Solar eclipse of September 23, 1987

Solar eclipse of September 23, 1987
Solar eclipse of September 23, 1987
	Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Annular
Gamma	0.2787
Magnitude	0.9634
Maximum eclipse
Duration	229 sec (3 m 49 s)
Coordinates	14°18′N 138°24′E / 14.3°N 138.4°E
Max. width of band	137 km (85 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse	3:12:22
References
Saros	134 (42 of 71)
Catalog # (SE5000)	9481

An annular solar eclipse occurred on September 23, 1987. 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 in the Soviet Union (today's Kazakhstan), China (including Shanghai), southwestern Mongolia, Okinawa Islands of Japan except Kume Island and the southwestern tip of Kerama Islands, the Federal States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Rotuma Islands of Fiji, Wallis Islands and West Samoa (the name changed to Samoa later). Occurring only 5 days after apogee (Apogee on September 18, 1987), the Moon's apparent diameter was relatively small.

Related eclipses[]

Eclipses of 1987[]

A hybrid solar eclipse on March 29.
A penumbral lunar eclipse on April 14.
An annular solar eclipse on September 23.
A penumbral lunar eclipse on October 7.

Solar eclipses of 1986–1989[]

There were 8 solar eclipses between April 9, 1986 and August 31, 1989.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1986–1989
Ascending node			Descending node
Saros	Map	Gamma	Saros	Map	Gamma
119	1986 April 9 Partial	-1.08215	124	1986 October 3 Hybrid	0.99305
129	1987 March 29 Hybrid	-0.30531	134	1987 September 23 Annular	0.27869
139	1988 March 18 Total	0.41879	144	1988 September 11 Annular	-0.46811
149	1989 March 7 Partial	1.09815	154	1989 August 31 Partial	-1.19279

Saros 134[]

It is a part of Saros cycle 134, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 71 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on June 22, 1248. It contains total eclipses from October 9, 1428 through December 24, 1554 and hybrid eclipses from January 3, 1573 through June 27, 1843, and annular eclipses from July 8, 1861 through May 21, 2384. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on August 6, 2510. The longest duration of totality was 1 minutes, 30 seconds on October 9, 1428. All eclipses in this series occurs at the Moon’s descending node.^[1]

Series members 32–48 occur between 1801 and 2100:
32	33	34
June 6, 1807	June 16, 1825	June 27, 1843
35	36	37
July 8, 1861	July 19, 1879	July 29, 1897
38	39	40
August 10, 1915	August 21, 1933	September 1, 1951
41	42	43
September 11, 1969	September 23, 1987	October 3, 2005
44	45	46
October 14, 2023	October 25, 2041	November 5, 2059
47	48
November 15, 2077	November 27, 2095

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.

21 eclipse events, progressing from north to south between July 11, 1953 and July 11, 2029
July 10–12	April 29–30	February 15–16	December 4–5	September 21–23
96	98	100	102	104
July 12, 1915	April 30, 1919	February 15, 1923	December 5, 1926	September 22, 1930
106	108	110	112	114
July 11, 1934	April 30, 1938	February 15, 1942	December 4, 1945	September 22, 1949
116	118	120	122	124
July 11, 1953	April 30, 1957	February 15, 1961	December 4, 1964	September 22, 1968
126	128	130	132	134
July 10, 1972	April 29, 1976	February 16, 1980	December 4, 1983	September 23, 1987
136	138	140	142	144
July 11, 1991	April 29, 1995	February 16, 1999	December 4, 2002	September 22, 2006
146	148	150	152	154
July 11, 2010	April 29, 2014	February 15, 2018	December 4, 2021	September 21, 2025
156	158	160	162	164
July 11, 2029	April 29, 2033	February 15, 2037	December 4, 2040	September 21, 2044