Solar eclipse of February 26, 1998
A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of the orbit on Thursday, February 26, 1998. 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 the Galápagos Islands, Panama, Colombia, the Paraguaná Peninsula in northwestern Venezuela, all of Aruba, most of Curaçao and the northwestern tip of Bonaire (belonging to Netherlands Antilles which dissolved later), all of Montserrat, Guadeloupe and Antigua and Barbuda.
Observations
Jay Pasachoff led a team from Williams College, Massachusetts to Aruba and studied the rapid oscillations of the corona and coronal temperature, and also recorded coronal and other solar images in the visible and infrared parts of the spectrum. The team also photographed the corona using the same green filter onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, providing calibration for the spacecraft.[1] Fred Espenak, an astrophysicist of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center also observed it in Aruba. Clouds gradually gathered at the beginning of the eclipse, and it rained for a while. This was the first precipitation on the island in 6 months. Later, the sky gradually cleared up and totality was successfully seen.[2] The wind speed on the island was often larger than 30 knots.[1]
A team of the Johnson Space Center observed the eclipse in Curaçao. Curaçao got the first precipitation in 4 months on the morning of the eclipse day, but it gradually cleared up afterwards. During the totality, the sky was completely clear. The corona was extending in the east-west direction, and helmet streamers could be seen at the poles of the sun.[3]
Related eclipses
Eclipses of 1998
- A total solar eclipse on February 26.
- A penumbral lunar eclipse on March 13.
- A penumbral lunar eclipse on August 8.
- An annular solar eclipse on August 22.
- A penumbral lunar eclipse on September 6.
Solar eclipses 1997–2000
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.[4]
Descending node | Ascending node | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma | |
120 Chita, Russia | 1997 March 09 Total | 0.91830 | 125 | 1997 September 02 Partial (south) | −1.03521 | |
130 Total eclipse near Guadeloupe | 1998 February 26 Total | 0.23909 | 135 | 1998 August 22 Annular | −0.26441 | |
140 | 1999 February 16 Annular | −0.47260 | 145 Totality from France | 1999 August 11 Total | 0.50623 | |
150 | 2000 February 05 Partial (south) | −1.22325 | 155 | 2000 July 31 Partial (north) | 1.21664 |
Partial solar eclipses on July 1, 2000 and December 25, 2000 occur in the next lunar year eclipse set.
Saros 130
This eclipse is a part of Saros cycle 130, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 73 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on August 20, 1096. It contains total eclipses from April 5, 1475 through July 18, 2232. There are no annular eclipses in the series. The series ends at member 73 as a partial eclipse on October 25, 2394. The longest duration of totality was 6 minutes, 41 seconds on July 11, 1619. All eclipses in this series occurs at the Moon’s descending node.[5]
Series members 43–56 between 1853 and 2300 | ||
---|---|---|
43 | 44 | 45 |
November 30, 1853 | December 12, 1871 | December 22, 1889 |
46 | 47 | 48 |
January 3, 1908 | January 14, 1926 | January 25, 1944 |
49 | 50 | 51 |
February 5, 1962 | February 16, 1980 | February 26, 1998 |
52 | 53 | 54 |
March 9, 2016 | March 20, 2034 | March 30, 2052 |
55 | 56 | 57 |
April 11, 2070 | April 21, 2088 | May 3, 2106 |
58 | 59 | 60 |
May 14, 2124 | May 25, 2142 | June 4, 2160 |
61 | 62 | 63 |
June 16, 2178 | June 26, 2196 | July 8, 2214 |
64 | 65 | 66 |
July 18, 2232 | July 30, 2250 | August 9, 2268 |
67 | ||
August 20, 2286 |
Metonic cycle
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 descending node.
21 events between July 22, 1971 and July 22, 2047 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
July 21–22 | May 9–11 | February 26–27 | December 14–15 | October 2–3 |
116 | 118 | 120 | 122 | 124 |
July 22, 1971 | May 11, 1975 | February 26, 1979 | December 15, 1982 | October 3, 1986 |
126 | 128 | 130 | 132 | 134 |
July 22, 1990 | May 10, 1994 | February 26, 1998 | December 14, 2001 | October 3, 2005 |
136 | 138 | 140 | 142 | 144 |
July 22, 2009 | May 10, 2013 | February 26, 2017 | December 14, 2020 | October 2, 2024 |
146 | 148 | 150 | 152 | 154 |
July 22, 2028 | May 9, 2032 | February 27, 2036 | December 15, 2039 | October 3, 2043 |
156 | ||||
July 22, 2047 |
In popular culture
The 2001 Japanese film Orozco the Embalmer briefly featured the total eclipse as seen from Colombia.
Notes
- ^ a b "Scientific Experiments at the 1998 Eclipse: The Williams College Expedition". Williams College. Archived from the original on 26 October 2016.
- ^ Fred Espenak. "Report on the Total Solar Eclipse of 1998 Feb 26". Archived from the original on 16 February 2014.
- ^ Paul Maley. "The Caribbean Total Solar Eclipse of 26 February 1998: A Great Success!". Eclipse Tours. Archived from the original on 22 January 2016.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Saros Series catalog of solar eclipses". NASA.
References
- Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
- Google interactive map
- Besselian elements
External links
Sites and Photos
- Venezuela. Prof. Druckmüller's eclipse photography site
- Aruba. Prof. Druckmüller's eclipse photography site
- Solar Corona Shape
- [1] APOD 3/11/1998, A Total Eclipse of the Sun, totality from Venezuela.
- [2] APOD 3/12/1998, Moon Shadow satellite animation, 2/1998.
- The 1998 Eclipse in Venezuela
Videos
- Total eclipse, 1998 February 26, Venezuela
- Aruba Eclipse - February 26, 1998
- Maracaibo eclipse solar 1998
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