The streak of a total solar eclipse on the map. EmapWin Solar Eclipse Program
1 Mar 2016 | 34 147
Total solar eclipses are quite rare. Although they occur almost annually (there are years without total solar eclipses at all), the Sun completely covered by the Moon is visible only in a narrow band, on average, about 200 kilometers wide.
Diagram of a solar eclipse
In the same place of observation, a total solar eclipse can be seen once every 200 - 300 years, or even less often. Not many inhabitants of the Earth have a chance to see such a phenomenon throughout their lives without leaving their city or even country. For example, in the European part of our country, the nearest total solar eclipse will occur only in the spring of 2061! But it also happens that the interval between neighboring total eclipses for one settlement is only a year and a half! One such pair of total eclipses is the 2037 and 2038 eclipses in Australia. By the way, Australia is a place where as many as five eclipses can be seen within a few years in the foreseeable future! For 15 years (from 2023 to 2038), the moon shadow will visit this small mainland 5 times, and the small island nation of New Zealand three times! It should be noted that in six regions of Australia during this period it will be possible to observe the full phase twice in the same place! Such a combination of total eclipses on a small continental area is rare. The people of Australia are very fortunate in this regard, and it remains only to advise amateur astronomers from other countries, if possible, to move to live in Australia within the next few years. A more realistic prospect would be to save money to travel to these eclipses.
Partial solar eclipses occur more often than total ones and are visible over a larger area. The maximum number of partial eclipses of the Sun in a year, under favorable circumstances, reaches five, but such years are very rare. Suffice it to say that the last time five solar eclipses took place was in 1935, and the next time a similar combination of partial eclipses will occur in 2206. Four partial eclipses a year are, of course, more frequent. The nearest such years are 2029 and 2047.
But back to this year's total solar eclipse, the total phase of which will be visible in the Earth's equatorial region. It should be noted that it is at the equator that the longest total eclipses of the Sun are visible, the maximum duration of which can reach 7 minutes!
But for this, three conditions must be met: an eclipse at the equator, the Moon at perigee, and the Sun at aphelion.
But in the eclipse of March 9, 2016, only the first two conditions will be met, and the Sun will be two months from perihelion and four months from aphelion (in early July). Therefore, the duration of the full phase will be only a little over 4 minutes. The lunar shadow during this eclipse will pass mainly over the water surface of two oceans: the Indian and the Pacific. By land, the moon's shadow will run only over the islands of Indonesia, where it will cover four major cities, the largest of which is Palembang with a population of one and a half million. Palankaraya, Balikpapan and Palu will alternately be covered by the moon's shadow some time after Palembang in the morning hours of March 9, 2016.
Map of the band of the total phase of the eclipse
Approximate appearance and course of the eclipse in the total phase band for the island of Sumatra
In Russia, this eclipse will be observed in the form of partial phases for one hour (from 2 to 3 hours UT). From major cities Vladivostok with a maximum phase of 0.038, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk - with a phase of 0.07, and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, where the maximum phase will be 0.097, fall into the band of the partial phase of the eclipse. In the easternmost settlement of the country - Uelen - the eclipse phase will reach 0.018. From the eclipse map for Russia, it can be seen that the maximum possible phase that can be observed from land falls on the Kuril Islands. In Severo-Kurilsk it will be possible to observe a partial eclipse with a phase of 0.124. The maximum phase of 0.17 can be seen from the Kuril Islands adjacent to Japan.
During the total phase of the solar eclipse, the corona becomes visible around the Sun - an amazing sight that cannot be captured by any photographs! And next to the eclipsed daylight, bright planets and stars appear. Mercury and Venus will be the brightest in the eclipse sky on March 9, 2016, being 10 degrees apart. On the opposite side of the darkened sky, Mars and Saturn will be visible high above the horizon, 15 degrees apart. The brightness of these two planets will be lower than that of Mercury and Venus, but it will not be difficult to find them. The main thing is to have time while the Sun is closed, because it is not easy to take your eyes off such a wonderful sight as a total eclipse! From the bright stars, Vega, Arcturus, Antares, Spica, Deneb, Altair, Alpha Centauri and some other stars will be visible ....
