Solar eclipse of September 23, 1987
20th-century annular solar eclipse / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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An annular solar eclipse occurred on September 23, 1987. 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. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide. Annularity was visible in the Soviet Union (today's Kazakhstan), China (including Shanghai), southwestern Mongolia, Okinawa Islands of Japan except Kume Island and the southwestern tip of Kerama Islands, the Federal States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Rotuma Islands of Fiji, Wallis Islands and West Samoa (the name changed to Samoa later). Occurring only 5 days after apogee (Apogee on September 18, 1987), the Moon's apparent diameter was relatively small.
Solar eclipse of September 23, 1987 | |
---|---|
Type of eclipse | |
Nature | Annular |
Gamma | 0.2787 |
Magnitude | 0.9634 |
Maximum eclipse | |
Duration | 229 s (3 min 49 s) |
Coordinates | 14.3°N 138.4°E / 14.3; 138.4 |
Max. width of band | 137 km (85 mi) |
Times (UTC) | |
Greatest eclipse | 3:12:22 |
References | |
Saros | 134 (42 of 71) |
Catalog # (SE5000) | 9481 |