Solar eclipse of August 1, 2008

Solar eclipse of August 1, 2008
Solar eclipse of August 1, 2008
	Totality showing corona from Kumul, Xinjiang
	Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Total
Gamma	0.8307
Magnitude	1.0394
Maximum eclipse
Duration	147 sec (2 m 27 s)
Coordinates	65°42′N 72°18′E / 65.7°N 72.3°E
Max. width of band	237 km (147 mi)
Times (UTC)
(P1) Partial begin	04:06.8
(U1) Total begin	21:07.3
Greatest eclipse	10:22:12
(U4) Total end	21:28.3
(P4) Partial end	38:27.7
References
Saros	126 (47 of 72)
Catalog # (SE5000)	9526

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of the orbit on August 1, 2008. 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. It had a magnitude of 1.0394^[1] that was visible from a narrow corridor through northern Canada (Nunavut), Greenland, central Russia, eastern Kazakhstan, western Mongolia and China.^[2] Occurring north of the arctic circle, it belonged to the so-called midnight sun eclipses. The largest city in the path of the eclipse was Novosibirsk in Russia.^[3]

The moon's apparent diameter was 1 arcminute, 17.8 arcseconds (77.8 arcseconds) larger than the February 7, 2008 annular solar eclipse.

This was the first eclipse this season, with the second being the 16 August 2008 partial lunar eclipse.

The total eclipse lasted for 2 minutes, and covered 0.4% of the Earth's surface in a 10,200 km long path. It was the 47th eclipse of the 126th Saros cycle, which began with a partial eclipse on March 10, 1179 and will conclude with a partial eclipse on May 3, 2459.^[4]

A partial eclipse could be seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including northeastern North America and most of Europe and Asia.^[2]

It was described by observers as "special for its colours around the horizon. There were wonderful oranges and reds all around, the clouds lit up, some dark in silhouette, some golden, glowing yellowy-orange in the distance. You could see the shadow approaching against the clouds and then rushing away as it left."^[5]^{[citation needed]}

The moon's apparent diameter was larger because the eclipse was occurring only 58 hours, 56 minutes after perigee.^{[citation needed]}

Start of eclipse: Canada and Greenland[]

Animated path

The eclipse began in the far north of Canada in Nunavut at 09:21 UT, the zone of totality being 206 km wide, and lasting for 1 minute 30 seconds. The path of the eclipse then headed north-east, crossing over northern Greenland and reaching the northernmost latitude of 83° 47′ at 09:38 UT before dipping down into Russia.^[4]

The path of totality touched the northeast corner of Kvitøya, an uninhabited Norwegian island in the Svalbard archipelago, at 09:47 UT.^{[citation needed]}

Greatest eclipse: Russia[]

The eclipse reached the Russian mainland at 10:10 UT,^[4] with a path 232 km wide and a duration of 2 minutes 26 seconds.^{[citation needed]} The greatest eclipse occurred shortly after, at 10:21:07 UT at coordinates

65°39′N 72°18′E / 65.650°N 72.300°E (close to Nadym), when the path was 237 km wide, and the duration was 2 minutes 27 seconds. Cities in the path of the total eclipse included Megion, Nizhnevartovsk, Strezhevoy, Novosibirsk and Barnaul.^[4] Around 10,000 tourists were present in Novosibirsk, the largest city to experience the eclipse.^[3] For Gorno-Altaysk the eclipse was the second consecutive total solar eclipse after the March 2006 eclipse.^[6]

Partial from Dmitrov
Magnitogorsk at maximum phrase
Partial from Moscow, Russia
Totality from Akademgorodok (Novosibirsk)
Diamond ring effect in Novosibirsk
Eclipse progression in Novosibirsk. All times UTC (local time UTC+7)
Partial from Pskov, Russia
Partial from Saratov, Russia
Partial from Yekaterinburg, Russia

Conclusion: Mongolia and China[]

The path of the eclipse then moved south-east, crossing into Mongolia and just clipping Kazakhstan at around 10:58 UT. The path here was 252 km wide, but the duration was decreased to 2 minutes 10 seconds. The path then ran down the China-Mongolia border, ending in China at 11:18 UT, with an eclipse lasting 1 minute 27 seconds at sunset.^{[citation needed]} The total eclipse finished at 11:21 UT. The total eclipse passed over Altay City, Hami and Jiuquan.^[4] Around 10,000 people were gathered to watch the eclipse in Hami.^[3]

