5, 2168
39
 
July 16, 2186

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.

20 eclipse events between June 10, 1964 and August 21, 2036
June 10–11 March 28–29 January 14–16 November 3 August 21–22
117 119 121 123 125
 
June 10, 1964 		 
March 28, 1968 		 
January 16, 1972 		 
November 3, 1975 		 
August 22, 1979
127 129 131 133 135
 
June 11, 1983 		 
March 29, 1987 		 
January 15, 1991 		 
November 3, 1994 		 
August 22, 1998
137 139 141 143 145
 
June 10, 2002 		 
March 29, 2006 		 
January 15, 2010 		 
November 3, 2013 		 
August 21, 2017
147 149 151 153 155
 
June 10, 2021 		 
March 29, 2025 		 
January 14, 2029 		 
November 3, 2032 		 
August 21, 2036

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
 
October 9, 1809
(Saros 121) 		 
September 7, 1820
(Saros 122) 		 
August 7, 1831
(Saros 123) 		 
July 8, 1842
(Saros 124) 		 
June 6, 1853
(Saros 125)
 
May 6, 1864
(Saros 126) 		 
April 6, 1875
(Saros 127) 		 
March 5, 1886
(Saros 128) 		 
February 1, 1897
(Saros 129) 		 
January 3, 1908
(Saros 130)
 
December 3, 1918
(Saros 131) 		 
November 1, 1929
(Saros 132) 		 
October 1, 1940
(Saros 133) 		 
September 1, 1951
(Saros 134) 		 
July 31, 1962
(Saros 135)
 
June 30, 1973
(Saros 136) 		 
May 30, 1984
(Saros 137) 		 
April 29, 1995
(Saros 138) 		 
March 29, 2006
(Saros 139) 		 
February 26, 2017
(Saros 140)
 
January 26, 2028
(Saros 141) 		 
December 26, 2038
(Saros 142) 		 
November 25, 2049
(Saros 143) 		 
October 24, 2060
(Saros 144) 		 
September 23, 2071
(Saros 145)
 
August 24, 2082
(Saros 146) 		 
July 23, 2093
(Saros 147) 		 
June 22, 2104
(Saros 148) 		 
May 24, 2115
(Saros 149) 		 
April 22, 2126
(Saros 150)
 
March 21, 2137
(Saros 151) 		 
February 19, 2148
(Saros 152) 		 
January 19, 2159
(Saros 153) 		 
December 18, 2169
(Saros 154) 		 
November 17, 2180
(Saros 155)
 
October 18, 2191
(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
 
August 17, 1803
(Saros 132) 		 
July 27, 1832
(Saros 133) 		 
July 8, 1861
(Saros 134)
 
June 17, 1890
(Saros 135) 		 
May 29, 1919
(Saros 136) 		 
May 9, 1948
(Saros 137)
 
April 18, 1977
(Saros 138) 		 
March 29, 2006
(Saros 139) 		 
March 9, 2035
(Saros 140)
 
February 17, 2064
(Saros 141) 		 
January 27, 2093
(Saros 142) 		 
January 8, 2122
(Saros 143)
 
December 19, 2150
(Saros 144) 		 
November 28, 2179
(Saros 145)

Notes

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  1. ^ "March 29, 2006 Total Solar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Total solar eclipse: World witnesses rare event". Bristol Herald Courier. 2006-03-30. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-10-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "There goes the sun". The Toronto Star. 2006-03-30. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-10-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  5. ^ Total Solar Eclipse: Live from Turkey in 2006
  6. ^ "Total Solar Eclipse 2006". European Space Agency. 30 March 2006. Archived from the original on 19 August 2015.
  7. ^ "Solar Eclipse on 29 March 2006". Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. Archived from the original on 17 July 2006.
  8. ^ a b "NASA Shares Solar Eclipses With the World". NASA. 28 March 2006. Archived from the original on 13 August 2015.
  9. ^ C. Emde, B. Mayer: Simulation of solar radiation during a total eclipse: a challenge for radiative transfer [28 August 2015]
  10. ^ "ВЗАИМОДЕЙСТВИЕ ПОЛЯРИЗАЦИОННОГО ИЗЛУЧЕНИЯ КОРОНЫ И ЗОРЕВОГО КОЛЬЦА 29.03.2006 г." (in Russian). IZMIRAN. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012.
  11. ^ Xu Haijing (30 March 2006). "利比亚：欢迎来看日全食" (in Chinese). Yangcheng Evening News. Archived from the original on 19 August 2015.
  12. ^ "欲靠"老天"打开局面 利比亚推出日全食旅游". China News Service (in Chinese). Sina news. 28 March 2005. Archived from the original on 19 August 2015.
  13. ^ "Solar Eclipse 2006 Video". NASA. nasamike.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  14. ^ Meng Tie (1 April 2006). "我和埃及总统一起看日全食". Hangzhou Daily (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
  15. ^ "【图】埃及医生：穆巴拉克未"临床死亡"" (in Chinese). Xinhua News Agency. Archived from the original on 19 August 2015.
  16. ^ Press release by Sky TV. Solar eclipse interferes with satellite restoration Archived 2005-02-10 at the Wayback Machine Friday, 31 March 2006.
  17. ^ "Total Solar Eclipse of 2006 Mar 29". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ Ten Millennium Catalog of Long Solar Eclipses, −3999 to +6000 (4000 BCE to 6000 CE) Fred Espenak.
  20. ^ "NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 139". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.

References

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Photos:

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  Media related to Solar eclipse of 2006 March 29 at Wikimedia Commons

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