Solar eclipse of August 11, 1999

Solar eclipse of August 11, 1999
Totality from France
Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Total
Gamma	0.5062
Magnitude	1.0286
Maximum eclipse
Duration	143 s (2 min 23 s)
Location	Ocnele Mari, Vâlcea County, Romania
Coordinates	45.1°N 24.3°E / 45.1; 24.3
Max. width of band	112 km (70 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse	11:04:09
References
Saros	145 (21 of 77)
Catalog # (SE5000)	9506

A total solar eclipse occurred on 11 August 1999 with an eclipse magnitude of 1.0286. 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. A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon's apparent diameter is larger than the sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. The path of the moon's shadow began in the Atlantic Ocean and, before noon, was traversing the southern United Kingdom, northern France, Belgium, Luxembourg, southern Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, and northern FR Yugoslavia (Vojvodina). The eclipse's maximum was at 11:03 UTC at 45.1°N 24.3°E / 45.1; 24.3 in Romania (next to the town of Ocnele Mari near Râmnicu Vâlcea); and it continued across Bulgaria, the Black Sea, Turkey, the northeastern tip of Syria, northern Iraq, Iran, southern Pakistan and Srikakulam in India and ended in the Bay of Bengal.

It was the first total eclipse visible from Europe since 22 July 1990, and the first visible in the United Kingdom since 29 June 1927.

Observations

The eclipse as seen from France

Because of the high population densities in areas of the path, this was one of the most-viewed total solar eclipses in human history; although some areas in the path of totality (mainly in Western Europe) offered impaired visibility due to adverse weather conditions.

Some of the organized eclipse-watching parties along the path of totality set up video projectors on which people could watch the moon's shadow as it raced towards them. There was substantial coverage on international TV stations of the progress of the eclipse shadow. The moon's shadow was also observed from the Russian Mir space station; during the eclipse, video from Mir was broadcast live on television.

• The BBC concentrated its coverage efforts on the first landfall of the shadow across the western end of Cornwall (from St Ives to Lizard), which was packed with an extraordinary number of visitors, although Cornwall did not have nearly as many spectators as expected leading many organised events to host smaller audiences than anticipated. The veteran amateur astronomer, broadcaster and eclipse-watcher Patrick Moore was brought in to head a live programme, but the eclipse was clouded out. BBC One also produced a special version of their Balloon Idents for the event. The BBC did not have a presence at Goonhilly on the Lizard Peninsula, one of the few places in Cornwall where the clouds parted just in time for the total eclipse to be visible. There was extensive cloud in Perranporth which parted just in time, allowing the very large crowd that had filled the beach and hillsides to witness the event.
• Some of the best viewing conditions were to be had mid-Channel, where ferries were halted in calm conditions to obtain an excellent view. Hundreds of people who gathered on the island of Alderney also experienced the event.
• Also at sea, many of the Fastnet fleet contestants encountered totality crossing the Celtic Sea on their way to the Fastnet Rock.
• A gathering of several thousand people at the airport in Soissons, France, which was on the path of totality, were denied all but a few fleeting glimpses of the eclipse through the overcast sky. The clouds cleared completely just a few minutes after the eclipse.
• In contrast, the overcast sky in Amiens, France, where thousands had gathered, cleared only minutes before the eclipse began.
• Further inland, viewing conditions were also perfect at Vouziers, a French country town gridlocked by Belgian cars from day-visitors. The patchy cloud covering cleared a short time before the shadow arrived. Some photos from Vouziers were used on the subsequent BBC Sky at Night programme.
• The San Francisco Exploratorium featured a live webcast from a crowded town square in Amasya, Turkey.
• Doordarshan, the national TV channel in India, broadcast live coverage from Srikakulam, hosted by TV personality Mona Bhattacharya.
• A Bulgarian Air Force MiG-21 two-seater was used by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences to study the solar corona. The MiG-21, flying at 1600–1700 km/h (1000 to 1100 mph) (M=1,4-1,5) at an altitude of 13,000 metres (43,000'), was able to stay in the moon's umbra for 6 min. The photographer, an air force pilot, used two film cameras, both fitted with 200 mm lenses and infrared filters, and one Digital8 video camera.
• Hungary's most popular tourist destination, Lake Balaton and its surrounding area, fell into the path of the eclipse entirely, which made the area even more popular for the day. The motorway leading to the city was so crowded that many people had to watch the eclipse while caught in a traffic jam.
• One French and two British Concordes briefly followed the eclipse with tourists on board.
• The BBC was filming one of its episodes for the TV series Airport that day and, during the show, resident press officers Russell Clisby and Steve Meller took photographs of the eclipse at Heathrow Airport, as well as Aeroflot supervisor Jeremy Spake witnessing the eclipse on a special charter flight.
• RTS, the national public broadcaster of Serbia, urged people to remain inside, citing dangers to public health. This caused the streets of all Serbian cities, towns and villages to be entirely deserted during the eclipse, with many opting to watch it on TV instead.
• The BMJ, a month after the eclipse, reported only 14 cases of eye damage from improper viewing of the eclipse - a number lower than initially feared. In one of the most serious cases the patient had looked at the sun without eye protection for twenty minutes, but overall the public health campaign had succeeded.

