Solar eclipse of March 9, 1997

Solar eclipse of March 9, 1997
Total eclipse from Chita, Russia
Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Total
Gamma	0.9183
Magnitude	1.042
Maximum eclipse
Duration	170 sec (2 m 50 s)
Coordinates
Max. width of band	356 km (221 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse	1:24:51
References
Saros	120 (60 of 71)
Catalog # (SE5000)	9501

A total solar eclipse occurred on March 9, 1997. 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.

Unusual gravity variations

This solar eclipse is somewhat special in the sense that some unexplained gravity anomalies of about 7 $\times$ 10⁻⁸ m/s² during the solar eclipse were observed. Attempts (e.g., Van Flandern–Yang hypothesis) to explain these anomalies have not been able to reach a definite conclusion.

Related eclipses

Solar eclipses 1997–2000

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.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1997 to 2000

Ascending node			Descending node
Saros	Map		Saros	Map
120 Chita, Russia	March 9, 1997 Total		125	September 2, 1997 Partial
130	February 26, 1998 Total		135	August 22, 1998 Annular
140	February 16, 1999 Annular		145 Totality Cornwall, United Kingdom	August 11, 1999 Total
150	February 5, 2000 Partial		155	July 31, 2000 Partial
Partial solar eclipses on July 1, 2000 and December 25, 2000 occur in the next lunar year eclipse set.

Saros 120

It is a part of Saros cycle 120, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 71 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on May 27, 933 AD, and reached an annular eclipse on August 11, 1059. It was a hybrid event for 3 dates: May 8, 1510, through May 29, 1546, and total eclipses from June 8, 1564, through March 30, 2033. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on July 7, 2195. The longest duration of totality was 2 minutes, 50 seconds on March 9, 1997.

Series members 55–65 occur between 1901 and 2100:

55	56	57
January 14, 1907	January 24, 1925	February 4, 1943
58	59	60
February 15, 1961	February 26, 1979	March 9, 1997
61	62	63
March 20, 2015	March 30, 2033	April 11, 2051
64	65
April 21, 2069	May 2, 2087

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).

Octon eclipses between May 21, 1993 and August 2, 2065

This octon series has 21 eclipse events between May 21, 1993 and August 2, 2065.

May 20-21	March 9	December 25-26	October 13-14	August 1-2
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	150px August 2, 2046
148	150	152	154	156
May 20, 2050	March 9, 2054	December 26, 2057	October 13, 2061	August 2, 2065
158
May 20, 2069

External links

• Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
  • Google interactive map
  • Besselian elements

Photos:

• In Russia
• http://www.izmiran.ru/info/personalia/molodensky/Eclips97.html
• Solar Corona Shape