Map of the partial eclipse band for the eastern regions of Russia
Western sky during a total eclipse
The described total solar eclipse is the 52nd eclipse of 130 saros and repeats from the previous eclipse of this saros on February 26, 1998, which could be observed by residents of the northern countries of South America. The length of the Moon's shadow cast into space is about 373,320 kilometers, and on the day of the eclipse, the distance between the Earth and the Moon will be 357,244 kilometers. A simple calculation gives an excess of the visible diameter of the Moon against the solar one by 1.045 times - this is the maximum phase of the eclipse this year. The gamma eclipse parameter indicated on common map eclipse, is determined by the minimum distance of the axis of the lunar shadow cone to the center of the Earth, and on the day of the eclipse will be 1664 kilometers, which gives a gamma value of 0.2609.
The beginning of the eclipse for the Earth on universal time will take place at 23:19 on March 8, 2016, when the lunar penumbra touches the Earth's surface in the Indian Ocean near the coast of the island of Sumatra, and begins to move in an easterly direction. An animation of the eclipse's movement will show you this movement in detail. Gradually covering the countries of Southeast Asia, the lunar penumbra will create the appearance of a partial solar eclipse with different phases for the inhabitants of these countries. The penumbra of the moon will already have time to cover part of Australia and the Chinese provinces, when, finally, at 00 hours 16 minutes (already March 9) universal time, the shadow of the moon will enter the Earth's surface (again in the Indian Ocean west of the coast of Sumarta).
Reaching the western coast of Sumatra in a few minutes, the moon's shadow will provide the first view of a total solar eclipse in the morning sky for Indonesians and tourists relaxing on the shores of the Indian Ocean. Further, the moon shadow will cover Palembang, mentioned above. This will happen at 0 hours 21 minutes 44 seconds UTC (+ 7 hours local). The full phase will last here only 1 minute 52 seconds and will be 1.011 at a height of the Sun above the horizon of 18 degrees. A partial eclipse in Palembang will continue for another hour and a half, reminiscent of an unforgettable sky show. Information about the circumstances of the total eclipse in other settlements can be found in the table below.
Further, the shadow of the Moon will cross the large islands of Kalimantan, Sulawesi and a number of small islands, and at about 1 o'clock UT will begin its journey through the expanses of the Pacific Ocean, where there will no longer be large areas of land. The eclipse will reach its maximum at about two hours UTC in the Pacific Ocean with coordinates of 10 degrees north latitude and 149 degrees east longitude with a total phase bandwidth of 155 kilometers. The end of the total eclipse for the Earth will occur at 3 hours 38 minutes UT west of the coast of North America, when the moon's shadow will slip from the surface of the Earth. The partial eclipse for Earth will end at 4:35 UT.
But the inhabitants of North America will not have to be upset for a long time that they could not see this eclipse from their territory, because. in a year and a half there will be another total solar eclipse, the total phase band of which will cross the North American continent. This will happen on August 21, 2017, and our readers will definitely be told about this event!
We wish clear skies and successful observations to all who will observe the total solar eclipse this and next year!
A detailed map from NASA will give you a complete picture of the circumstances of the eclipse on March 9, 2016 at any point in the band of total and partial phases of the eclipse !!
Interactive eclipse map from NASA http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2016Mar09Tgoogle.html
Animation of the movement of the moon's shadow on the surface of the Earth with selected types of eclipse http://vimeo.com/141281338
An excellent overview of the upcoming eclipse, maps of its visibility, climate information, analysis of characteristic clouds and other useful information for observers.
