Solar eclipse of March 29, 2006

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Wednesday, March 29, 2006, with a magnitude of 1.0515. 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. It was visible from a narrow corridor which traversed half the Earth. This eclipse was part of Saros 139.

It was the second solar eclipse visible in Africa in just 6 months.

Visibility
The path of totality of the Moon's shadow began at sunrise in Brazil and extended across the Atlantic to Africa, traveling across Ghana, the southeastern tip of Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Libya, and a small corner of northwest Egypt, from there across the Mediterranean Sea to Greece (Kastellórizo) and Turkey, then across the Black Sea via Georgia, Russia, and Kazakhstan to Western Mongolia, where it ended at sunset. A partial eclipse was seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including the northern two-thirds of Africa, the whole of Europe, and Central Asia.

Observations
People around the world gathered in areas where the eclipse was visible to view the event. The Manchester Astronomical Society, the Malaysian Space Agency, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, as well as dozens of tour groups met at the Apollo temple and the theater in Side, Turkey. The San Francisco Exploratorium featured a live webcast from the site, where thousands of observers were seated in the ancient, Roman-style theater.

Almost all actively visited areas in the path of totality had perfect weather. Many observers reported an unusually beautiful eclipse, with many or all effects visible, and a very nice corona, despite the proximity to the solar minimum. The partial phase of the eclipse was also visible from the International Space Station, where the astronauts on board took spectacular pictures of the moon's shadow on Earth's surface. It initially appeared as though an orbit correction set for the middle of March would bring the ISS into the path of totality, but this correction was postponed.

The Paris Observatory sent a team of students and coordinators to Savalou, Benin. The team took clear images of the corona. A team of Williams College, Massachusetts did many experiments and took images of the corona on the Greek island of Kastellórizo with 3 minutes of totality, which is close to the coast of Turkey and the only place in the European Union covered by the path of totality. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory also made auxiliary observations to compare images taken from space and from the ground. Another research simulated the changing colours of the sky in the path of totality with a three-dimensional model while considering multiple scattering. Monte Carlo method was used in the experiment to predict the colour and brightness of the sky. In addition, the direct irradiation of the corona was also studied. The goal was to plan and optimise studies on incoming solar irradiance. Russian scientists studied on coronal polarization in the Baksan River Gorge surrounded by snow mountains in the North Caucasus. The location has an altitude of 1,800 metres and is 25 kilometres from Mount Elbrus, the highest peak in Russia and also Europe.

Libya under Muammar Gaddafi was under sanctions because of bombing the Pan Am Flight 103 and had a strict alcohol ban. It was the least visited region around the Mediterranean. To promote tourism, the Libyan government mobilized 5 state-owned tourism companies to attract more tourists, and built a tent village that could accommodate 7,000 people in Waw an Namus inside the Sahara Desert with excellent observation conditions. However, it was only open to astronomers, while ordinary tourists were directed to Patan, near the border with Egypt. Despite Libya's desire to attract tourists from all over the world, Israelis were still banned from entering the country. NASA scientists also did joint observation and research with Libyan scientists, taking images and videos.

A team of 20 people from the Chinese Astronomical Society took images of Baily's beads, corona and prominences in Sallum, Egypt. The weather conditions were good in Sallum and also neighbouring Libya. Then Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Minister of Defense Muhammad Tantawi and other officials also went there by helicopter and observed the eclipse with scientists and tourists.

Satellite failure
The satellite responsible for SKY Network Television, a New Zealand pay TV company, failed the day after this eclipse at around 1900 local time. While SKY didn't directly attribute the failure to the eclipse, they said in a media release that it took longer to resolve the issue because of it, but this claim was rejected by astronomers. The main reason for the failure was because of an aging and increasingly faulty satellite.

Eclipses of 2006

 * A penumbral lunar eclipse on March 14.
 * A total solar eclipse on March 29.
 * A partial lunar eclipse on September 7.
 * An annular solar eclipse on September 22.

This solar eclipse was preceded by the penumbral lunar eclipse on March 14, 2006.

Metonic

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 10, 2002
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 15, 2010

Tzolkinex

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 16, 1999
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 10, 2013

Half-Saros

 * Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 24, 1997
 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 4, 2015

Tritos

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 29, 1995
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 26, 2017

Solar Saros 139

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 18, 1988
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 8, 2024

Inex

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 18, 1977
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 9, 2035

Triad

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 29, 1919
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 27, 2093