Solar eclipse of May 31, 2003

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Solar eclipse of May 31, 2003
Annular from Culloden, Scotland
Map
Type of eclipse
NatureAnnular
Gamma0.996
Magnitude0.9384
Maximum eclipse
Duration217 s (3 min 37 s)
Coordinates66°36′N 24°30′W / 66.6°N 24.5°W / 66.6; -24.5
Max. width of band- km
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse4:09:22
References
Saros147 (22 of 80)
Catalog # (SE5000)9515

An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of the orbit on Saturday, May 31, 2003. 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. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide. Annularity was visible across central Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Jan Mayen and northern Scotland. Partiality was visible throughout Europe, Asia, and far northwestern Canada.

People from around the world traveled to see the eclipse from the small portion of Britain from which it could be seen, with the Independent saying: "A timely gap in the clouds was all it took to make the arduous journey to the northernmost reaches of Scotland worthwhile". In the village of Durness, the eclipse was observed by Patrick Moore and Brian May.[1] [2] However, viewing parties in Orkney saw "just another grey morning in the far north of Scotland".[3][4] In India, hundreds of thousands of Hindus carried out a tradition of bathing in sacred rivers during the eclipse, with queues as long as 3 mi (4.8 km).[4] A partial eclipse was observed in large parts of Asia, the middle East, and Europe, including Greece.[5]

Animation
Animation

Images[edit]

Related eclipses[edit]

Eclipses of 2003[edit]

Solar eclipses 2000–2003[edit]

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.[6]

Partial solar eclipses on February 5, 2000 and July 31, 2000 occur in the previous lunar year set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 2000 to 2003
Ascending node   Descending node
Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma
117 2000 July 01

Partial (south) 		−1.28214 122 2000 December 25

Partial (north) 		1.13669
127

Totality from Lusaka, Zambia 		2001 June 21

Total 		−0.57013 132

Partial from Minneapolis, MN 		2001 December 14

Annular 		0.40885
137

Partial from Los Angeles, CA 		2002 June 10

Annular 		0.19933 142

Totality from Woomera 		2002 December 04

Total 		−0.30204
147

Culloden, Scotland 		2003 May 31

Annular 		0.99598 152 2003 November 23

Total 		−0.96381

Saros 147[edit]

Solar saros 147, repeating every about 18 years and 11 days, contains 80 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on October 12, 1624. It has annular eclipses from May 31, 2003, to July 31, 2706. There are no total eclipses in this series. The series ends at member 80 as a partial eclipse on February 24, 3049. The longest annular eclipse will be on November 21, 2291, at 9 minutes and 41 seconds.[7]

Series members 17–27 occur between 1901 and 2100:
17 18 19

April 6, 1913
April 18, 1931
April 28, 1949
20 21 22

May 9, 1967
May 19, 1985
May 31, 2003
23 24 25

June 10, 2021
June 21, 2039
July 1, 2057
26 27

July 13, 2075
July 23, 2093

Tritos series[edit]

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.

Metonic series[edit]

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.

22 eclipse events between January 5, 1935 and August 11, 2018
January 4-5 October 23-24 August 10-12 May 30-31 March 18-19
111 113 115 117 119

January 5, 1935
August 12, 1942
May 30, 1946
March 18, 1950
121 123 125 127 129

January 5, 1954
October 23, 1957
August 11, 1961
May 30, 1965
March 18, 1969
131 133 135 137 139

January 4, 1973
October 23, 1976
August 10, 1980
May 30, 1984
March 18, 1988
141 143 145 147 149

January 4, 1992
October 24, 1995
August 11, 1999
May 31, 2003
March 19, 2007
151 153 155

January 4, 2011
October 23, 2014
August 11, 2018

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ "Circle of light that set the cash tills ringing". The Independent. London, Greater London, England. 2003-06-01. p. 17. Retrieved 2023-10-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Moon is a star for one day". The Observer. London, Greater London, England. 2003-06-01. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-10-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Great party, shame about the eclipse". The Observer. London, Greater London, England. 2003-06-01. p. 7. Retrieved 2023-10-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b "Eclipse draws watchers in north nations". Florida Today. 2003-06-01. p. 49. Retrieved 2023-10-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Eclipse is partly sunny". Omaha World-Herald. 2003-06-01. p. 13. Retrieved 2023-10-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  7. ^ Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses NASA Eclipse Web Site.

References[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Solar eclipse of 2003 May 31.

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