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~jander/tot2016/tot2016.htm
Some theoretical information about solar eclipses http://www.astronet.ru/db/msg/1209254
For those who are going to travel to the area of the eclipse, and at the same time visit the equatorial latitudes (maybe for the first time in their lives) of Indonesia - the corresponding topic at the Astroforum http://www.astronomy.ru/forum/index.php/topic,102417.0. html
Useful information about observing total solar eclipses
http://www.astronet.ru/db/msg/1212431 ( total solar eclipse book
)
http://www.astronet.ru/db/msg/1211545 (eclipse 2006)
http://www.astronet.ru/db/msg/1228001 (eclipse 2008)
http://www.astronet.ru/db/msg/1235442 (eclipse 2009)
EmapWin Solar Eclipse Program
Among the numerous astronomical computer programs and modules built into the programs designed to calculate solar eclipses, the program of the Japanese Shinobu Takesako stands out. EmapWin. latest version 3.20 dated March 21, 2015. You can download the program (zip-archive) at http://www.kotenmon.com/cal/emapwin_eng.htm . The archive occupies about 50 megabytes, the unpacked file size is 102 megabytes. The program does not require installation. As you can see from the name of the program, it is designed for the Windows operating system. And by the way, it's completely free.
In this article we will tell you how to work with the program.
The first thing that a user notices when visiting the program website or after reading a brief text instruction for it is the gigantic time interval of the calculation. If in earlier versions of the program it was 6 thousand years (from 3000 BC to 3000 AD), now it has been expanded to 30 thousand years (from 13000 BC to 17000 AD). There is no practical meaning in such a range either for historians of astronomy and archaeoastronomers, or for any other applications. Only lovers of extreme calculations will be happy ("what was/will be in the sky a billion years ago/forward?"). The inclusion of DE431 ephemeris and corrected Bessel elements helped to expand the range. However, the program is extremely accurate. So, for example, the parameters of eclipses five thousand years ago and one thousand years from now practically coincide with NASA data (http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEcat5/SE2901-3000.html), and many experts argue that the program is much more accurate than the NASA tables for modern eclipses.
Let's run the program. Management is intuitive. Let's look at the main screen first. On the left in the red frame you can see the parameters of the next solar eclipse: its date, type, numbers of the Julian day and saros, delta T, as well as time and geographical coordinates beginning, maximum and end of the eclipse, including the width of the central band in km. On the right - a color relief map of the Earth with a strip and lines of the eclipse phases. On slow machines, rendering of the map may be slow. The center of the map is determined by the maximum point of the eclipse.
The blue left or right arrows on the top bar navigate to the previous or next eclipse. The folded sheet allows you to set the base year for calculating the eclipse and the size of the time interval in years. It should be noted that the program uses an astronomical account of years BC: 1 BC. corresponds to the zero year, 2 BC. corresponds to minus the first year, and so on. In addition, the program takes into account the Julian and Gregorian styles. After setting the initial year and interval, you should click Search (Search) and, having selected the desired eclipse, click Draw (Draw) to display the eclipse on the map. Don't forget to confirm your choice by clicking OK.
The plus and minus on the panel allow you to zoom in or out on the map by a factor of 1.41. But they work only after double-clicking the left mouse button on the selected place on Earth. Then the red frame disappears, and only the map itself is visible on the screen, more precisely, the selected fragment located in the center of the screen. A pink scale bar is visible at the bottom right. In the upper right corner with a single click of the left mouse button, the geographic coordinates of the "clicked" point appear. By clicking on the map, you can move around the surface of the Earth. Clicking the blue Earth icon on the panel returns us to the original map, where the entire eclipse zone fits.
The total eclipse icon on the panel shows the parameters of the eclipse at the point of maximum phase: geographic coordinates, start, maximum and end times, GMT and local time, azimuth and height of the Sun above the horizon, phase value, etc. The diagram shows the position of the Moon and the Sun at the three main moments of the eclipse in projection onto the sky in azimuth and height. If we press this icon at a time when the point of the terrain we have chosen is in the center of the screen, then the diagram will show the parameters and the type of eclipse at this particular point. You can also see these parameters and view by double-clicking the right mouse button in the desired location on the map. The blue square on the panel brings us back to the fragmentary view of the Earth.
