Solar eclipse of March 9, 1997
Solar eclipse of March 9, 1997 | |
---|---|
![]() Total eclipse from Chita, Russia | |
Type of eclipse | |
Nature | Total |
Gamma | 0.9183 |
Magnitude | 1.042 |
Maximum eclipse | |
Duration | 170 s (2 min 50 s) |
Coordinates | 57°48′N 130°42′E / 57.8°N 130.7°E |
Max. width of band | 356 km (221 mi) |
Times (UTC) | |
Greatest eclipse | 1:24:51 |
References | |
Saros | 120 (60 of 71) |
Catalog # (SE5000) | 9501 |
A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Saturday, March 8 and Sunday, March 9, 1997,[1] with a magnitude of 1.042. 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 only about 18.5 hours after perigee (on March 8, 1997, at 9:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[2]
Totality was visible in eastern Russia, Northern Mongolia, northern tip of Xinjiang and Northeastern China and eastern tip of Kazakhstan. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Southeast Asia, East Asia, Alaska, and western Canada.
Unusual gravity variations
[edit]This solar eclipse is somewhat special in the sense that some unexplained gravity anomalies of about 7 10−8 m/s2 during the solar eclipse were observed. Attempts (e.g., Van Flandern–Yang hypothesis) to explain these anomalies have not been able to reach a definite conclusion.[3]
Observations
[edit]Russia
[edit]Russian Academy of Sciences sent an observation team near Lake Baikal to study multiple aspects of the solar corona, providing complement to the imperfections of the corona observation of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory spacecraft.[4]
China
[edit]In China, only a partial eclipse was visible from most areas. The path of totality covered only two narrow areas not adjacent to each other. In Northwestern China, it covered the northern part of Altay Prefecture, Xinjiang. In Northeast China, it covered the northern part of Hulunbuir League (now the city of Hulumbuir), Inner Mongolia and the northern part of neighbouring Daxing'anling Prefecture, Heilongjiang. Therefore, observations of the total eclipse in China are concentrated in these two areas.
In Altay Prefecture, Xinjiang, the total phase occurred right after sunrise. By observing the change in the brightness in Altay, the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project concluded that the phrase of "day dawned twice in Zheng" in the ancient chronicle Bamboo Annals referred to a solar eclipse on April 21, 899 BC which also occurred right after sunrise, thus determining the year of the Battle of Muye and the starting year of the Zhou Dynasty.[5] However, doubts also exist on this conclusion. For example, Douglas J. Keenan published on the journal East Asian History, stating that calculations show that the eclipse in 899 BC reduced the brightness perceived subjectively by a human observer by less than 25%, and clouds can even cause the same effect very often, thus questioning the conclusion.
Mohe County (now Mohe City), Heilongjiang, the northernmost county in China, was considered the best observation site in China due to the high solar zenith angle and the long duration of totality. Within the county, the longest duration occurred in Mohe Township (now Beiji Township), the northernmost township in China. Comet Hale–Bopp also appeared during totality, which also attracted many Chinese to travel to this northernmost town.[6] In addition, the first amateur radio communication experiment during a total solar eclipse in mainland China,[7] and China Central Television's first live broadcast of a solar eclipse[8] were also completed there.
Images
[edit]Eclipse details
[edit]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.[9]
Event | Time (UTC) |
---|---|
First Penumbral External Contact | 1997 March 08 at 23:17:38.3 UTC |
First Umbral External Contact | 1997 March 09 at 00:42:04.9 UTC |
First Central Line | 1997 March 09 at 00:44:28.2 UTC |
First Umbral Internal Contact | 1997 March 09 at 00:46:59.1 UTC |
Ecliptic Conjunction | 1997 March 09 at 01:15:36.8 UTC |
Greatest Duration | 1997 March 09 at 01:24:17.2 UTC |
Greatest Eclipse | 1997 March 09 at 01:24:50.6 UTC |
Equatorial Conjunction | 1997 March 09 at 01:54:40.0 UTC |
Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1997 March 09 at 02:02:20.9 UTC |
Last Central Line | 1997 March 09 at 02:04:51.3 UTC |
Last Umbral External Contact | 1997 March 09 at 02:07:14.0 UTC |
Last Penumbral External Contact | 1997 March 09 at 03:31:50.3 UTC |
Parameter | Value |
---|---|
Eclipse Magnitude | 1.04202 |
Eclipse Obscuration | 1.08580 |
Gamma | 0.91830 |
Sun Right Ascension | 23h17m46.1s |
Sun Declination | -04°32'29.2" |
Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'06.5" |
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.9" |
Moon Right Ascension | 23h16m38.7s |
Moon Declination | -03°38'59.4" |
Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'40.8" |
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 1°01'12.9" |
ΔT | 62.4 s |
Eclipse season
[edit]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.
