Solar Eclipses

One consequence of the Moon's orbit about the Earth is that the Moon can shadow the Sun's light as viewed from the Earth, or the Moon can pass through the shadow cast by the Earth. The former is called a solar eclipse and the later is called a lunar eclipse. The small tilt of the Moon's orbit with respect to the plane of the ecliptic and the small eccentricity of the lunar orbit make such eclipses much less common than they would be otherwise, but partial or total eclipses are actually rather frequent.

Frequency of Eclipses
For example there will be 18 solar eclipses from 1996-2020 for which the eclipse will be total on some part of the Earth's surface. The common perception that eclipses are infrequent is because the observation of a total eclipse from a given point on the surface of the Earth is not a common occurrence. For example, it will be two decades before the next total solar eclipse visible in North America occurs. The next total solar eclipse will be on August 11, 1999, with the path of totality crossing the North Atlantic, Europe, the Middle East, and India. In this section we consider solar eclipses and in the next we discuss lunar eclipses.

Geometry of Solar Eclipses

The geometry associated with solar eclipses is illustrated in the following figure (which, like most figures in this and the next section, is illustrative and not to scale).

Geometry of solar eclipses

The shadow cast by the Moon can be divided by geometry into the completely shadowed umbra and the partially shadowed penumbra.

Types of Solar Eclipses

The preceding figure allows three general classes of solar eclipses (as observed from any particular point on the Earth) to be defined: 1. Total Solar Eclipses occur when the umbra of the Moon's shadow touches a region on the surface of the Earth. 2. Partial Solar Eclipses occur when the penumbra of the Moon's shadow passes over a region on the Earth's surface. 3. Annular Solar Eclipses occur when a region on the Earth's surface is in line with the umbra, but the distances are such that the tip of the umbra does not reach the Earth's surface. As illustrated in the figure, in a total eclipse the surface of the Sun is completely blocked by the Moon, in a partial eclipse it is only partially blocked, and in an annular eclipse the eclipse is partial, but such that the apparent diameter of the Moon can be seen completely against the (larger) apparent diameter of the Sun. A given solar eclipse may be all three of the above for different observers. For example, in the path of totality (the track of the umbra on the Earth's surface) the eclipse will be total, in a band on either side of the path of totality the shadow cast by the penumbra leads to a partial eclipse, and in some eclipses the path of totality extends into a path associated with an annular eclipse because for that part of the path the umbra does not reach the Earth's surface.

Total Solar Eclipses

A total solar eclipse requires the umbra of the Moon's shadow to touch the surface of the Earth. Because of the relative sizes of the Moon and Sun and their relative distances from Earth, the path of totality is usually very narrow (hundreds of kilometers across). The following figure illustrates the path of totality produced by the umbra of the Moon's shadow. (We do not show the penumbra, which will produce a partial eclipse in a much larger region on either side of the path of totality; we also illustrate in this figure the umbra of the Earth's shadow, which will be responsible for total lunar eclipses to be discussed in the next section.)

Solar eclipse (not to scale)

As noted above, the images that we show in discussing eclipses are illustrative but not drawn to scale. The true relative sizes of the Sun and Earth and Moon, and their distances, are very different than in the above figure.

Animations of Solar Eclipses

Here are three animations that illustrate observations in a solar eclipse. The first demonstrates generally the case of a total solar eclipse; the next two are simulated views of two recent solar eclipses from unusual vantage points, one from the Moon and one from the Sun (these last two were constructed using the program Starry Night).

Solar Eclipse Animation. 1994 Solar Eclipse (simulated view from the Sun: 445 kB streaming animation) 1995 Solar Eclipse (simulated view from the Moon: 291 kB streaming animation).

In these last two simulations, the shadow cast on the Earth is the penumbra, which can cover a region thousands of kilometers in diameter. If the eclipse is total, the path of totality traced out by the umbra is much narrower.