If we double-click the right mouse button on a point on the line of a total or annular eclipse, go to the eclipse scheme, and then click on the panel icon with the constellation Orion on the green circle, then we will see a view of the sky at this point and at the specified time: position Sun, Moon, bright planets above the horizon, as well as some stars that may be visible during a total or annular eclipse.
The yellow ring on the panel shows the parameters of the lunar limb in the central band of the eclipse according to LRO data.
Pressing a question mark informs about the version of the program, the author and his e-mail.
Now let's move on to the text panel.
The first option is Set Date. In the window that appears, you can enter the year and month and get the closest eclipse in the following months as a result. Although the suggested range is limited to -3000 and 4000 years, any year out of the 30,000 possible years can be entered.
The second option is Display(D) (Show). Here you can set the required fragment of the Earth map from the proposed ones: the entire globe, Asia, Europe, or directly select a point on Earth with the desired coordinates and zoom value. West longitude and south latitude have negative numerical values. In addition, instead of a heavy relief map, you can choose a contour map (CIA MAP), where the borders of countries are drawn in pink, and the main river arteries are drawn in blue, and also apply the Mercator projection instead of a spherical image of our planet. There are windows for turning on the coordinate grid with a step of 10 degrees in latitude and 15 degrees in longitude with the selection of the Greenwich meridian and the equator, the speed of drawing eclipse lines, changing delta T in manual mode and, most interestingly, for outputting the eclipse file as a Google map to the root program folder (name - year and month of the eclipse, extension - klm). Then we can limit the longitude values of the central line and the step along it (the program calculates 13 points from the initial value of the longitude with the specified step) or select local eclipse conditions by specifying in the Local cell one of the preset cities in Japan or some historical city of the Ancient Peace (Babylon, Nineveh, Jerusalem, Memphis, etc.). But you can enter your own necessary coordinates, for example, for the city of Ivanovo, longitude 41, latitude 57 and height 126. By the way, add new settlements and watchpoints can also be done manually by carefully adding additions to the Location.new file in a text editor (Notepad or FAR), observing all punctuation and spaces. Then it will appear in the drop-down list of cities.
Now let's move on to the Search option. Using it, we can find all the types of eclipses we need by specifying all or selecting from the list, with a given phase (Mag.) for the required observation site. So, if we manually set the coordinates and height of Ivanov, the phase value is 0.9 and in the Date Set we specify the initial year 1000 month 1 (January), having previously checked the Site/Mag box, then the program will start showing all eclipses in Ivanov with a phase greater than the set one. With blue arrows we move forward or backward in time, starting from the eclipse of August 31, 1030, moving on to the eclipse of April 19, 1064, etc. In a similar way, you can check the dates of historical chronicles, which describe eclipses in certain cities, for example, in Rome or Babylon. And you can make your own, local "canon of eclipses" for many years into the past and future. By the way, at high magnification, cities marked with pink dots appear on the map. Historical settlements from the preset list are indicated by red dots. Central Russia, unlike, for example, Great Britain, is poor in cities, but Peter is marked twice and bears both names: Leningrad and St. Petersburg, and Nizhny Novgorod still called Gorky. But such trifles can be forgiven to the Japanese author.
The Display(V) option can be used to hide toolbars from the screen. Well, the Help option will again show us the version number and author, or close the program.
All options have Hotkeys, indicated on the panel in Latin letters in brackets.
So, the program is easy to use and can be used in astronomy and history lessons. It can and should be recommended for historical and astronomical research and for determining the parameters of eclipses for future observations. She will become your reliable assistant and friend.
And now, having studied the program in detail and having learned its capabilities, let's try to solve several problems.
