Solar eclipse of December 4, 2002

Solar eclipse of December 4, 2002
320px The diamond ring effect at the end of totality, taken near Woomera, South Australia
Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Total
Gamma	-0.302
Magnitude	1.0244
Maximum eclipse
Duration	124 sec (2 m 4 s)
Coordinates
Max. width of band	87 km (54 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse	7:32:16
References
Saros	142 (22 of 72)
Catalog # (SE5000)	9514

A total solar eclipse took place on December 4, 2002 with a magnitude of 1.0244. 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 was visible from a narrow corridor in southern Africa, the Indian Ocean and southern Australia. A partial eclipse was seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including most of Africa and Australia. During the sunset after the eclipse many observers in Australia saw numerous and unusual forms of a green flash.

In some parts of Angola it was the second total eclipse of the Sun within 18 months, following the Solar eclipse of June 21, 2001.

Related eclipses

Solar eclipses 2000-2003

Each member 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.

Note: Partial solar eclipses on February 5, 2000 and July 31, 2000 occur in the previous lunar year set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 2000–2003

Ascending node			Descending node
Saros	Map		Saros	Map
117	July 1, 2000 Partial (south)		122	December 25, 2000 Partial (north)
127 Totality from Zambia	June 21, 2001 Total		132 Partial from Minneapolis, MN	December 14, 2001 Annular
137 Partial Los Angeles, CA	June 10, 2002 Annular		142	December 4, 2002 Total
147 Partial from Belfort	May 31, 2003 Annular		152	November 23, 2003 Total

Saros 142

It is a part of Saros cycle 142, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 72 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on April 17, 1624. It contains one hybrid eclipse on July 14, 1768, and total eclipses from July 25, 1786 through October 29, 2543. The series ends at member 72 as a partial eclipse on June 5, 2904. The longest duration of totality will be 6 minutes, 34 seconds on May 28, 2291.

Series members 17-27 occur between 1901 and 2100:

17	18	19
October 10, 1912	October 21, 1930	November 1, 1948
20	21	22
150px November 12, 1966	November 22, 1984	December 4, 2002
23	24	25
December 14, 2020	December 26, 2038	January 5, 2057
26	27
January 16, 2075	January 27, 2093

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).

This series has 21 eclipse events between July 11, 1953 and July 11, 2029.

References

• Fred Espenak and Jay Anderson. "Total Solar Eclipse of 2002 December 4". NASA, November 2004.
• Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
  • Google interactive map
  • Besselian elements
• Google Map

Photos:

• Spaceweather.com: Dec. 4, 2002, Solar Eclipse Gallery and [1]
• Prof. Druckmüller's eclipse photography site. Australia
• Prof. Druckmüller's eclipse photography site. South Africa and Mozambique
• KryssTal - Eclipse from Botswana.
• Images from Australia by Crayford Manor House Astronomical Society
• Total Solar Eclipse of 4 December 2002 seen in EUMETSAT satellite imagery.
• Zimbabwe Solar Eclipse, APOD 12/6/2002, Corona from Zimbabwe-South Africa border
• The Crown of the Sun, APOD 12/13/2002, Corona of total eclipse from Musina, South Africa
• Shadow Cone of a Total Solar Eclipse, APOD 1/6/2003, totality from South Australia