Solar eclipse of November 23, 2003
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A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Sunday, November 23 and Monday, November 24, 2003, with a magnitude of 1.0379. 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 25 minutes before perigee (on November 23, 2003, at 23:15 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was near its maximum. Perigee did occur just past the greatest point of this eclipse.
For most solar eclipses the path of totality moves eastwards. In this case the path moved south and then west round Antarctica.
Totality was visible from a corridor in eastern Antarctica. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, southern Chile, and southern Argentina.
Observations
A Russian icebreaker departed from Port Elizabeth, South Africa carrying tourists to observe the eclipse near the Shackleton Ice Shelf and Novolazarevskaya Station, and then sailed to Hobart, Tasmania. About 100 people from 15 countries were on board, including Iranian amateur astronomer Babak Amin Tafreshi, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center astrophysicist Fred Espenak, and Williams College professor Jay Pasachoff. There were also about 200 scientists and tourists taking two commercial charter flights to observe it over Antarctica. This was the first time humans observed a total solar eclipse from Antarctica.
Images
Eclipse timing
Places experiencing partial eclipse
| Country or territory | City or place | Start of partial eclipse | Maximum eclipse | End of partial eclipse | Duration of eclipse (hr:min) | Maximum coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Timor-Leste | Baucau | 06:04:18 (sunrise) | 06:09:36 | 06:19:38 | 0:15 | 0.34% |
| Timor-Leste | Dili | 06:07:39 (sunrise) | 06:10:06 | 06:22:28 | 0:15 | 0.65% |
| Timor-Leste | Same | 06:06:41 (sunrise) | 06:10:27 | 06:24:49 | 0:18 | 1.01% |
| Timor-Leste | Suai | 06:07:47 (sunrise) | 06:10:54 | 06:27:06 | 0:19 | 1.47% |
| Australia | Darwin | 06:22:24 | 06:41:35 | 07:01:21 | 0:39 | 2.40% |
| Indonesia | Kupang | 05:13:09 (sunrise) | 05:15:29 | 05:33:15 | 0:20 | 3.11% |
| Australia | Tennant Creek | 06:17:22 | 06:48:48 | 07:21:50 | 1:04 | 10.54% |
| Australia | Alice Springs | 06:17:07 | 06:54:06 | 07:33:18 | 1:16 | 17.97% |
| Australia | Brisbane | 07:04:13 | 07:31:46 | 08:00:38 | 0:56 | 4.34% |
| Australia | Eucla | 05:36:12 | 06:21:06 | 07:09:04 | 1:33 | 38.56% |
| Australia | Perth | 05:05:01 (sunrise) | 05:39:55 | 06:27:57 | 1:23 | 52.53% |
| Australia | Adelaide | 07:25:03 | 08:10:58 | 09:00:12 | 1:35 | 32.88% |
| Australia | Lord Howe Island | 08:14:38 | 08:42:09 | 09:10:55 | 0:56 | 3.66% |
| Australia | Sydney | 08:02:03 | 08:42:18 | 09:25:12 | 1:23 | 15.27% |
| Australia | Canberra | 08:01:01 | 08:44:03 | 09:30:02 | 1:29 | 20.11% |
| Australia | Melbourne | 08:00:28 | 08:47:13 | 09:37:21 | 1:37 | 29.69% |
| Australia | Hobart | 08:07:31 | 08:57:23 | 09:50:49 | 1:43 | 35.02% |
| New Zealand | Wellington | 10:52:39 | 11:16:44 | 11:41:31 | 0:49 | 1.65% |
| New Zealand | Christchurch | 10:43:07 | 11:18:26 | 11:55:14 | 1:12 | 5.93% |
| New Zealand | Oban | 10:34:18 | 11:19:55 | 12:07:56 | 1:34 | 15.70% |
| New Zealand | Dunedin | 10:38:09 | 11:20:29 | 12:04:53 | 1:27 | 11.48% |
| New Zealand | Chatham Islands | 12:13:12 | 12:19:47 | 12:26:24 | 0:13 | 0.03% |
| Antarctica | Casey Station | 05:42:06 | 06:35:24 | 07:30:48 | 1:49 | 95.21% |
| Antarctica | Davis Station | 04:55:32 | 05:45:41 | 06:37:08 | 1:42 | 98.53% |
| Falkland Islands | Stanley | 20:25:52 | 20:32:34 | 20:36:51 (sunset) | 0:11 | 4.46% |
| Antarctica | Orcadas Base | 20:05:46 | 20:33:40 | 20:41:50 (sunset) | 0:36 | 40.80% |
| Antarctica | Marambio Base | 20:05:55 | 20:54:05 | 21:40:51 | 1:35 | 59.27% |
| Antarctica | Carlini Base | 20:09:46 | 20:57:06 | 21:42:58 | 1:33 | 54.58% |
| Argentina | Ushuaia | 20:26:25 | 21:09:00 | 21:34:28 (sunset) | 1:08 | 33.51% |
| Chile | Punta Arenas | 20:30:51 | 21:11:45 | 21:36:10 (sunset) | 1:05 | 28.23% |
| References: |
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 | 2003 November 23 at 20:47:10.0 UTC |
| First Umbral External Contact | 2003 November 23 at 22:20:25.7 UTC |
| First Central Line | 2003 November 23 at 22:23:45.1 UTC |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 2003 November 23 at 22:27:31.3 UTC |
