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Solar eclipse of May 31, 2003
21st-century annular solar eclipse From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Saturday, May 31, 2003,[1] with a magnitude of 0.9384. 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. Occurring about 2.6 days after apogee (on May 28, 2003, at 14:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.[2]
Annularity was visible across central Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Jan Mayen and northern Scotland. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Eastern Europe, North Asia, West Asia, Middle East, Alaska, Greenland, and northwestern Canada.
People from around the world traveled to see the eclipse from the small portion of Britain from which it could be seen, with the Independent saying: "A timely gap in the clouds was all it took to make the arduous journey to the northernmost reaches of Scotland worthwhile". In the village of Durness, the eclipse was observed by Patrick Moore and Brian May.[3] [4] However, viewing parties in Orkney saw "just another grey morning in the far north of Scotland".[5][6] In India, hundreds of thousands of Hindus carried out a tradition of bathing in sacred rivers during the eclipse, with queues as long as 3 mi (4.8 km).[6] A partial eclipse was observed in large parts of Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, including Greece.[7]
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Images

Eclipse timing
Places experiencing annular eclipse
Places experiencing partial eclipse
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Gallery
- Chassepierre, Belgium
- From Belfort, France
- Wonneberg, Germany
- From Oria, Italy
- From Venice, Italy
- Willeskop, Netherlands
- From Oslo, Norway
- From Ringerike, Norway
- Grantown-on-Spey, Scotland
Eclipse details
Summarize
Perspective
Shown below are two tables displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. The first table outlines times at which the moon's penumbra or umbra attains the specific parameter, and the second table describes various other parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[8]
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Eclipse season
This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.
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Related eclipses
Eclipses in 2003
- A total lunar eclipse on May 16.
- An annular solar eclipse on May 31.
- A total lunar eclipse on November 9.
- A total solar eclipse on November 23.
Metonic
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 11, 1999
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 19, 2007
Tzolkinex
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 17, 1996
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 11, 2010
Half-Saros
- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 25, 1994
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of June 4, 2012
Tritos
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 30, 1992
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 29, 2014
Solar Saros 147
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 19, 1985
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 10, 2021
Inex
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 20, 1974
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 9, 2032
Triad
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 30, 1916
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 31, 2090
Solar eclipses of 2000–2003
This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse 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.[9]
The partial solar eclipses on February 5, 2000 and July 31, 2000 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set.
Saros 147
This eclipse is a part of Saros series 147, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 80 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on October 12, 1624. It contains annular eclipses from May 31, 2003 through July 31, 2706. There are no hybrid or total eclipses in this set. The series ends at member 80 as a partial eclipse on February 24, 3049. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.
The longest duration of annularity will be produced by member 38 at 9 minutes, 41 seconds on November 21, 2291. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.[10]
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). All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's ascending node.
Tritos series
This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
The partial solar eclipses on December 18, 2188 (part of Saros 164) and November 18, 2199 (part of Saros 165) are also a part of this series but are not included in the table below.
Inex series
This eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
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See also
Notes
References
External links
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