Solar eclipse of June 21, 2001

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Solar eclipse of June 21, 2001
Totality from Lusaka, Zambia by the Williams College eclipse expedition
Map
Type of eclipse
NatureTotal
Gamma−0.5701
Magnitude1.0495
Maximum eclipse
Duration297 s (4 min 57 s)
Coordinates11°18′S 2°42′E / 11.3°S 2.7°E / -11.3; 2.7
Max. width of band200 km (120 mi)
Times (UTC)
(P1) Partial begin9:33:04
(U1) Total begin10:35:59
Greatest eclipse12:04:46
(U4) Total end13:31:37
(P4) Partial end14:35:25
References
Saros127 (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]

Visibility[edit]

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.

Images[edit]

Related eclipses[edit]

Eclipses of 2001[edit]

Tzolkinex[edit]

Half-Saros[edit]

Tritos[edit]

Solar Saros 127[edit]

Inex[edit]

Solar eclipses 2000–2003[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.[5]

Partial solar eclipses on February 5, 2000 and July 31, 2000 occur in the previous lunar year set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 2000 to 2003
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

Saros 127[edit]

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.[6]

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)

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.

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 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

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ "Thousands gather in Zambia for total solar eclipse". The News and Advance. 2001-06-21. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-10-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Solar eclipse: Day declared national holiday as thousands come to Zambia". Hickory Daily Record. 2001-06-22. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-10-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "First total eclipse of new millennium sweeps across Africa". Arizona Daily Sun. 2001-06-22. p. 7. Retrieved 2023-10-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Tradition and tourism flourish in solar eclipse". The Daily Telegraph. 2001-06-21. p. 17. Retrieved 2023-10-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "Solar Saros series 127". NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. NASA. Retrieved 2 November 2017.

References[edit]

Photos: