andrew@alberta.UUCP (Andrew Folkins) (07/11/85)
*** Has the line eater ever seen an eclipse? ***
The following information was published in Sky & Telescope, October
1984, in "Solar Eclipe Diary: 1985-95" by Jean Meeus.
TOTAL AND ANNULAR SOLAR ECLIPSES : 1985 - 1995
Maximum Maximum
duration* width*
Date Type (min, sec) (miles) Area of visibility
1985 Nov 12 T 1:59 453 Pacific Ocean
1986 Oct 3 A-T 0:00** 1** Northern Atlantic Ocean
1987 Mar 29 A-T 0:08** 3** Southern South America,
Atlantic Ocean, Africa
1987 Sep 23 A 3:50 124 Asia, Pacific Ocean
1988 Mar 18 T 3:46 108 Sumatra, Borneo, Philip-
pines, Pacific Ocean
1988 Sep 11 A 6:57 196 Indian Ocean
1990 Jan 26 A 2:06 314 S. Atlantic, Antarctica
1990 Jul 22 T 2:33 130 Finland, N and NE Siberia,
N Pacific Ocean
1991 Jan 15 A 7:55 224 SW Australia, Tasmania,
New Zealand, Pacific Ocean
1991 Jul 11 T 6:54 160 Pacific, Hawaii, Mexico,
Central and S. America
1992 Jan 4 A 11:42 234 Pacific Ocean
1992 Jun 30 T 5:20 184 S. Atlantic Ocean
1994 May 10 A 6:14 193 E Pacific, N. America,
Atlantic, NW Africa
1994 Nov 3 T 4:24 118 S. America, S Atlantic
1995 Apr 29 A 6:38 153 Pacific, S. America
1995 Oct 24 T 2:10 48 Asia, Borneo, Pacific
* The locations of maximum duration and maximum width do not always coincide.
** Values are for the total phase.
PARTIAL SOLAR ECLIPSES : 1985 - 1995
Date Magnitude (%) Area of visibility
1985 May 19 84.0 Pacific Ocean, North America
1986 Apr 9 82.3 Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica
1989 Mar 7 82.7 NE Pacific, North America, Greenland
1989 Aug 31 63.4 S. Africa, Madagascar, S. Indian Ocean,
Antarctica
1992 Dec 24 84.2 NE Asia, N Pacific, Alaska
1993 May 21 73.6 N. America, Greenland, N. Europe, NW Asia
1993 Nov 13 92.8 Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica
Three of the events in the first table are of interest to North
American observers :
July 11, 1991
The longest total eclipse since July 30, 1973 (one saros period
earlier), begins in the Pacific Ocean. The island of Hawaii lies
entirely inside the path of totality, with the cental line passing very
close to the bevy of observatories atop 13,800 foot Mauna Kea. There
totality will last 4.2 minutes with the morning sun 21 degrees above
the horizon. The path also grazes the southern coast of Maui.
The path continues across Baja California and Mexico. Mexico City will
experience over 6 1/2 minutes of totality, with the sun just 10 degrees
from the zenith. Mazatlan, Tuxpan, Aguascalientes, Guadalajara,
Puebla, and Oaxaca are also in the umbral shadow.
In Central America, parts of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua,
almost all of Cost Rica, and a part of Panama will see totality.
Moving on to South America, the umbra will cross Colombia (including
the town of Cali) and Brazil, finally ending northeast of Brasilia.
January 4, 1992
This long-lasting annular eclipse lies almost completely over the
Pacific Ocean, where it crosses the International Date Line. It ends
at sunset at the Pacific coast of North America near the border of the
United States and Mexico. The event will be annular at Los Angeles
(duration 5.2 minutes) and at San Diego (duration 7.1 minutes) but with
the sun nearly skimming the horizon.
May 10, 1994
Annularity begins at sunrise in the Pacific Ocean southeast of Hawaii.
It then crosses Baja California, northwestern Mexico, the United
States, southeastern Canada, and the Atlantic Ocean before ending at
sunset in Morocco.
In the United States, annularity will exceed 5 minutes in duration
along the center line, reaching a maximum of 6.2 minutes near Lake
Erie. The following towns lie along the path : Hermosillo, Mexico; El
Paso, Lubbock, and Amarillo, Texas; Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma;
Wichita, Kansas; Springfield and St. Louis, Missouri; Cleveland, Ohio;
Detroit, Michigan; Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany, New York;
Portland, Maine; Toronto, Ontario; and Halifax, Nova Scotia.
--
Andrew Folkins
ihnp4!alberta!andrew
"When the going gets tough, the weird turn pro."
Hunter S. Thompson (?)