Appearance of a Total Solar Eclipse

If you are in the path of totality the eclipse begins with a partial phase in which the Moon gradually covers more and more of the Sun. This typically lasts for about an hour until

the Moon completely covers the Sun and the total eclipse begins. The duration of totality can be as short as a few seconds, or as long as about 8 minutes, depending on the details. As totality approaches the sky becomes dark and a twilight that can only be described as eerie begins to descend. Just before totality waves of shadow rushing rapidly from horizon to horizon may be visible. In the final instants before totality light shining through valleys in the Moon's surface gives the impression of beads on the periphery of the Moon (a phenomenon called Bailey's Beads). The last flash of light from the surface of the Sun as it disappears from view behind the Moon gives the appearance of a diamond ring and is called, appropriately, the diamond ring effect (image at right). As totality begins , the solar corona (extended outer atmosphere of the Sun) blazes into view. The corona is a million times fainter than the surface of the Sun; thus only when the eclipse is total can it be seen; if even a tiny fraction of the solar surface is still visible it drowns out the light of the corona. At this point the sky is sufficiently dark that planets and brighter stars are visible, and if the Sun is active one can typically see solar prominences and flares around the limb of the Moon, even without a telescope (see image at left). The period of totality ends when the motion of the Moon begins to uncover the surface of the Sun, and the eclipse proceeds through partial phases for approximately an hour until the Sun is once again completely uncovered. Here is a movie of the 1994 total solar eclipse (3.1 MB MPEG; Source; here is a QuickTime version, but note that it is 15 MB in length). A partial solar eclipse is interesting; a total solar eclipse is awe-inspiring in the literal meaning of the phrase. If you have an opportunity to observe a total solar eclipse, don't miss it! It is an experience that you will never forget.

Patterns of Eclipses
Because solar eclipses are the result of periodic motion of the Moon about the Earth, there are regularities in the timing of eclipses that give cycles of related eclipses. These cycles were known and used to predict eclipses long before there was a detailed scientific understanding of what causes eclipses. For example, the ancient Babylonians understood one such set of cycles called the Saros, and were able to predict eclipses based on this knowledge. Here is a link to a discussion of such cycles and regularities in eclipse patterns.

Solar Eclipse Resources

Here are some resources for those interested in keeping track of eclipses.

SKY Online Eclipse Page Upcoming eclipses of the Sun and Moon

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Solar Eclipses during the OMI Mission

On this page:

Introduction OPF Parameters Solar Eclipse Maps Solar eclipse of 2004-04-19 Solar eclipse of 2004-10-14 Solar eclipse of 2005-04-08

Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar Solar

eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse eclipse

of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of

2005-10-03 2006-03-29 2006-09-22 2007-03-19 2007-09-11 2008-02-07 2008-08-01 2009-01-26 2009-07-22 2010-01-15 2010-07-11 2011-01-04 2011-06-01 2011-07-01 2011-11-25 2012-05-20 2012-11-13 2013-05-10 2013-11-03 2014-04-29 2014-10-23 2015-03-20 2015-09-13 2016-03-09 2016-09-01 2017-02-26 2017-08-21 2018-02-15 2018-07-13 2018-08-11 2019-01-06 2019-07-02 2019-12-26 2020-06-21 2020-12-14

Introduction
Effect of a Solar eclipse on OMI data
OMI measures backscattered sunlight from the Earth's atmosphere in order to derive level 2 products. During solar eclipses the amount of incoming sunlight will be attenuated by the Moon's surface obscuring the Sun's disk, artificially changing the calculated amount of backscattering. Because the amount of incident solar radiation is not measured continuously, these events will introduce errors in the derived products.

Solar eclipse flagging

The data-processor has the capability to raise warning flags in case of solar eclipse events. These warning flags are are set by the GDPS, based on solar eclipse prediction data in the OPF. The number of parameters for the eclipse-flagging in the OPF is limited. For each event, a start-date, end-date, start-time and end-time can be supplied. In addition, space is reserved for the four

coordinates of a rectangular box which describes the geo-location coverage of the penumbral shadow during the total event. Even though the penumbral shadow does not totally cover this box continuously over the duration of the eclipse, all data will be given the Solar Eclipse warning flag bit in the Ground Pixel Quality flags. The OPF start-time of a solar eclipse was chosen to be the time where the penumbral shadow has first contacts the Earth. This time is also known as the P1-time. The OPF end-time of the event was chosen to be the last moment of contact between the penumbral shadow and the Earth. This point is also referred to as the P4-time, all these times are given as UTC-times. Back to top