1. In the famous medieval "Chronicle" Idatsiya, a solar eclipse is mentioned on Friday, the 14th calendar of August for the second year of the 299th Olympiad. It is necessary to find out the type of eclipse and the phase that the inhabitants of Rome could observe.
Solution. The counting of years for the Olympiads (four-year-olds) was conducted from 776 BC. The recalculation of years for the years of our era is carried out according to the formula A \u003d ((Ol-1) x4 + (t-1)) -775, where A is the desired year, Ol is the number of the Olympiad, t is the number of the year in the Olympiad. Therefore, A=((299-1)x4+(2-1))-775=418 AD The 14th Kalends of August is July 19th (Friday). We start the program, press the Set Date option and enter the year 418 and the month 7. Indeed, on this day, July 19, 418, a total solar eclipse occurred, the band of which passed through Southern Europe, Turkey, Iran and India. Double-click the left mouse button on central Italy, and then press the plus button on the panel several times until the city of Rome (Rome) appears on the map of Italy. We see that the eclipse streak passed through the capital of the empire. Double-click the right mouse button on the Rome point and in the eclipse visibility window for the selected geographic point, note that the eclipse had a phase of 1.013 (total) and occurred half an hour before local noon.
2. Determine whether the planet Jupiter was visible in Novgorod at the time of the famous total solar eclipse on May 1, 1185.
Solution. In the Set Date window, set the year 1185 and month 5. On the resulting map of the total eclipse, double-click the left mouse button in the region of Veliky Novgorod. Then we increase the map until (if necessary, shifting it) until the contours of Lake Ilmen and the point of Leningrad-Petersburg appear. Novgorod is located on the northern tip of Ilmen. We see that the eclipse band passed right through it. We turn to the eclipse scheme by double-clicking the right mouse button on the northern bank of the Ilmen. The eclipse was total with a phase of 1.021 and occurred at the fifth hour of the day. Clicking on the green circle icon with Orion in the panel will show us the view of the starry sky at that moment. It can be seen that in clear weather, Novgorodians could observe Jupiter high above the horizon in the southeastern part of the sky.
3. Determine when the next total eclipse will occur in the city of Moscow, starting from the current year.
Solution. After starting the program, click on the top Search panel and check the boxes in Set / Mag and Set. We enter the coordinates of Moscow (longitude 37.55 degrees, latitude 55.75 degrees - do not forget to put a dot instead of a decimal point) and a height of 150 m. through Moscow. It will happen on October 16, 2126. Enlarging the map until the pink dot of Moscow appears, we will determine from the scheme and parameters of the eclipse for the capital of Russia that its phase will be 1.024, it will be observed one hour before noon, and in the sky at that moment it will be possible to see Venus close to the Sun and barely distinguishable Saturn and Mars.
4. Find in manual mode, by simple enumeration, all total and annular eclipses for the city of Babylon for the 6th century BC.
Solution. Through the button list of eclipses (leaf with a folded corner) set the initial year -599. Press Search to search for all eclipses, select the upper eclipse of March 16 -599 with a single mouse click, press Draw and OK. By clicking on the globe, we rotate it to the map of Mesopotamia. Further, with the arrow to the right, we begin to move on to subsequent eclipses until the central eclipse band passes through Mesopotamia. On a hit, you can zoom in on the map until the Babylon red dot appears to check if the eclipse streak passed through the city. Thus, moving forward to -500, we will find only one eclipse, annular, visible in Babylon. It happened in the early morning of January 14, 559 (-558) BC. and had a phase of 0.974. Three more eclipses whose bands took place in the 6th century BC through Mesopotamia, in Babylon were observed only in a private, albeit very large, phase.
Sergei Belyakov (2016)
A solar eclipse is quite rare. And yet, unfortunately, they occur in places where it is not so easy to get to. Therefore, all those who really want to see this grandiose astronomical phenomenon must definitely know the exact time and place. For ourselves and for others, we have compiled a map and catalog of total solar eclipses from 2015 to 2035 in order to plan a trip in advance, so to speak, to the venue)))
The most interesting of the eclipses is precisely total solar eclipse. With it, for some time, you can see the stars and the solar corona during the day. With other types of solar eclipses, these phenomena can no longer be observed.
