Solar eclipse of December 17, 2066
In-game article clicks load inline without leaving the challenge.
A total solar eclipse will occur at the Moon's ascending node of orbit between Thursday, December 16 and Friday, December 17, 2066, with a magnitude of 1.0416. 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. Occurring about 18.5 hours before perigee (on December 17, 2066, at 19:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter will be larger.
The path of totality will be visible from parts of southwestern Australia and Stewart Island of New Zealand. A partial solar eclipse will also be visible for parts of Indonesia, Australia, Antarctica, and Oceania.
This total eclipse follows a similar path to the eclipse on December 25–26, 2038.
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.
| Event | Time (UTC) |
|---|---|
| First Penumbral External Contact | 2066 December 16 at 21:49:58.3 UTC |
| First Umbral External Contact | 2066 December 16 at 22:48:21.3 UTC |
| First Central Line | 2066 December 16 at 22:49:05.7 UTC |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 2066 December 16 at 22:49:50.2 UTC |
| First Penumbral Internal Contact | 2066 December 17 at 00:01:22.6 UTC |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 2066 December 17 at 00:19:30.7 UTC |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 2066 December 17 at 00:20:59.4 UTC |
| Greatest Duration | 2066 December 17 at 00:23:31.6 UTC |
| Greatest Eclipse | 2066 December 17 at 00:23:39.9 UTC |
| Last Penumbral Internal Contact | 2066 December 17 at 00:46:01.7 UTC |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 2066 December 17 at 01:57:30.4 UTC |
| Last Central Line | 2066 December 17 at 01:58:15.8 UTC |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 2066 December 17 at 01:59:01.2 UTC |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 2066 December 17 at 02:57:20.6 UTC |
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Eclipse Magnitude | 1.04155 |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 1.08483 |
| Gamma | −0.40428 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 17h39m46.4s |
| Sun Declination | -23°20'56.0" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'15.1" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.9" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 17h39m53.3s |
| Moon Declination | -23°45'32.9" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'39.9" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 1°01'09.6" |
| ΔT | 95.3 s |
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.
| December 17 Ascending node (new moon) | December 31 Descending node (full moon) |
|---|---|
| Total solar eclipse Solar Saros 133 | Penumbral lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 145 |
Related eclipses
Eclipses in 2066
- A total lunar eclipse on January 11.
- An annular solar eclipse on June 22.
- A partial lunar eclipse on July 7.
- A total solar eclipse on December 17.
- A penumbral lunar eclipse on December 31.
Metonic
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 28, 2063
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 4, 2070
Tzolkinex
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 5, 2059
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 27, 2074
Half-Saros
- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of December 11, 2057
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of December 22, 2075
Tritos
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 16, 2056
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 15, 2077
Solar Saros 133
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 5, 2048
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 27, 2084
Inex
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 5, 2038
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 27, 2095
Triad
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 16, 1980
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 17, 2153
Solar eclipses of 2065–2069
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.
The partial solar eclipses on February 5, 2065 and August 2, 2065 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set, and the partial solar eclipses on April 21, 2069 and October 15, 2069 occur in the next lunar year eclipse set.
| Solar eclipse series sets from 2065 to 2069 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Descending node | Ascending node | ||||
| Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma |
| 118 | July 3, 2065 Partial | 1.4619 | 123 | December 27, 2065 Partial | −1.0688 |
| 128 | June 22, 2066 Annular | 0.733 | 133 | December 17, 2066 Total | −0.4043 |
| 138 | June 11, 2067 Annular | −0.0387 | 143 | December 6, 2067 Hybrid | 0.2845 |
| 148 | May 31, 2068 Total | −0.797 | 153 | November 24, 2068 Partial | 1.0299 |
| 158 | May 20, 2069 Partial | −1.4852 |
Saros 133
This eclipse is a part of Saros series 133, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 72 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on July 13, 1219. It contains annular eclipses from November 20, 1435 through January 13, 1526; a hybrid eclipse on January 24, 1544; and total eclipses from February 3, 1562 through June 21, 2373. The series ends at member 72 as a partial eclipse on September 5, 2499. 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 25 at 1 minutes, 14 seconds on November 30, 1453, and the longest duration of totality was produced by member 61 at 6 minutes, 50 seconds on August 7, 1850. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.
