Understanding > Astronomical calculations
Total eclipse of the Sun on 26 January 2009
Presentation of the eclipse
Description of the eclipse
This eclipse is the seventh annular eclipse of the twenty-first century.
The central line starts in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean, passes between South Africa and Antarctica, then across the ocean Indian and ends in Indonesia and Borneo. The eclipse will be visible as a partial eclipse in the southern Africa, a part of Antarctica, in southeast Asia and at the end of the day in Australia and Papua and New Guinea.
Elements of the eclipse
To account for differences between the optical center and the center of mass of the Moon, positions of the Moon have been corrected of 0.50" in longitude and -0.25" in latitude.
Ephemeris used to calculate positions of the Sun and the Earth are the ephemeris INPOP06 (A. Fienga et al., 2008) developed at the IMCCE. For this calculation the value of TE-TU was exceptionally forced. For calculating the apparent positions, the theories we used were the following: the theory of precession UAI 2000 (P03), the theory of nutation 2000A (2003), and the formula for calculating the sidereal time UAI 2000.
Instant of the geocentric conjunction in right ascension : the 26 January 2009 at 7h 46m 22.781s UT.
Julian day : 2454857.8238747767
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Right ascension of the Sun : | 20h 35m 30.679s. |
| Declination of the Sun : | -18° 39' 2.76". |
| Right ascension of the Moon : | 20h 35m 30.679s. |
| Declination of the Moon : | -18° 55'23.68". |
| Equatorial parallax of the Sun : | 8.93". |
| Equatorial parallax of the Moon : | 54' 32.03". |
| True semi-diameter of the Sun : | 16' 14.62". |
| True semi-diameter of the Moon : | 14' 51.56". |
General circumstances of the eclipse
Magnitude : 0.9645
| Circumstances | UT | Longitude | Latitude |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginning of the general eclipse | the 26 at 4h56.6m | - 8°13.5' | -28°54.7' |
| Beginning of the annular eclipse | the 26 at 6h 2.7m | + 10°47.1' | -34°10.1' |
| Beginning of the central eclipse | the 26 at 6h 5.8m | + 11°45.9' | -34°33.4' |
| Central eclipse at true noon or midnight | the 26 at 7h46.4m | - 66°32.5' | -36°21.0' |
| Maximum of the eclipse | the 26 at 7h58.6m | - 70°14.3' | -34° 4.8' |
| End of the central eclipse | the 26 at 9h51.6m | -123°59.7' | + 3°42.0' |
| End of the annular eclipse | the 26 at 9h54.7m | -123° 5.2' | + 4° 5.8' |
| End of the general eclipse | the 26 at 11h 0.7m | -104°45.2' | + 9°28.4' |
General map
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Local map
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