Total Solar Eclipse:
July 11, 2010
Geographic Region:
southern S. America
[Total: southern Pacific
Ocean, Easter Island, Chile,
Argentina]
The second solar eclipse of
2010 occurs at the Moon's
descending node in central
Gemini just 45 arc-minutes
east of the 3rd magnitude
star Delta Geminorum. The
path of the Moon's umbral
shadow crosses the South
Pacific Ocean where it makes
no landfall except for
Mangaia (Cook Islands),
Easter Island (Isla de
Pascua) and several isolated
atolls. The path of totality
ends just after reaching
southern Chile and
Argentina. The Moon's
penumbral shadow produces a
partial eclipse visible from
a much larger region
covering the South Pacific
and southern South America.
The central eclipse path
begins in the South Pacific
about 700 km southeast of
Tonga at 18:15 UT. Traveling
northeast, the track misses
Rarotonga - the largest and
most populous of the Cook
Islands - by just 25 km. The
first landfall occurs at
Mangaia where the total
eclipse lasts 3 minutes 18
seconds with the Sun 14°
above the horizon.
The southern coast line of
French Polynesia's Tahiti
lies a tantalizing 20 km
north of the eclipse path
and experiences a deep 0.996
magnitude partial eclipse at
18:28 UT. Several cruises
are already scheduled to
intercept the umbral shadow
from Papeete.
Greatest eclipse occurs in
the South Pacific at
19:33:31 UT. At this
instant, the axis of the
Moon's shadow passes closest
to Earth's center. The
maximum duration of totality
is 5 minutes 20 seconds, the
Sun's altitude is 47°, and
the path width is 259 km.
Continuing across the vast
Pacific, the umbral shadow's
path encounters Easter
Island, one of the most
remote locations on Earth.
From the capital, Hanga Roa,
totality lasts 4 minutes 41
seconds with the Sun 40°
above the horizon (20:11
UT). The 3,800 inhabitants
of the isle are accustomed
to tourism, but the eclipse
is expected to bring record
numbers to this unique
destination.
The Moon's shadow sweeps
across another 3700 km of
open ocean before beginning
its final landfall along the
rocky shores of southern
Chile at 20:49 UT. The
shadow is now an elongated
ellipse and its increasing
ground velocity brings with
it a corresponding decrease
in the duration of totality.
It is mid-winter in the
Andes so clouds and high
mountain peaks threaten to
block views of the total
eclipse. Nevertheless some
hearty eclipse observers
will find Argentina's
tourist village of El
Calafate a prime destination
for the eclipse. The Sun's
altitude is only 1° during
the 2 minute 47 second total
phase, but the lake may
offer an adequate
line-of-site to the eclipse
hanging just above the
rugged Andes skyline.
The path ends in southern
Argentina when the umbra
slips off Earth's surface as
it returns to space (20:52
UT). Over the course of 2
2/3 hours, the umbra travels
along a track approximately
11,100 km long that covers
0.48% of Earth's surface
area. It will be 29 months
before the next total solar
eclipse occurs on 2012 Nov
13.
This is the 27th
eclipse of Saros 146. The
series began on 1541 Sep 19
with the first of an
unusually long series of 22
partial eclipses. The first
central eclipse was total
with a maximum duration of
4.1 minutes on 1938 May 29.
Subsequent total eclipses in
the series have seen an
increase in the duration of
totality. The 2010 eclipse
marks the longest totality
of Saros 146 because future
durations will decrease. The
series produces the first of
4 hybrid eclipses on 2172
Oct 17. The remaining 24
central eclipses of Saros
141 are all annular and span
the period from 2244 Dec 01
to 2659 Aug 10. The series
ends with a set of 13
partial eclipses the last of
which occurs on 2893 Dec 29.
Eclipse map and predictions
courtesy of Fred Espenak -
NASA/Goddard Space Flight
Center.
For more information on
solar and lunar eclipses,
see Fred Espenak's Eclipse
Home Page:
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/eclipse.html
|