Solar eclipse of October 12, 1996

A partial solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Saturday, October 12, 1996,[1] with a magnitude of 0.7575. 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.

Solar eclipse of October 12, 1996
Map
Type of eclipse
NaturePartial
Gamma1.1227
Magnitude0.7575
Maximum eclipse
Coordinates71°42′N 32°06′E / 71.7°N 32.1°E / 71.7; 32.1
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse14:03:04
References
Saros153 (8 of 70)
Catalog # (SE5000)9500

A partial eclipse was visible for parts of eastern Canada, Greenland, Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

Images

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A child viewing solar eclipse with smoked glass in western Poland
Animation

Eclipse details

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Shown below are two tables displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. The first table outlines times at which the moon's penumbra or umbra attains the specific parameter, and the second table describes various other parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[2]

October 12, 1996 Solar Eclipse Times
Event Time (UTC)
First Penumbral External Contact 1996 October 12 at 12:00:31.3 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction 1996 October 12 at 13:24:53.1 UTC
Greatest Eclipse 1996 October 12 at 14:03:04.1 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction 1996 October 12 at 14:15:28.3 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact 1996 October 12 at 16:05:49.4 UTC
October 12, 1996 Solar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter Value
Eclipse Magnitude 0.75753
Eclipse Obscuration 0.68285
Gamma 1.12265
Sun Right Ascension 13h12m04.5s
Sun Declination -07°38'15.5"
Sun Semi-Diameter 16'01.7"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.8"
Moon Right Ascension 13h13m17.1s
Moon Declination -06°38'00.7"
Moon Semi-Diameter 15'18.1"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°56'09.5"
ΔT 62.1 s

Eclipse season

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This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.

Eclipse season of September–October 1996
September 27
Descending node (full moon)
October 12
Ascending node (new moon)
   
Total lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 127
Partial solar eclipse
Solar Saros 153
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Eclipses in 1996

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Metonic

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Tzolkinex

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Half-Saros

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Tritos

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Solar Saros 153

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Inex

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Triad

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Solar eclipses of 1993–1996

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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.[3]

Solar eclipse series sets from 1993 to 1996
Descending node   Ascending node
Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma
118 May 21, 1993
 
Partial
1.1372 123 November 13, 1993
 
Partial
−1.0411
128
 
Partial in Bismarck, ND, USA
May 10, 1994
 
Annular
0.4077 133
 
Totality in Bolivia
November 3, 1994
 
Total
−0.3522
138 April 29, 1995
 
Annular
−0.3382 143
 
Totality in Dundlod, India
October 24, 1995
 
Total
0.3518
148 April 17, 1996
 
Partial
−1.058 153 October 12, 1996
 
Partial
1.1227

Saros 153

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This eclipse is a part of Saros series 153, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 70 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on July 28, 1870. It contains annular eclipses from December 17, 2104 through May 26, 2970. There are no hybrid or total eclipses in this set. The series ends at member 70 as a partial eclipse on August 22, 3114. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.

The longest duration of annularity will be produced by member 38 at 7 minutes, 1 seconds on September 5, 2537. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.[4]

Series members 1–19 occur between 1870 and 2200:
1 2 3
 
July 28, 1870
 
August 7, 1888
 
August 20, 1906
4 5 6
 
August 30, 1924
 
September 10, 1942
 
September 20, 1960
7 8 9
 
October 2, 1978
 
October 12, 1996
 
October 23, 2014
10 11 12
 
November 3, 2032
 
November 14, 2050
 
November 24, 2068
13 14 15
 
December 6, 2086
 
December 17, 2104
 
December 28, 2122
16 17 18
 
January 8, 2141
 
January 19, 2159
 
January 29, 2177
19
 
February 10, 2195

Metonic series

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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 ascending node.

22 eclipse events between December 24, 1916 and July 31, 2000
December 24–25 October 12 July 31–August 1 May 19–20 March 7
111 113 115 117 119
 
December 24, 1916
 
July 31, 1924
 
May 19, 1928
 
March 7, 1932
121 123 125 127 129
 
December 25, 1935
 
October 12, 1939
 
August 1, 1943
 
May 20, 1947
 
March 7, 1951
131 133 135 137 139
 
December 25, 1954
 
October 12, 1958
 
July 31, 1962
 
May 20, 1966
 
March 7, 1970
141 143 145 147 149
 
December 24, 1973
 
October 12, 1977
 
July 31, 1981
 
May 19, 1985
 
March 7, 1989
151 153 155
 
December 24, 1992
 
October 12, 1996
 
July 31, 2000

Tritos series

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This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

The partial solar eclipse on November 4, 2116 (part of Saros 164) is also a part of this series but is not included in the table below.

Series members between 1801 and 2029
 
March 24, 1811
(Saros 136)
 
February 21, 1822
(Saros 137)
 
January 20, 1833
(Saros 138)
 
December 21, 1843
(Saros 139)
 
November 20, 1854
(Saros 140)
 
October 19, 1865
(Saros 141)
 
September 17, 1876
(Saros 142)
 
August 19, 1887
(Saros 143)
 
July 18, 1898
(Saros 144)
 
June 17, 1909
(Saros 145)
 
May 18, 1920
(Saros 146)
 
April 18, 1931
(Saros 147)
 
March 16, 1942
(Saros 148)
 
February 14, 1953
(Saros 149)
 
January 14, 1964
(Saros 150)
 
December 13, 1974
(Saros 151)
 
November 12, 1985
(Saros 152)
 
October 12, 1996
(Saros 153)
 
September 11, 2007
(Saros 154)
 
August 11, 2018
(Saros 155)
 
July 11, 2029
(Saros 156)

Inex series

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This eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

Series members between 1801 and 2200
 
February 11, 1823
(Saros 147)
 
January 21, 1852
(Saros 148)
 
December 31, 1880
(Saros 149)
 
December 12, 1909
(Saros 150)
 
November 21, 1938
(Saros 151)
 
November 2, 1967
(Saros 152)
 
October 12, 1996
(Saros 153)
 
September 21, 2025
(Saros 154)
 
September 2, 2054
(Saros 155)
 
August 13, 2083
(Saros 156)
 
July 23, 2112
(Saros 157)
 
July 3, 2141
(Saros 158)
 
June 14, 2170
(Saros 159)
 
May 24, 2199
(Saros 160)

References

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  1. ^ "October 12, 1996 Partial Solar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Partial Solar Eclipse of 1996 Oct 12". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  3. ^ van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  4. ^ "NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 153". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.