Solar eclipse of December 25, 2000

A partial solar eclipse occurred on December 25, 2000, also known as the "Christmas 2000 Solar Eclipse". 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 partial solar eclipse occurs in the polar regions of the Earth when the center of the Moon's shadow misses the Earth. It is also the last solar eclipse of the 20th century.

Solar eclipse of December 25, 2000
Projected partial eclipse from Minneapolis, Minnesota
Map
Type of eclipse
NaturePartial
Gamma1.1367
Magnitude0.7228
Maximum eclipse
Coordinates66°18′N 74°06′W / 66.3°N 74.1°W / 66.3; -74.1
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse17:35:57
References
Saros122 (57 of 70)
Catalog # (SE5000)9510

Christmas edit

This is the first Solar Eclipse on Christmas day since the annular solar eclipse of 1954.[1]

Images edit

 
Animated path

Related eclipses edit

Eclipses of 2000 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.[2]

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

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 descending node.[3]

Octon series with 21 events between May 21, 1993 and August 2, 2065
May 20–21 March 8–9 December 25–26 October 13–14 August 1–2
98 100 102 104 106
May 21, 1955 March 9, 1959 December 26, 1962 October 14, 1966 August 2, 1970
108 110 112 114 116
May 21, 1974 March 9, 1978 December 26, 1981 October 14, 1985 August 1, 1989
118 120 122 124 126
 
May 21, 1993
 
March 9, 1997
 
December 25, 2000
 
October 14, 2004
 
August 1, 2008
128 130 132 134 136
 
May 20, 2012
 
March 9, 2016
 
December 26, 2019
 
October 14, 2023
 
August 2, 2027
138 140 142 144 146
 
May 21, 2031
 
March 9, 2035
 
December 26, 2038
 
October 14, 2042
 
August 2, 2046
148 150 152 154 156
 
May 20, 2050
 
March 9, 2054
 
December 26, 2057
 
October 13, 2061
 
August 2, 2065
158 160 162 164 166
 
May 20, 2069
March 8, 2073 December 26, 2076 October 13, 2080 August 1, 2084

References edit

  1. ^ Espenak, Fred. "Partial Solar Eclipse of December 25, 2000". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  2. ^ van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  3. ^ Note S1: Eclipses & Predictions in Freeth, Tony (2014). "Eclipse Prediction on the Ancient Greek Astronomical Calculating Machine Known as the Antikythera Mechanism". PLOS ONE. 9 (7): e103275. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...9j3275F. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0103275. PMC 4116162. PMID 25075747.

External links edit