Solar eclipse of March 9, 1997

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Sunday, March 9, 1997, 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. Totality was visible in eastern Russia, Northern Mongolia, northern tip of Xinjiang and Northeastern China and eastern tip of Kazakhstan.

Unusual gravity variations
This solar eclipse is somewhat special in the sense that some unexplained gravity anomalies of about 7 $$\times$$ 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.

Russia
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.

China
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. 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. In addition, the first amateur radio communication experiment during a total solar eclipse in mainland China, and China Central Television's first live broadcast of a solar eclipse were also completed there.

Eclipses in 1997

 * A total solar eclipse on March 9, 1997.
 * A partial lunar eclipse on March 24, 1997.
 * A partial solar eclipse on September 2, 1997.
 * A total lunar eclipse on September 16, 1997.

Metonic

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 21, 1993
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 25, 2000

Tzolkinex

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 26, 1990
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 19, 2004

Half-Saros

 * Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 3, 1988
 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 14, 2006

Tritos

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 9, 1986
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 7, 2008

Solar Saros 120

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 26, 1979
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 20, 2015

Inex

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 28, 1968
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 17, 2026

Triad

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 9, 1910
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 7, 2084