Solar eclipse of January 15, 2010

Solar eclipse of January 15, 2010
Solar eclipse of January 15, 2010
	Annularity from Jinan, China
	Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Annular
Gamma	0.4002
Magnitude	0.919
Maximum eclipse
Duration	668 s (11 min 8 s)
Coordinates	1°36′N 69°18′E / 1.6°N 69.3°E
Max. width of band	333 km (207 mi)
Times (UTC)
(P1) Partial begin	4:05:28
(U1) Total begin	5:13:55
Greatest eclipse	7:07:39
(U4) Total end	8:59:04
(P4) Partial end	10:07:35
References
Saros	141 (23 of 70)
Catalog # (SE5000)	9529

The solar eclipse of January 15, 2010, was an annular eclipse of the Sun with a magnitude of 0.9190. Template:Annular solar eclipse summary

It was the longest annular solar eclipse of the millennium,^[1] and the longest until December 23, 3043, with a maximum length of 11 mins and 7.8 seconds. (The solar eclipse of January 4, 1992, was longer, at 11 minutes, 41 seconds, occurring in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.)^[2]

The eclipse was visible as only partial eclipse in much of Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It was seen as annular eclipse within a narrow stretch of 300 km (190 mi) width across Central Africa, Maldives, South Kerala (India), South Tamil Nadu (India), Sri Lanka and parts of Bangladesh, Burma and China.

Visibility of the eclipse

File:Solar annular eclipse of January 15, 2010, in Bangui, Central African Republic.JPG

January 15, 2010's sunrise in Central Africa

The eclipse starts at the Central African Republic, traverses Cameroon, DR Congo and Uganda, passes through Nairobi, Kenya, enters the Indian Ocean and reaches its greatest eclipse.

After that it enters Maldives, where it would be the longest on land with 10.8 minutes of viewing. This makes the tiny islands of Maldives the best spot for viewing this eclipse from land. The annular eclipse at Malé, the capital city of Maldives, starts at 12:20:20 hrs and ends 12:30:06 hrs Maldives local time (UTC+5). This is also the longest duration of any city having an international airport in the eclipse track.^[3]

At approximately 13:20 IST, the annular solar eclipse entered India at Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), Kerala and exited India at Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu. The eclipse is viewable for 10.4 minutes in India. After Rameswaram, it enters Sri Lanka at Delft Island, exits at Jaffna in Sri Lanka, crosses the Bay of Bengal and re-enters India in Mizorum.

Eclipse picture from Thiruvananthapuram, India where the visibility was 94%

Thiruvananthapuram city, which is the entry point of the eclipse in India, is equipped with telescopes and announced facilities for the public to view the eclipse.^[4] Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, situated in Trivandrum, is analysing the atmospheric-ionospheric parameters during the eclipse.^[5] Many scientists have camped in the city to witness and study the eclipse.^[6]

Dhanushkodi, which falls on the central line of the eclipse, was a good place to view the eclipse. The northern most limit of shadow in India is Cuddalore, Neyveli, Erode, Kodaikanal, Madurai. Other prime viewing locations in Tamil Nadu include Thoothukudi and Cape Comorin, 22 km north of the center line. The only means of reaching Dhanushkodi or Kodandaramar Temple is by ST bus or automobile from Rameswaram. Reaching Dhanushkodi involves traveling in fish carts or 4x4 SUVs, after the end of the road. Governmental permission is required for entering the Dhanushkodi ruins from the coast guard post as that area is 10 km from the Sri Lankan coast. The centre line passes some 2 km east of the Kodandaramar Temple. The exact location of the line is between the NH end and the Dhanushkodi ruins. Dhanushkodi is about 2 km east of the central line. The degree difference is about 0.2 between the central line – Kodandaramar Temple and Dhanushkodi ruins vice versa. Dhanushkodi is about 5 km from the Kodandaramar Temple.

After South Asia, annularity passed Myanmar and China before leaving the Earth.

Gallery

Photographic equipment may allow the planet Venus to be shown about 1.5 degrees west and south of the annular ring of the sun.
Animation of path
Stages of solar eclipse in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), India.
Photograph of the eclipse seen from India
The eclipse from Degania A, Israel, 05:41 UT
montage of the eclipse from Degania A, Israel, from 05:03 UT to 07:05 UT
Photograph of the ending stages of the eclipse as seen from Chennai

Related eclipses

Saros 141

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 141, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 70 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on May 19, 1613. It contains annular eclipses from August 4, 1739 through October 14, 2640. There are no hybrid or total eclipses in this set. The series ends at member 70 as a partial eclipse on June 13, 2857. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.

The longest duration of annularity was produced by member 20 at 12 minutes, 9 seconds on December 14, 1955. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.^[7]

Series members 12–33 occur between 1801 and 2200:
12	13	14
September 17, 1811	September 28, 1829	October 9, 1847
15	16	17
October 19, 1865	October 30, 1883	November 11, 1901
18	19	20
November 22, 1919	December 2, 1937	December 14, 1955
21	22	23
December 24, 1973	January 4, 1992	January 15, 2010
24	25	26
January 26, 2028	February 5, 2046	February 17, 2064
27	28	29
February 27, 2082	March 10, 2100	March 22, 2118
30	31	32
April 1, 2136	April 12, 2154	April 23, 2172
33
May 4, 2190

Metonic series

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.

20 eclipse events between June 10, 1964 and August 21, 2036
June 10–11	March 28–29	January 14–16	November 3	August 21–22
117	119	121	123	125
June 10, 1964	March 28, 1968	January 16, 1972	November 3, 1975	August 22, 1979
127	129	131	133	135
June 11, 1983	March 29, 1987	January 15, 1991	November 3, 1994	August 22, 1998
137	139	141	143	145
June 10, 2002	March 29, 2006	January 15, 2010	November 3, 2013	August 21, 2017
147	149	151	153	155
June 10, 2021	March 29, 2025	January 14, 2029	November 3, 2032	August 21, 2036