| Greatest Duration | 2003 November 23 at 22:50:18.7 UTC |
| Greatest Eclipse | 2003 November 23 at 22:50:21.7 UTC |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 2003 November 23 at 23:00:01.3 UTC |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 2003 November 23 at 23:21:19.7 UTC |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 2003 November 23 at 23:12:52.0 UTC |
| Last Central Line | 2003 November 23 at 23:16:38.4 UTC |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 2003 November 23 at 23:19:57.9 UTC |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 2003 November 24 at 00:53:20.5 UTC |
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Eclipse Magnitude | 1.03789 |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 1.07721 |
| Gamma | −0.96381 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 15h56m23.2s |
| Sun Declination | -20°24'22.8" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'11.8" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.9" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 15h55m07.5s |
| Moon Declination | -21°20'45.7" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'44.7" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 1°01'27.3" |
| ΔT | 64.5 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.
| November 9 Ascending node (full moon) | November 23 Descending node (new moon) |
|---|---|
| Total lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 126 | Total solar eclipse Solar Saros 152 |
Related eclipses
Eclipses in 2003
- A total lunar eclipse on May 16.
- An annular solar eclipse on May 31.
- A total lunar eclipse on November 9.
- A total solar eclipse on November 23.
Metonic
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 5, 2000
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of September 11, 2007
Tzolkinex
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 12, 1996
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 4, 2011
Half-Saros
- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of November 18, 1994
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of November 28, 2012
Tritos
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 24, 1992
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 23, 2014
Solar Saros 152
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 12, 1985
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 4, 2021
Inex
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 13, 1974
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 3, 2032
Triad
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 23, 1917
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of September 23, 2090
Solar eclipses of 2000–2003
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, 2000 and July 31, 2000 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set.
| Solar eclipse series sets from 2000 to 2003 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ascending node | Descending node | ||||
| Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma |
| 117 | July 1, 2000 Partial | −1.28214 | 122 Partial projection in Minneapolis, MN, USA | December 25, 2000 Partial | 1.13669 |
| 127 Totality in Lusaka, Zambia | June 21, 2001 Total | −0.57013 | 132 Partial in Minneapolis, MN, USA | December 14, 2001 Annular | 0.40885 |
| 137 Partial in Los Angeles, CA, USA | June 10, 2002 Annular | 0.19933 | 142 Totality in Woomera, South Australia | December 4, 2002 Total | −0.30204 |
| 147 Annularity in Culloden, Scotland | May 31, 2003 Annular | 0.99598 | 152 | November 23, 2003 Total | −0.96381 |
Saros 152
This eclipse is a part of Saros series 152, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 70 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on July 26, 1805. It contains total eclipses from November 2, 1967 through September 14, 2490; hybrid eclipses from September 26, 2508 through October 17, 2544; and annular eclipses from October 29, 2562 through June 16, 2941. The series ends at member 70 as a partial eclipse on August 20, 3049. 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 will be produced by member 30 at 5 minutes, 16 seconds on June 9, 2328, and the longest duration of annularity will be produced by member 53 at 5 minutes, 20 seconds on February 16, 2743. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.
