Solar eclipse of November 3, 1994

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Thursday, November 3, 1994, with a magnitude of 1.0535. 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 10 hours after perigee (on November 3, 1994, at 23:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.

Totality was visible in Peru, northern Chile, Bolivia, northern Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil and Gough Island of British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. The Iguazu Falls, one of the largest waterfalls systems in the world, lay in the path of totality. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Central America, South America, Antarctica, and Southern Africa.

Images

Observations

Jay Pasachoff led an observation team from Williams College in Massachusetts, observing the total eclipse at a military base near Putre, Chile, in the Atacama Desert. The team took images of the corona and measured its brightness. Teams from Japan and South Korea also conducted observations nearby. The Russian Academy of Sciences sent a team to Criciúma, Brazil, taking images of the corona in polarized light and proposing reconstruction of its ray structure.

Eclipse timing

Places experiencing total eclipse

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 1994

• An annular solar eclipse on May 10.
• A partial lunar eclipse on May 25.
• A total solar eclipse on November 3.
• A penumbral lunar eclipse on November 18.

Metonic

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 15, 1991
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 22, 1998

Tzolkinex

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 23, 1987
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 14, 2001

Half-Saros

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of October 28, 1985
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of November 9, 2003

Tritos

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 4, 1983
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 3, 2005

Solar Saros 133

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 23, 1976
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 13, 2012

Inex

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 23, 1965
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 14, 2023

Triad

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 3, 1908
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of September 3, 2081

Solar eclipses of 1993–1996

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 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.

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.

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

• Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC

Photos: