Solar eclipse of April 19, 2004

A partial solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Monday, April 19, 2004, with a magnitude of 0.7367. 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 partial solar eclipse occurs in the polar regions of the Earth when the center of the Moon's shadow misses the Earth.

The eclipse was largely visible over the south Atlantic Ocean and north shores of Antarctica, most prominently the Antarctic Peninsula. The eclipse could also be seen in southern Africa at sunset. Considering the magnitude and the solar altitude, South Africa was the best place to observe this eclipse. In Cape Town, the Sun was about 40% obscured, while in Pretoria the Sun was 29% obscured. Further north, the eclipse remained visible up to Angola, the southern Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania.

Images

Animated eclipse path

Eclipse timing

Places experiencing partial eclipse

Eclipse details

Shown below are two tables displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. The first table outlines times at which the Moon's penumbra or umbra attains the specific parameter, and the second table describes various other parameters pertaining to this eclipse.

Eclipse season

This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 2004

• A partial solar eclipse on April 19.
• A total lunar eclipse on May 4.
• A partial solar eclipse on October 14.
• A total lunar eclipse on October 28.

Metonic

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 1, 2000
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 7, 2008

Tzolkinex

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 9, 1997
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 1, 2011

Half-Saros

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 15, 1995
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 25, 2013

Tritos

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 21, 1993
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 20, 2015

Solar Saros 119

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 9, 1986
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 30, 2022

Inex

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 11, 1975
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 30, 2033

Triad

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 19, 1917
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 18, 2091

Solar eclipses of 2004–2007

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.

Saros 119

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 119, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on May 15, 850 AD. It contains total eclipses on August 9, 994 AD and August 20, 1012; a hybrid eclipse on August 31, 1030; and annular eclipses from September 10, 1048 through March 18, 1950. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on June 24, 2112. 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 totality was produced by member 10 at 32 seconds on August 20, 1012, and the longest duration of annularity was produced by member 44 at 7 minutes, 37 seconds on September 1, 1625. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.

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.

Tritos series

This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

The partial solar eclipses on March 27, 1884 (part of Saros 108) and December 24, 1916 (part of Saros 111) are also a part of this series but are not included in the table below.

Inex series

This eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

External links

• , retrieved 2008-7-28