Totality in Altai City, Mongolia
Diamond ring effect in Kumul, Xinjiang
Totality in Jiuquan, China. Red prominences are visible on both sides of the sun
Totality in Jiuquan, China
Partial from Xi'an, China

Partial eclipse[]

A partial eclipse was seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including the north east coast of North America and most of Europe and Asia.^[2] In London, England, the partial eclipse began at 09:33 BST, with a maximum eclipse of 12% at 10:18 BST, before concluding at 11:05 BST. At Edinburgh the partial eclipse was 23.5% of the sun, whilst it was 36% in Lerwick in the Shetland Isles.^[7]

The eclipse over Russia, Norway, and the Arctic Ocean as seen from NASA's Terra satellite.
Partial from Graz, Austria
Partial from Minsk, Belarus
Partial from Jodrell Bank Observatory, England
Partial from Huittinen, Finland
Partial from Bergen, Norway
Warsaw, Poland at maximum phrase
Partial from Kumla, Sweden
Partial from Makiivka, Ukraine
Partial from Chennai, India

LTU 1111[]

German charter airline LTU, now trading as Air Berlin, operated a special flight from Düsseldorf to the North Pole to observe the eclipse. Flight number LT 1111 spent over 11 hours in the air, returning to base at 6pm after flying a planeload of eclipse chasers, scientists, journalists and TV crews to watch the celestial event. The route also included a low-level sightseeing tour of Svalbard before the eclipse and the magnetic pole afterwards.

More details about the Total Solar Eclipse of 1 August 2008.[]

Eclipse Magnitude: 1.03942

Eclipse Obscuration: 1.08040

Gamma: 0.83070

Greatest Eclipse: 2008 August 01 at 10:22:12.3 TD (10:21:06.7 UTC)

Sun right ascension: 8.8

Sun declination: 17.9

Sun diameter (arcseconds): 1891.0

Moon right ascension: 8.82

Moon declination: 18.6

Moon diameter (arcseconds): 1948.2

Delta T: 1 minute, 5.7 seconds

Saros series: 126th (47 of 72)

Related eclipses[]

Eclipses of 2008[]

Tzolkinex[]

Preceded: Solar eclipse of June 21, 2001
Followed: Solar eclipse of September 13, 2015

Half-Saros[]

Preceded: Lunar eclipse of July 28, 1999
Followed: Lunar eclipse of August 7, 2017

Tritos[]

Preceded: Solar eclipse of September 2, 1997
Followed: Solar eclipse of July 2, 2019

Solar Saros 126[]

Preceded: Solar eclipse of July 22, 1990
Followed: Solar eclipse of August 12, 2026

Inex[]

Preceded: Solar eclipse of August 22, 1979
Followed: Solar eclipse of July 13, 2037

Solar eclipses 2008–2011[]

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.^[8]

showSolar eclipse series sets from 2008–2011
Ascending node			Descending node
Saros	Map	Gamma	Saros	Map	Gamma
121 Partial from Christchurch, NZ	2008 February 07 Annular	-0.9570	126 Novosibirsk, Russia	2008 August 01 Total	0.8307
131 Partial from Riversdal	2009 January 26 Annular	-0.2819	136 Kurigram, Bangladesh	2009 July 22 Total	0.0698
141 Bangui, Central African Republic	2010 January 15 Annular	0.4002	146 Hao, French Polynesia	2010 July 11 Total	-0.6787
151 Partial from Vienna, Austria	2011 January 04 Partial (north)	1.0626	156	2011 July 01 Partial (south)	-1.4917
Partial solar eclipses on June 1, 2011, and November 25, 2011, occur on the next lunar year eclipse set.

Saros 126[]

It is a part of Saros cycle 126, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 72 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on March 10, 1179. It contains annular eclipses from June 4, 1323 through April 4, 1810, hybrid eclipses from April 14, 1828 through May 6, 1864 and total eclipses from May 17, 1882 through August 23, 2044. The series ends at member 72 as a partial eclipse on May 3, 2459. The longest duration of central eclipse (annular or total) was 6 minutes, 30 seconds of annularity on June 26, 1359. The longest duration of totality was 2 minutes, 36 seconds on July 10, 1972. All eclipses in this series occurs at the Moon’s descending node.

showSeries members 42–52 occur between 1901 and 2100
42	43	44
June 8, 1918	June 19, 1936	June 30, 1954
45	46	47
July 10, 1972	July 22, 1990	August 1, 2008
48	49	50
August 12, 2026	August 23, 2044	September 3, 2062
51	52
September 13, 2080	September 25, 2098

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 descending node.^[9]

showOcton 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