OPF Parameters
Start Date [UTC] Start Time [UTC] End Date [UTC] End Time [UTC] West East South North [degrees [degrees [degrees [degrees ] ] ] ] 180.000 -89.0000 180.000 1.0000 -7.0000 89.0000 40.0000 89.0000 89.0000 38.0000 89.0000 -6.0000 4.0000 89.0000 44.0000 63.0000 89.0000 17.0000 89.0000 89.0000

2004_04_1 11:29:56.8000 2004_04_19 15:38:36.0000 -180.000 9T 0Z T 0Z 2004-1014T 2005-0408T 2005-1003T 2006-0329T 2006-0922T 2007-0319T 2007-0911T 2008-0207T 2008-0801T 2009-0126T 2009-0721T 2010-0115T 2010-0711T 2011-0104T 2011-0601T 2011-0701T 2011-1125T 2012-0520T 00:54:34.4000 0Z 17:51:16.9000 0Z 07:35:31.7000 0Z 07:36:49.1000 0Z 08:39:53.4000 0Z 00:38:20.5000 0Z 10:25:41.7000 0Z 01:38:25.2000 0Z 08:04:00.4000 0Z 04:56:31.9000 0Z 23:58:12.6000 0Z 04:05:20.1000 0Z 17:09:34.9000 0Z 06:40:04.1000 0Z 19:25:09.4000 0Z 07:53:45.6000 0Z 04:23:08.9000 0Z 20:56:00.2000 0Z 2004-1014T 2005-0408T 2005-1003T 2006-0329T 2006-0922T 2007-0319T 2007-0911T 2008-0207T 2008-0801T 2009-0126T 2009-0722T 2010-0115T 2010-0711T 2011-0104T 2011-0601T 2011-0701T 2011-1125T 2012-0521T 05:04:17.8000 -180.000 0Z 23:20:25.8000 -180.000 0Z 13:27:50.6000 -180.000 0Z 12:45:41.4000 -180.000 0Z 14:40:09.7000 -180.000 0Z 04:24:56.6000 -180.000 0Z 14:36:26.7000 -180.000 0Z 06:11:48.2000 -180.000 0Z 12:38:22.7000 -180.000 0Z 11:00:35.0000 -180.000 0Z 05:12:19.2000 -180.000 0Z 10:07:27.5000 -180.000 0Z 21:57:09.2000 -180.000 0Z 11:00:47.4000 -180.000 0Z 23:06:52.6000 -180.000 0Z 09:22:34.6000 0Z -19.000

180.000 -89.0000 180.000 -42.0000 180.000 -38.0000 180.000 -89.0000 180.000 4.0000

180.000 -89.0000 180.000 -89.0000 180.000 -10.0000 180.000 -86.0000 180.000 -54.0000 180.000 -36.0000 180.000 -89.0000 180.000 180.000 5.00000 19.0000

71.000 -84.0000 -47.0000 180.000 -89.0000 180.000 -26.0000 -10.000 89.0000

08:17:08.7000 -180.000 0Z 02:49:15.7000 -180.000 0Z

2012-1113T 2013-0510T 2013-1103T 2014-0429T 2014-1023T 2015-0320T 2015-0913T 2016-0309T 2016-0901T 2017-0226T 2017-0821T 2018-0215T 2018-0713T 2018-0811T 2019-0106T 2019-0702T 2019-1226T 2020-0621T 2020-1214T Back to top

19:37:51.8000 0Z 21:25:10.0000 0Z 10:04:33.7000 0Z 03:52:38.1000 0Z 19:37:30.4000 0Z 07:40:50.6000 0Z 04:41:35.3000 0Z 23:19:18.9000 0Z 06:13:05.4000 0Z 12:10:44.8000 0Z 15:46:48.3000 0Z 18:55:45.8000 0Z 01:48:17.5000 0Z 08:02:04.8000 0Z 23:34:01.8000 0Z 16:55:08.1000 0Z 02:29:43.5000 0Z 03:45:53.8000 0Z 13:33:47.7000 0Z