March 9 Descending node (new moon) |
March 24 Ascending node (full moon) |
---|---|
![]() |
![]() |
Total solar eclipse Solar Saros 120 |
Partial lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 132 |
Related eclipses
[edit]Eclipses in 1997
[edit]- A total solar eclipse on March 9.
- A partial lunar eclipse on March 24.
- A partial solar eclipse on September 2.
- A total lunar eclipse on September 16.
Metonic
[edit]- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 21, 1993
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 25, 2000
Tzolkinex
[edit]- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 26, 1990
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 19, 2004
Half-Saros
[edit]- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 3, 1988
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 14, 2006
Tritos
[edit]- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 9, 1986
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 7, 2008
Solar Saros 120
[edit]- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 26, 1979
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 20, 2015
Inex
[edit]- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 28, 1968
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 17, 2026
Triad
[edit]- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 9, 1910
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 7, 2084
Solar eclipses of 1997–2000
[edit]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.[10]
The partial solar eclipses on July 1, 2000 and December 25, 2000 occur in the next lunar year eclipse set.
Solar eclipse series sets from 1997 to 2000 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Descending node | Ascending node | |||||
Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma | |
120![]() Totality in Chita, Russia |
March 9, 1997![]() Total |
0.9183 | 125 | September 2, 1997![]() Partial |
−1.0352 | |
130![]() Totality near Guadeloupe |
February 26, 1998![]() Total |
0.2391 | 135 | August 22, 1998![]() Annular |
−0.2644 | |
140 | February 16, 1999![]() Annular |
−0.4726 | 145![]() Totality in France |
August 11, 1999![]() Total |
0.5062 | |
150 | February 5, 2000![]() Partial |
−1.2233 | 155 | July 31, 2000![]() Partial |
1.2166 |
Saros 120
[edit]This eclipse is a part of Saros series 120, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on May 27, 933 AD. It contains annular eclipses from August 11, 1059 through April 26, 1492; hybrid eclipses from May 8, 1510 through June 8, 1564; and total eclipses from June 20, 1582 through March 30, 2033. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on July 7, 2195. 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 annularity was produced by member 11 at 6 minutes, 24 seconds on September 11, 1113, and the longest duration of totality was produced by member 60 at 2 minutes, 50 seconds on March 9, 1997. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.[11]
Series members 50–71 occur between 1801 and 2195: | ||
---|---|---|
50 | 51 | 52 |
![]() November 19, 1816 |
![]() November 30, 1834 |
![]() December 11, 1852 |
53 | 54 | 55 |
![]() December 22, 1870 |
![]() January 1, 1889 |
![]() January 14, 1907 |
56 | 57 | 58 |
![]() January 24, 1925 |
![]() February 4, 1943 |
![]() February 15, 1961 |
59 | 60 | 61 |
![]() February 26, 1979 |
![]() March 9, 1997 |
![]() March 20, 2015 |
62 | 63 | 64 |
![]() March 30, 2033 |
![]() April 11, 2051 |
![]() April 21, 2069 |
65 | 66 | 67 |
![]() May 2, 2087 |
![]() May 14, 2105 |
![]() May 25, 2123 |
68 | 69 | 70 |
![]() June 4, 2141 |
![]() June 16, 2159 |
![]() June 26, 2177 |
71 | ||
![]() July 7, 2195 |
Metonic series
[edit]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.
