Solar eclipse of January 15, 1991
| Solar eclipse of January 15, 1991 | |
|---|---|
 Map | |
| Type of eclipse | |
| Nature | Annular |
| Gamma | -0.2727 |
| Magnitude | 0.929 |
| Maximum eclipse | |
| Duration | 473 sec (7 m 53 s) |
| Coordinates | 36°24′S 170°24′W / 36.4°S 170.4°W |
| Max. width of band | 277 km (172 mi) |
| Times (UTC) | |
| Greatest eclipse | 23:53:51 |
| References | |
| Saros | 131 (49 of 70) |
| Catalog # (SE5000) | 9488 |
An annular solar eclipse occurred on January 15–16, 1991. 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. It was visible over Australia as a partial solar eclipse at sunrise on January 16.
Images
Related eclipses
Solar eclipses of 1990-1992
Each member 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.
| Ascending node | Descending node | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saros | Map | Saros | Map | |
| 121 | January 26, 1990 Annular |
126 | July 22, 1990 Total | |
| 131 | January 15, 1991 Annular |
136 | July 11, 1991 Total | |
| 141 | January 4, 1992 Annular |
146 | June 30, 1992 Total | |
| 151 | December 24, 1992 Partial |
|||
Saros 131
It is a part of Saros cycle 131, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 70 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on August 1, 1125. It contains total eclipses from March 27, 1522 through May 30, 1612 and hybrid eclipses from June 10, 1630 through July 24, 1702, and annular eclipses from August 4, 1720 through June 18, 2243. The series ends at member 70 as a partial eclipse on September 2, 2369. The longest duration of totality was only 58 seconds on May 30, 1612.[1]
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).
| June 10–11 | March 27–29 | January 15–16 | November 3 | August 21–22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 117 | 119 | 121 | 123 | 125 |
 June 10, 1964 |
 March 28, 1968 |
 January 16, 1972 |
 November 3, 1975 |
 August 22, 1979 |
| 127 | 129 | 131 | 133 | 135 |
 June 11, 1983 |
 March 29, 1987 |
January 15, 1991 |
 November 3, 1994 |
 August 22, 1998 |
| 137 | 139 | 141 | 143 | 145 |
 June 10, 2002 |
 March 29, 2006 |
 January 15, 2010 |
 November 3, 2013 |
 August 21, 2017 |
| 147 | 149 | 151 | 153 | 155 |
 June 10, 2021 |
 March 29, 2025 |
 January 14, 2029 |
 November 3, 2032 |
 August 21, 2036 |
Notes
References
- Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Solar eclipse of 1991 January 15. |