| Series members 34–55 occur between 1801 and 2200: | ||
|---|---|---|
| 34 | 35 | 36 |
| July 17, 1814 | July 27, 1832 | August 7, 1850 |
| 37 | 38 | 39 |
| August 18, 1868 | August 29, 1886 | September 9, 1904 |
| 40 | 41 | 42 |
| September 21, 1922 | October 1, 1940 | October 12, 1958 |
| 43 | 44 | 45 |
| October 23, 1976 | November 3, 1994 | November 13, 2012 |
| 46 | 47 | 48 |
| November 25, 2030 | December 5, 2048 | December 17, 2066 |
| 49 | 50 | 51 |
| December 27, 2084 | January 8, 2103 | January 19, 2121 |
| 52 | 53 | 54 |
| January 30, 2139 | February 9, 2157 | February 21, 2175 |
| 55 | ||
| March 3, 2193 |
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.
| 21 eclipse events between July 23, 2036 and July 23, 2112 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 23–24 | May 11 | February 27–28 | December 16–17 | October 4–5 |
| 117 | 119 | 121 | 123 | 125 |
| July 23, 2036 | May 11, 2040 | February 28, 2044 | December 16, 2047 | October 4, 2051 |
| 127 | 129 | 131 | 133 | 135 |
| July 24, 2055 | May 11, 2059 | February 28, 2063 | December 17, 2066 | October 4, 2070 |
| 137 | 139 | 141 | 143 | 145 |
| July 24, 2074 | May 11, 2078 | February 27, 2082 | December 16, 2085 | October 4, 2089 |
| 147 | 149 | 151 | 153 | 155 |
| July 23, 2093 | May 11, 2097 | February 28, 2101 | December 17, 2104 | October 5, 2108 |
| 157 | ||||
| July 23, 2112 |
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.
| Series members between 1801 and 2200 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 1, 1805 (Saros 109) | October 31, 1826 (Saros 111) | August 28, 1848 (Saros 113) | ||
| July 29, 1859 (Saros 114) | June 28, 1870 (Saros 115) | May 27, 1881 (Saros 116) | April 26, 1892 (Saros 117) | March 29, 1903 (Saros 118) |
| February 25, 1914 (Saros 119) | January 24, 1925 (Saros 120) | December 25, 1935 (Saros 121) | November 23, 1946 (Saros 122) | October 23, 1957 (Saros 123) |
| September 22, 1968 (Saros 124) | August 22, 1979 (Saros 125) | July 22, 1990 (Saros 126) | June 21, 2001 (Saros 127) | May 20, 2012 (Saros 128) |
| April 20, 2023 (Saros 129) | March 20, 2034 (Saros 130) | February 16, 2045 (Saros 131) | January 16, 2056 (Saros 132) | December 17, 2066 (Saros 133) |
| November 15, 2077 (Saros 134) | October 14, 2088 (Saros 135) | September 14, 2099 (Saros 136) | August 15, 2110 (Saros 137) | July 14, 2121 (Saros 138) |
| June 13, 2132 (Saros 139) | May 14, 2143 (Saros 140) | April 12, 2154 (Saros 141) | March 12, 2165 (Saros 142) | February 10, 2176 (Saros 143) |
| January 9, 2187 (Saros 144) | December 9, 2197 (Saros 145) |
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.
| Series members between 1801 and 2200 | ||
|---|---|---|
| June 16, 1806 (Saros 124) | May 27, 1835 (Saros 125) | May 6, 1864 (Saros 126) |
| April 16, 1893 (Saros 127) | March 28, 1922 (Saros 128) | March 7, 1951 (Saros 129) |
| February 16, 1980 (Saros 130) | January 26, 2009 (Saros 131) | January 5, 2038 (Saros 132) |
| December 17, 2066 (Saros 133) | November 27, 2095 (Saros 134) | November 6, 2124 (Saros 135) |
| October 17, 2153 (Saros 136) | September 27, 2182 (Saros 137) |
Notes
- Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC