Solar eclipse of August 1, 2008
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| Solar eclipse of August 1, 2008 | |
 A photo of the total solar eclipse from Novosibirsk (Akademgorodok) Russia |
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Solar eclipse of August 1, 2008. The area of total eclipse is the very small black region near the center of the much larger, moving shadow of partial eclipse
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| Type of eclipse[1] | |
|---|---|
| Nature | Total |
| Gamma | 0.8306 |
| Magnitude | 1.0394 |
| Saros | 126 (47 of 72) |
| Maximum eclipse[1] | |
| Duration | 147.2 s (2 min 27.2 s) |
| Location | Northern Russia |
| Coordinates | 65°38′48″N 72°16′24″E / 65.64667°N 72.27333°E |
| Max. width of band | 236.9 km |
| Times (UTC)[1] | |
| Partial eclipse | 08:04:06.8 |
| Total eclipse | 09:21:07.3 |
| Central eclipse | 09:24:10.3 |
| Greatest eclipse | 10:21:08.1 |
The solar eclipse of August 1, 2008 was a total eclipse of the Sun with a magnitude of 1.0394[1] that was visible from a narrow corridor through northern Canada (Nunavut), Greenland, central Russia, eastern Kazakhstan, western Mongolia and China.[2] It belonged to the so-called midnight sun eclipses, as it was visible from regions experiencing midnight sun.[citation needed] The largest city on the path of the eclipse was Novosibirsk in Russia.[3]
The total eclipse lasted for 2 minutes, and covered 0.4% of the Earth's surface in a 10,200 km long path. It was the 47th eclipse of the 126th Saros cycle, which began with a partial eclipse on March 10, 1179 and will conclude with a partial eclipse on May 3, 2459.[4]
A partial eclipse could be seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including northeastern North America and most of Europe and Asia.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Start of eclipse: Canada, Greenland and Norway
The eclipse began in the far north of Canada in Nunavut at 09:21 UT, the zone of totality being 206 km wide, and lasting for 1 minute 30 seconds. The path of the eclipse then headed north-east, crossing over northern Greenland and reaching the northernmost latitude of 83° 47′ at 09:38 UT before dipping down into Russia.[4]
The path of totality touched the northeast corner of Kvitøya, an uninhabited Norwegian island in the Svalbard archipelago, at 09:47 UT.[citation needed]
[edit] Greatest eclipse: Russia
The eclipse reached the Russian mainland at 10:10 UT,[4] with a path 232 km wide and a duration of 2 minutes 26 seconds.[citation needed] The greatest eclipse occurred shortly after, at 10:21:07 UT at coordinates 65°39′N 72°18′E / 65.65°N 72.3°E (close to Nadym), when the path was 237 km wide, and the duration was 2 minutes 27 seconds. Cities in the path of the total eclipse included Megion, Nizhnevartovsk, Strezhevoy, Novosibirsk and Barnaul.[4] Around 10,000 tourists were present in Novosibirsk, the largest city to experience the eclipse.[3]
 Partial eclipse from Saratov |
 Partial eclipse from Moscow |
 Partial eclipse at Novosibirsk, one minute before the total eclipse |
 Total eclipse at Novosibirsk |
[edit] Conclusion: China
The path of the eclipse then moved south-east, crossing into Mongolia and just clipping Kazakhstan at around 10:58 UT. The path here was 252 km wide, but the duration was decreased to 2 minutes 10 seconds. The path then ran down the China-Mongolia border, ending in China at 11:18 UT, with an eclipse lasting 1 minute 27 seconds at sunset.[citation needed] The total eclipse finished at 11:21 UT. The total eclipse passed over Yiwu, Juiquan and Xi’an.[4] Around 10,000 people were gathered to watch the eclipse in Yiwu.[3]
 Total eclipse at Gansu; red prominences are clearly visible on both sides of the sun |
 Total eclipse from Gansu |
[edit] Partial eclipse
A partial eclipse was seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including the north east coast of North America and most of Europe and Asia.[2] In London, England, the partial eclipse began at 08:33 GMT, with a maximum eclipse of 12% at 09:18 GMT, before concluding at 10:05 GMT. At Edinburgh the partial eclipse was 23.5% of the sun, whilst it was 36% in Lerwick in the Shetland Isles.[5]
 Partial eclipse from Targoviste, Romania |
 Partial eclipse from Chennai, India |
 Partial eclipse from Jodrell Bank Observatory, England |
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Espenak, Fred; Jay Anderson (July 2004). "Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 August 01 - Parameters". NASA. http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEplot/SEplot2001/SE2008Aug01T.GIF. Retrieved on 2008-08-09.
- ^ a b c "Total Solar Eclipse of 2008 August 01". NASA. July 23, 2008. http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEmono/TSE2008/TSE2008.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-09.
- ^ a b c "Total eclipse a dark show for thousands". Herald Sun. August 3, 2008. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24118986-663,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-09.
- ^ a b c d e Espenak, Fred; Jay Anderson (March 2007). Total Eclipse of 2008 August 01 - NASA Technical Bulletin 2007–214149. http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEpubs/20080801/rp.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-09.
- ^ Royal Astronomical Society (July 31, 2008). "Solar Eclipse On The Morning Of August 1st". ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080724143903.htm. Retrieved on 2008-08-09.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Solar eclipse of 2008 August 1 |
[edit] Maps
[edit] Webcasts
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Solar eclipses |  |
|---|---|---|
| Previous eclipse Solar eclipse of February 7, 2008 (annular) |
Solar eclipse of August 1, 2008 (total) |
Next eclipse Solar eclipse of January 26, 2009 (annular) |
| Previous total eclipse Solar eclipse of March 29, 2006 |
Next total eclipse Solar eclipse of July 22, 2009 |
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