Solar eclipse of March 9, 2016
Totality with Baily's beads from Balikpapan, Indonesia
Map
Type of eclipse
NatureTotal
Gamma0.2609
Magnitude1.045
Maximum eclipse
Duration249 s (4 min 9 s)
Coordinates10°06′N 148°48′E / 10.1°N 148.8°E / 10.1; 148.8
Max. width of band155 km (96 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse1:58:19
References
Saros130 (52 of 73)
Catalog # (SE5000)9543

A total solar eclipse took place at the Moon's descending node of the orbit on March 8–9, 2016.[1][2][3][4] If viewed from east of the International Date Line (for instance from Hawaii), the eclipse took place on March 8 (Tuesday) (local time) and elsewhere on March 9 (Wednesday). A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's and the apparent path of the Sun and Moon intersect, blocking all direct sunlight and turning daylight into darkness; the Sun appears to be black with a halo around it. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. The eclipse of March 8–9, 2016 had a magnitude of 1.0450 visible across an area of Pacific Ocean, which started in the Indian Ocean, and ended in the northern Pacific Ocean.[5]

It was the 52nd eclipse of the 130th Saros cycle, which began with a partial eclipse on August 20, 1059, and will conclude with a partial eclipse on October 25, 2394.

The eclipse was clearly visible in many parts of Indonesia, including Central Sulawesi and Ternate, but obscured by clouds and smokes in Palembang, the largest city on the path of totality.[6][7] The eclipse coincided with Nyepi, a public holiday in Indonesia and the end of the Balinese saka calendar. Because Nyepi is normally a day of silence, Muslims in Bali had to be given special dispensation to attend special prayer services during the eclipse.[8]

Path of the eclipse

On March 9, 2016, a large area of the Pacific, covering Indonesia, Borneo, but also large parts of Southeast Asia and Australia, witnessed a partial solar eclipse. It was total in multiple islands of Indonesia, three atolls of the Federated States of Micronesia (Eauripik, Woleai and Ifalik) and the central Pacific, starting at sunrise over Sumatra and ending at sunset north of Hawaii. In the Eastern Pacific Ocean, the totality exceeded a duration of more than 4 minutes.[9]

In most parts of India and Nepal, the sunrise was partially eclipsed, and much of East Asia witnessed more than 50% partial eclipse.[9][10]

The largest city along the path of totality was Palembang in southern Sumatra (423 km (263 mi) from Jakarta and 478 km (297 mi) from Singapore).[7]

In order to watch the total solar eclipse, Alaska Airlines adjusted the flight plan for Flight 870. The flight passed through the umbral shadow about 695 miles (1,118 km) north of Hawaii.[11]

Maps


Animation assembled from 13 images acquired by NASA's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera atop the DSCOVR satellite.

Path of the eclipse in Southeast Asia

Path of the eclipse in Indonesia

Gallery

Related eclipses

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros cycle

Tritos

Solar Saros 130

Inex

Triad

This solar eclipse is related to other eclipses including in the current set predictions between 2015 and 2018. It is also a part of long period Saros cycle 130, and a 19-year Metonic cycle.

Eclipses of 2016

Solar eclipses descending node 2015-2018

Solar eclipses 2015–18

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.[12]

Solar eclipse series sets from 2015 to 2018
Descending node   Ascending node
Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma
120

Longyearbyen, Svalbard 		2015 March 20

Total 		0.94536 125

Solar Dynamics Observatory
2015 September 13

Partial (south) 		−1.10039
130

Balikpapan, Indonesia 		2016 March 9

Total 		0.26092 135

L'Étang-Salé, Réunion 		2016 September 1

Annular 		−0.33301
140

Partial from Buenos Aires 		2017 February 26

Annular 		−0.45780 145

Casper, Wyoming 		2017 August 21

Total 		0.43671
150

Partial from Olivos, Buenos Aires 		2018 February 15

Partial (south) 		−1.21163 155

Partial from Huittinen, Finland 		2018 August 11

Partial (north) 		1.14758

Partial solar eclipses on July 13, 2018, and January 6, 2019, occur during the next semester series.

Saros 130

This eclipse is a part of Saros cycle 130, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 73 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on August 20, 1096. It contains total eclipses from April 5, 1475, through July 18, 2232. The series ends at member 73 as a partial eclipse on October 25, 2394. The longest duration of totality was 6 minutes, 41 seconds on July 11, 1619.

Saros 130 total eclipses between 1850 and 2100
43 44 45 46 47 48 49
1853/11/30 1871/12/12 1889/12/22 1908/1/3 1926/1/14 1944/1/25 1962/2/5
4m 28s 4m 23s 4m 18s 4m 14s 4m 11s 4m 9s 4m 8s
50 51 52 53 54 55 56
1980/2/16 1998/2/26 2016/3/9 2034/3/20 2052/3/30 2070/4/11 2088/4/21
4m 8s 4m 9s 4m 9s 4m 9s 4m 8s 4m 4s 3m 58s

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.[13]

Octon 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

Notes

  1. ^ St Fleur, Nicholas (March 11, 2016). "This Week's Other Solar Eclipse" – via NYTimes.com.
  2. ^ "Lucky Airline Passengers to See Total Solar Eclipse From Plane". ABC News.
  3. ^ Rao, Joe (March 10, 2016). "'Tornado of Darkness': We Saw the Total Solar Eclipse from a Plane (Video)". Space.com.
  4. ^ Marletta, Gianrigo. "Total solar eclipse sweeps across Indonesia". phys.org.
  5. ^ Espenak, Fred. "Google Maps and Solar Eclipse Paths: 2001 – 2020". Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA's GSFC. NASA. Retrieved April 11, 2009.
  6. ^ Graham, Chris (March 10, 2016). "Solar eclipse sweeps across Asia". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  7. ^ a b Graham Jones (November 15, 2015). "'Completely Off the Charts': Indonesia Prepares for March 9 Eclipse". Jakata Globe. Archived from the original on October 9, 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
  8. ^ "Do's and Don'ts on Nyepi: Religious Leaders in Bali Issue Guidelines for Nyepi Observance on March 9, 2016". Bali Discovery Tours. February 20, 2016. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
  9. ^ a b Ade Ashford (March 8, 2016). "Get ready for the 9 March total solar eclipse". Astronomy Now. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
  10. ^ PTI (March 9, 2016). "Part of total solar eclipse seen in India". Economic Times. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
  11. ^ Cosgrove, Cole (7 March 2016). "Chasing the shadow of the moon: To intercept eclipse, Alaska Airlines adjusts flight plan to delight astronomers". Alaska Airlines.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ Note S1: Eclipses & Predictions in Freeth, Tony (2014). "Eclipse Prediction on the Ancient Greek Astronomical Calculating Machine Known as the Antikythera Mechanism". PLOS ONE. 9 (7): e103275. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...9j3275F. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0103275. PMC 4116162. PMID 25075747.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Solar eclipse of 2016 March 9.

External links

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