2012-1114T 2013-0511T 2013-1103T 2014-0429T 2014-1023T 2015-0320T 2015-0913T 2016-0310T 2016-0901T 2017-0226T 2017-0821T 2018-0215T 2018-0713T 2018-0811T 2019-0107T 2019-0702T 2019-1226T 2020-0621T 2020-1214T

00:45:27.8000 -180.000 0Z 03:25:22.6000 -180.000 0Z 15:28:21.0000 -180.000 0Z 08:14:27.7000 -180.000 0Z 23:51:35.7000 -180.000 0Z 11:50:10.6000 -180.000 0Z 09:06:20.2000 -180.000 0Z 04:34:53.9000 -180.000 0Z 12:00:37.4000 -180.000 0Z 17:35:58.4000 -180.000 0Z 21:04:19.7000 -180.000 0Z 22:47:03.4000 -180.000 0Z 04:13:43.1000 -180.000 0Z 11:30:38.7000 -180.000 0Z 03:48:44.1000 -180.000 0Z 21:50:33.8000 -180.000 0Z 08:05:36.1000 -180.000 0Z 09:33:57.5000 -180.000 0Z 18:52:59.8000 -180.000 0Z

180.000 -86.0000 179.000 -77.0000 179.000 -32.0000

30.0000 37.0000 80.0000

179.000 -89.0000 -8.00000 179.000 179.000 14.0000 7.00000 89.0000 89.0000

179.000 -89.0000 -15.0000 179.000 -34.0000 179.000 -81.0000 179.000 -89.0000 179.000 -25.0000 71.0000 31.0000 23.0000 89.0000

179.000 -89.0000 -22.0000 179.000 -89.0000 -34.0000 179.000 179.000 19.0000 13.0000 89.0000 89.0000 16.0000 89.0000 66.0000 39.0000

179.000 -89.0000 179.000 -31.0000 179.000 -50.0000 179.000 -81.0000

Solar eclipse plots

For each event up to the year 2020 the path of the penumbral shadow over the Earth has been calculated. From this path, the attenuation of the incident sun light for each geolocation can be calculated. The figures below show the maximum fractional attenuation of the sun light for each point on Earth during the event.

Solar eclipse of 2004-04-19

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Solar eclipse of 2004-10-14

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Solar eclipse of 2005-04-08

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Solar eclipse of 2005-10-03

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Solar eclipse of 2006-03-29

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Solar eclipse of 2006-09-22

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Solar eclipse of 2007-03-19

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Solar eclipse of 2007-09-11

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Solar eclipse of 2008-02-07

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Solar eclipse of 2008-08-01

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Solar eclipse of 2009-01-26

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Solar eclipse of 2009-07-22

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Solar eclipse of 2010-01-15

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Solar eclipse of 2010-07-11

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Solar eclipse of 2011-01-04

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Solar eclipse of 2011-06-01

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Solar eclipse of 2011-07-01

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Solar eclipse of 2011-11-25

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Solar eclipse of 2012-05-20

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Solar eclipse of 2012-11-13

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Solar eclipse of 2013-05-10

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Solar eclipse of 2013-11-03

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Solar eclipse of 2014-04-29

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Solar eclipse of 2014-10-23

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Solar eclipse of 2015-03-20

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Solar eclipse of 2016-03-09

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Solar eclipse of 2016-09-01

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Solar eclipse of 2017-02-26

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Solar eclipse of 2017-08-21

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Solar eclipse of 2018-02-15

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Solar eclipse of 2018-07-13

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Solar eclipse of 2018-08-11

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Solar eclipse of 2019-01-06

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Solar eclipse of 2019-07-02

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Solar eclipse of 2019-12-26

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Solar eclipse of 2020-06-21

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Solar eclipse of 2020-12-14

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OMI -- Last update: Thursday, 14-Feb-2008 15:00:28 UTC -Print this page To top of page