How to use the total solar eclipse chart
- This map can be downloaded. You need to click on the map, and then save it to your computer as a regular picture.
- The black stripes on the map are traces of a total solar eclipse. It is in this place that the observer will see a total eclipse, in other places the eclipse will be partial.
- The red circle on the trace marks the place where the time of the solar eclipse will be the maximum.
How to use the catalog of total solar eclipses
- The catalog specifies the map data. In the column "places" the countries and regions of the total solar eclipse are accurately spelled out. For the maximum phase (red circle on the map), its exact time, coordinates and duration are indicated. There is also a shadow width in the table: well, it's more like that, for general development.
- In a word, all those who will observe a total solar eclipse in the place marked with a red circle on the map can consider that they have secured VIP seats for themselves. Well, the farther you are from these coordinates, the more mediocre your viewing places will be.
Catalog of total solar eclipses from 2015 to 2035
| the date | Place | Time maximum phases |
duration, sec |
Width shadows, km |
Coordinates |
| 20th of March 2015 |
Full: Faroe islands, Svalbard, North Atlantic, North Pole. Private: Greenland, Europe, Central Asia, Western Russia. |
09:46:47 | 167 | 463 | 64°24’0″ N 6°35’59” W |
| 9th of March 2016 |
Full: Indonesia, micronesia, Marshall Islands. Private: Southeast Asia, Korean Peninsula, Japan, Eastern Russia, Alaska, Australia, Hawaii, Pacific Ocean. |
01:58:19 | 249 | 155 | 10°5’59” N 148°48’0″ E |
| August 21 2017 |
Complete USA. Private: North America, Hawaii, Greenland, Iceland, British Isles, Portugal, Central America, caribbean, northern South America, Chukchi Peninsula. |
18:26:40 | 160 | 115 | 37°0’00” N 87°42’00” W |
| July 2 2019 |
Full: Argentina, Chile, Tuamotu. Private: South America, Easter Island, Galapagos Islands, south Center. America, Polynesia. |
19:24:08 | 273 | 201 | 17°23’59"S 109°0’0″ W |
| December 14 2020 |
Full: Chile, Argentina, Kiribati, Polynesia. Private: South America, southwest Africa, Antarctic Peninsula, Ellsworth Land, Land of Queen Maud. |
16:14:39 | 130 | 90 | 40°17’59"S 67°54’0″ W |
| December 4 2021 |
Full: Antarctica. Private: South Africa, south Atlantic. |
07:34:38 | 114 | 419 | 76°47’59"S 46°12’0″ W |
| April 8 2024 |
Full: Mexico, USA, Canada. Private: North America, Central America. |
18:18:29 | 268 | 198 | 25°18’0″ N 104°5’59” W |
| 12th of August 2026 |
Full: Arctic, Greenland, Iceland, Spain. Private: North America, West Africa, Europe. |
17:47:06 | 138 | 294 | 65°12’0″ N 25°11’59” W |
| August 2 2027 |
Full: Morocco, Spain, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Somalia. Private: Africa, Europe, Middle East, Western Asia, South Asia. |
10:07:50 | 383 | 258 | 25°30’0″ N 33°12’0″ E |
| July 22 2028 |
Full: Australia, New Zealand. Private: Southeast Asia, Indian Ocean. |
02:56:40 | 310 | 230 | 15°35’59"S 126°42’0″ E |
| November 25 2030 |
Full: Botswana, South Africa, Australia. Private: South Africa, Indian Ocean, Australia, Antarctica. |
06:51:37 | 224 | 169 | 43°36’0″ S 71°12’0″ E |
| March 30 2033 |
Full: Eastern Russia, Alaska. Private: North America. |
18:02:36 | 157 | 781 | 71°17’59” N 155°48’0″ W |
| 20th of March 2034 |
Complete: Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China. Private: Africa, Europe, Western Asia. > |
10:18:45 | 249 | 159 | 16°6’0″ N 22°11’59” E |
| September 2 2035 |
Full: China, Korean Peninsula, Japan, Pacific Ocean. Private: East Asia, Pacific Ocean. |
01:56:46 | 174 | 116 | 29°6’0″ N 158°0’0″ E |
In astronomical reference books and on special sites you can find information on the circumstances of solar eclipses - current and future. Often such information is accompanied by maps like this one.
