Solar eclipse of April 8, 2005

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Friday, April 8, 2005, with a magnitude of 1.0074. 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. This eclipse is a hybrid event, a narrow total eclipse, and beginning and ending as an annular eclipse.

It was visible within a narrow corridor in the Pacific Ocean. The path of the eclipse started south of New Zealand and crossed the Pacific Ocean in a diagonal path and ended in the extreme northwestern part of South America. The total solar eclipse was not visible on any land, while the annular solar eclipse was visible in the southern tip of Puntarenas Province of Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Venezuela. A partial eclipse was photographed from Nicaragua; in Bogota, several hundred schoolchildren watched the eclipse despite cloud cover. In Cordoba, an expedition from Bogota's National University observed the eclipse.

In Panama, where the eclipse was visible (and nearly total) from nearly the entire country, it was reported that hundreds of people had booked hotels to view it, including astronomers from the United States, Mexico, France, Belgium, Denmark, Iran and Spain. While the totality of the eclipse occurred over the Pacific Ocean, it could be seen from some parts of the southern United States; it was reported that the southernmost parts of Florida had the best viewing conditions (with as much as 50% of the sun occluded), although rainy conditions in part of the region meant the event was partially obscured.

Observations
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center astrophysicist Fred Espenak and Williams College professor Jay Pasachoff boarded the cruise ship Galapagos Legend and observed the eclipse from the sea west of the Galápagos Islands. The ship first docked at several islands in the Galapagos Islands from April 1 to 3, and then started sailing westward toward the path of totality on April 4. It was cloudy at first on April 8. The ship encountered relatively large wind and waves while sailing south to look for a location with clear sky. The clouds began to disperse from 2 pm, and the sun could be seen through the thin clouds around 2:40. It cleared up later and during the totality, the weather was excellent and the observation was very successful. After another several days of sailing, the ship arrived at the Galápagos Islands again on April 12 and docked at several islands in the following days.

In addition, cruise ships including the MV Discovery and MS Paul Gauguin carried passengers around the Pitcairn Islands and French Polynesia. A team of NASA's did ground-based observations Penonomé, Coclé, Panama.

Images
Animated path

Eclipses of 2005

 * A hybrid solar eclipse on April 8.
 * A penumbral lunar eclipse on April 24.
 * An annular solar eclipse on October 3.
 * A partial lunar eclipse on October 17.

Metonic

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 21, 2001
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 26, 2009

Tzolkinex

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 26, 1998
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 20, 2012

Half-Saros

 * Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 4, 1996
 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 15, 2014

Tritos

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 10, 1994
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 9, 2016

Solar Saros 129

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 29, 1987
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 20, 2023

Inex

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 29, 1976
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 20, 2034

Triad

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 8, 1918
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 7, 2092