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 (?)