Solar eclipse of December 4, 2002
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21st-century total solar eclipse
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.[1]
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.
Gallery[edit]
Related eclipses[edit]
Eclipse season[edit]
This is the second eclipse this season.
First eclipse this season: 20 November 2002 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
Eclipses of 2002[edit]
Tzolkinex[edit]
Half-Saros[edit]
Tritos[edit]
Solar Saros 142[edit]
Inex[edit]
Solar eclipses 2000–2003[edit]
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.[2]
Partial solar eclipses on February 5, 2000 and July 31, 2000 occur in the previous lunar year set.
Saros 142[edit]
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. All eclipses in this series occurs at the Moon’s descending node.[3]
Series members 17–41 occur between 1901 and 2359 | ||
---|---|---|
17 | 18 | 19 |
October 10, 1912 |
October 21, 1930 |
November 1, 1948 |
20 | 21 | 22 |
November 12, 1966 |
November 22, 1984 |
December 4, 2002 |
23 | 24 | 25 |
December 14, 2020 |
December 26, 2038 |
January 5, 2057 |
26 | 27 | 28 |
January 16, 2075 |
January 27, 2093 |
February 8, 2111 |
29 | 30 | 31 |
February 18, 2129 |
March 2, 2147 |
March 12, 2165 |
32 | 33 | 34 |
March 23, 2183 |
April 4, 2201 |
April 15, 2219 |
35 | 36 | 37 |
April 25, 2237 |
May 7, 2255 |
May 17, 2273 |
38 | 39 | 40 |
May 28, 2291 |
June 9, 2309 |
June 20, 2327 |
41 | ||
June 30, 2345 |
Tritos series[edit]
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.
Series members between 1901 and 2100 | |||
---|---|---|---|
September 9, 1904 (Saros 133) |
August 10, 1915 (Saros 134) |
July 9, 1926 (Saros 135) |
|
June 8, 1937 (Saros 136) |
May 9, 1948 (Saros 137) |
April 8, 1959 (Saros 138) |
|
March 7, 1970 (Saros 139) |
February 4, 1981 (Saros 140) |
January 4, 1992 (Saros 141) |
|
December 4, 2002 (Saros 142) |
November 3, 2013 (Saros 143) |
October 2, 2024 (Saros 144) |
|
September 2, 2035 (Saros 145) |
August 2, 2046 (Saros 146) |
July 1, 2057 (Saros 147) |
|
May 31, 2068 (Saros 148) |
May 1, 2079 (Saros 149) |
March 31, 2090 (Saros 150) |
Metonic series[edit]
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 |
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 |
References[edit]
Photos:
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