21 eclipse events between May 21, 1993 and May 20, 2069 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
May 20–21 | March 9 | December 25–26 | October 13–14 | August 1–2 |
118 | 120 | 122 | 124 | 126 |
![]() May 21, 1993 |
![]() March 9, 1997 |
![]() December 25, 2000 |
![]() October 14, 2004 |
![]() August 1, 2008 |
128 | 130 | 132 | 134 | 136 |
![]() May 20, 2012 |
![]() March 9, 2016 |
![]() December 26, 2019 |
![]() October 14, 2023 |
![]() August 2, 2027 |
138 | 140 | 142 | 144 | 146 |
![]() May 21, 2031 |
![]() March 9, 2035 |
![]() December 26, 2038 |
![]() October 14, 2042 |
![]() August 2, 2046 |
148 | 150 | 152 | 154 | 156 |
![]() May 20, 2050 |
![]() March 9, 2054 |
![]() December 26, 2057 |
![]() October 13, 2061 |
![]() August 2, 2065 |
158 | ||||
![]() May 20, 2069 |
Tritos series
[edit]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 1866 and 2200 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() March 16, 1866 (Saros 108) |
![]() December 13, 1898 (Saros 111) |
|||
![]() September 12, 1931 (Saros 114) |
![]() August 12, 1942 (Saros 115) |
![]() July 11, 1953 (Saros 116) |
![]() June 10, 1964 (Saros 117) | |
![]() May 11, 1975 (Saros 118) |
![]() April 9, 1986 (Saros 119) |
![]() March 9, 1997 (Saros 120) |
![]() February 7, 2008 (Saros 121) |
![]() January 6, 2019 (Saros 122) |
![]() December 5, 2029 (Saros 123) |
![]() November 4, 2040 (Saros 124) |
![]() October 4, 2051 (Saros 125) |
![]() September 3, 2062 (Saros 126) |
![]() August 3, 2073 (Saros 127) |
![]() July 3, 2084 (Saros 128) |
![]() June 2, 2095 (Saros 129) |
![]() May 3, 2106 (Saros 130) |
![]() April 2, 2117 (Saros 131) |
![]() March 1, 2128 (Saros 132) |
![]() January 30, 2139 (Saros 133) |
![]() December 30, 2149 (Saros 134) |
![]() November 27, 2160 (Saros 135) |
![]() October 29, 2171 (Saros 136) |
![]() September 27, 2182 (Saros 137) |
![]() August 26, 2193 (Saros 138) |
Inex series
[edit]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 | ||
---|---|---|
![]() July 8, 1823 (Saros 114) |
![]() June 17, 1852 (Saros 115) |
![]() May 27, 1881 (Saros 116) |
![]() May 9, 1910 (Saros 117) |
![]() April 19, 1939 (Saros 118) |
![]() March 28, 1968 (Saros 119) |
![]() March 9, 1997 (Saros 120) |
![]() February 17, 2026 (Saros 121) |
![]() January 27, 2055 (Saros 122) |
![]() January 7, 2084 (Saros 123) |
![]() December 19, 2112 (Saros 124) |
![]() November 28, 2141 (Saros 125) |
![]() November 8, 2170 (Saros 126) |
![]() October 19, 2199 (Saros 127) |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "March 8–9, 1997 Total Solar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ Wang, Qian-shen; Yang, Xin-she; Wu, Chuan-zhen; Guo, Hong-gang; Liu, Hong-chen; Hua, Chang-chai (2000-07-14). "Precise measurement of gravity variations during a total solar eclipse". Physical Review D. 62 (4): 041101(R). arXiv:1003.4947. Bibcode:2000PhRvD..62d1101W. doi:10.1103/physrevd.62.041101. ISSN 0556-2821. S2CID 6846335.
- ^ "TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE OF MARCH 9, 1997 IN THE BAIKAL REGION, EAST SIBIRIA". IZMIRAN. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011.
- ^ "一九九七年"夏商周断代工程"研究" (in Chinese). Guangming Online. 20 March 1998. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.
- ^ "1997年漠河日全食观测散记:雪原黑昼_科学探索_科技时代_新浪网". tech.sina.com.cn (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.
- ^ Qian Ruhu (1997). "收听漠河日全食——首次业余电台日全食通信试验追记". 天文爱好者 (journal) (in Chinese) (06).
- ^ "《新闻调查》 19970314 寻踪日全食_新闻调查_视频_央视网". China Central Television (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 10 July 2015.
- ^ "Total Solar Eclipse of 1997 Mar 09". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 120". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.
External links
[edit]- solar-eclipse.de: The total solar eclipse of 03/09/1997
- Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
Photos:
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)