| Series members 1–22 occur between 1805 and 2200: | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
| July 26, 1805 | August 6, 1823 | August 16, 1841 |
| 4 | 5 | 6 |
| August 28, 1859 | September 7, 1877 | September 18, 1895 |
| 7 | 8 | 9 |
| September 30, 1913 | October 11, 1931 | October 21, 1949 |
| 10 | 11 | 12 |
| November 2, 1967 | November 12, 1985 | November 23, 2003 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 |
| December 4, 2021 | December 15, 2039 | December 26, 2057 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 |
| January 6, 2076 | January 16, 2094 | January 29, 2112 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 |
| February 8, 2130 | February 19, 2148 | March 2, 2166 |
| 22 | ||
| March 12, 2184 |
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 descending node.
| 22 eclipse events between September 12, 1931 and July 1, 2011 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 11–12 | June 30–July 1 | April 17–19 | February 4–5 | November 22–23 |
| 114 | 116 | 118 | 120 | 122 |
| September 12, 1931 | June 30, 1935 | April 19, 1939 | February 4, 1943 | November 23, 1946 |
| 124 | 126 | 128 | 130 | 132 |
| September 12, 1950 | June 30, 1954 | April 19, 1958 | February 5, 1962 | November 23, 1965 |
| 134 | 136 | 138 | 140 | 142 |
| September 11, 1969 | June 30, 1973 | April 18, 1977 | February 4, 1981 | November 22, 1984 |
| 144 | 146 | 148 | 150 | 152 |
| September 11, 1988 | June 30, 1992 | April 17, 1996 | February 5, 2000 | November 23, 2003 |
| 154 | 156 | |||
| September 11, 2007 | July 1, 2011 |
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 November 16, 2134 (part of Saros 164) and October 16, 2145 (part of Saros 165) are also a part of this series but are not included in the table below.
| Series members between 1801 and 2069 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 6, 1807 (Saros 134) | May 5, 1818 (Saros 135) | April 3, 1829 (Saros 136) | March 4, 1840 (Saros 137) | February 1, 1851 (Saros 138) |
| December 31, 1861 (Saros 139) | November 30, 1872 (Saros 140) | October 30, 1883 (Saros 141) | September 29, 1894 (Saros 142) | August 30, 1905 (Saros 143) |
| July 30, 1916 (Saros 144) | June 29, 1927 (Saros 145) | May 29, 1938 (Saros 146) | April 28, 1949 (Saros 147) | March 27, 1960 (Saros 148) |
| February 25, 1971 (Saros 149) | January 25, 1982 (Saros 150) | December 24, 1992 (Saros 151) | November 23, 2003 (Saros 152) | October 23, 2014 (Saros 153) |
| September 21, 2025 (Saros 154) | August 21, 2036 (Saros 155) | July 22, 2047 (Saros 156) | June 21, 2058 (Saros 157) | May 20, 2069 (Saros 158) |
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 | ||
|---|---|---|
| April 13, 1801 (Saros 145) | March 24, 1830 (Saros 146) | March 4, 1859 (Saros 147) |
| February 11, 1888 (Saros 148) | January 23, 1917 (Saros 149) | January 3, 1946 (Saros 150) |
| December 13, 1974 (Saros 151) | November 23, 2003 (Saros 152) | November 3, 2032 (Saros 153) |
| October 13, 2061 (Saros 154) | September 23, 2090 (Saros 155) | September 5, 2119 (Saros 156) |
| August 14, 2148 (Saros 157) | July 25, 2177 (Saros 158) |
Notes
External links
- Fred Espenak and Jay Anderson. "". NASA, July 2003.
- Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
Photos:
- 2009-07-26 at the Wayback Machine
- APOD 8/5/2004, An Antarctic Total Solar Eclipse
- APOD 11/27/2003, The Long Shadow of the Moon, Total solar eclipse from satellite over Antarctica