A typical map with the circumstances of a solar eclipse (shown on the example of a solar eclipse on March 20, 2015). Source: F. Espenak/MrEclipse.com
Many beginners do not know how to read such cards, which means multi-colored curves and inscriptions on the sides. Moreover, the accompanying text on them is usually given on English language(there is one source of such maps). In fact, these diagrams contain almost exhaustive information about the eclipse, and for an amateur astronomer, often redundant. Nevertheless, it is very useful to understand such maps. Let's look at the image below.
Solar eclipse map with explanations. Numerical designations are explained in the text. Picture: F. ESpenak/Big Universe
First of all, the type of eclipse is indicated on the map. Total- means complete , i.e. such an eclipse when the Moon completely covers the Sun at least in one part of the world. Partial - private when the Moon does not completely cover the Sun and only the penumbra of the satellite passes over the surface of the Earth. Annular - annular eclipse , which occurs when the Moon, although it completely covers the Sun, but the apparent size of the satellite on this date is less than the apparent size of the Sun, and a dazzling ring of sunlight appears around the Moon. These eclipses occur when the Moon is near its apogee, the farthest point in its orbit from Earth. Finally, the term hybrid means hybrid eclipse when an eclipse is observed in some area as complete, and in the other as annular.
Next is the number of Saros and the node of the lunar orbit in which the eclipse occurs. The ascending node is denoted by the letter A(ascending), descending - by letter D(descending).
At the top right, the date and time of the onset of the largest phase of the eclipse ( TDT- terrestrial dynamic time). Since dynamic time, although slightly, differs from Universal Time, the correction delta T indicated at the bottom left of such cards. Universal time is equal to dynamic minus ΔТ ( UT1 = TD - ∆T). In this picture ΔT equals 70 seconds.
Parameter gamma is equal to the distance between the axis of the cone of the lunar shadow and the center of the globe, which is measured in fractions of the radius of the Earth. If the axis of the moon's shadow at the moment of maximum eclipse passes through the center of the globe, then gamma is equal to zero. If the edge barely touches, then gamma is equal to 1. It is clear that when gamma is greater than 1, the moon's shadow passes away from the globe, and the eclipse is partial.
Parameter alt.(altitude) at the bottom right indicates the height of the Sun above the horizon at the point of greatest phase.
Finally, the parameter Dur.(duration). This is the duration of the total phase for total and annular eclipses, or the duration of the maximum phase for private ones.
Now let's look at the numbers:
- Northern boundary of the penumbra of a partial eclipse
- The line on the globe where the eclipse ends at sunrise
- The line on the globe where the maximum phase of an eclipse is at sunrise
- The line on the globe where the eclipse begins at sunrise
- Southern boundary of penumbra (partial eclipse phase)
- Band of a total solar eclipse (or annular). Indicated in blue
- Phase lines 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75. For more detailed maps there can be more such isolines
- The line on the globe where the maximum phase of the eclipse is at sunset
- The line on the globe where the eclipse begins at sunset
- The subsolar point is the point on the globe where the Sun is at its zenith during an eclipse.
As you can see, there is nothing super complicated in solar eclipse charts. What will give you the ability to read solar eclipse maps? The main thing is that you will be able to independently determine the conditions of the eclipse in your city - will it be visible at all, if so, what will be the maximum phase of the eclipse.