Gallery

• 
  Salzburg, Austria
• 
  Partial from Paderborn, Germany
• 
  Partial from Oria, Italy
• 
  Partial from Haarlem, the Netherlands
• 
  Projection in Oslo, Norway
• 
  Lake Balaton, Hungary
• 
  Laon, France

Notable times and coordinates

Animated path

Special 2,000 lei note made for the 1999 total eclipse of the Sun, showing the eclipse path over the map of Romania

Event	Time (UTC)	Coordinates
1st penumbral contact with Earth's surface (P1)	08:26:17
1st external umbral contact (U1)	09:29:55	41°2.0′N 65°5.4′W
2nd internal umbral contact (U2)	09:30:53	43°0.1′N 57°55.8′W
Greatest eclipse	11:03:07	45°4.8′N 24°17.3′E
3rd internal umbral contact (U3)	12:35:33	19°39.7′N 80°20.4′E
4th external umbral contact (U4)	12:36:26	17°33.5′N 87°17.1′E
4th penumbral contact with Earth's surface (P4)	13:40:08

Related eclipses

Eclipses of 1999

• A penumbral lunar eclipse on January 31.
• An annular solar eclipse on February 16.
• A partial lunar eclipse on July 28.
• A total solar eclipse on August 11.

Solar eclipses 1997–2000

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.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1997 to 2000

Descending node				Ascending node
Saros	Map	Gamma		Saros	Map	Gamma
120 Chita, Russia	1997 March 09 Total	0.91830		125	1997 September 02 Partial (south)	−1.03521
130 Total eclipse near Guadeloupe	1998 February 26 Total	0.23909		135	1998 August 22 Annular	−0.26441
140	1999 February 16 Annular	−0.47260		145 Totality from France	1999 August 11 Total	0.50623
150	2000 February 05 Partial (south)	−1.22325		155	2000 July 31 Partial (north)	1.21664

Partial solar eclipses on July 1, 2000 and December 25, 2000 occur in the next lunar year eclipse set.

Saros 145

This solar eclipse is a part of Saros cycle 145, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, 8 hours, containing 77 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on January 4, 1639, and reached a first annular eclipse on June 6, 1891. It was a hybrid event on June 17, 1909, and total eclipses from June 29, 1927, through September 9, 2648. The series ends at member 77 as a partial eclipse on April 17, 3009. The longest eclipse will occur on June 25, 2522, with a maximum duration of totality of 7 minutes, 12 seconds. All eclipses in this series occurs at the Moon's ascending node.

Series members 10–32 occur between 1801 and 2359
10	11	12
April 13, 1801	April 24, 1819	May 4, 1837
13	14	15
May 16, 1855	May 26, 1873	June 6, 1891
16	17	18
June 17, 1909	June 29, 1927	July 9, 1945
19	20	21
July 20, 1963	July 31, 1981	August 11, 1999
22	23	24
August 21, 2017	September 2, 2035	September 12, 2053
25	26	27
September 23, 2071	October 4, 2089	October 16, 2107
28	29	30
October 26, 2125	November 7, 2143	November 17, 2161
31	32	33
November 28, 2179	December 9, 2197	December 21, 2215
34	35	36
December 31, 2233	January 12, 2252	January 22, 2270
37	38	39
February 2, 2288	February 14, 2306	February 25, 2324
40
March 8, 2342

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.

22 eclipse events between January 5, 1935 and August 11, 2018
January 4-5	October 23-24	August 10-12	May 30-31	March 18-19
111	113	115	117	119
January 5, 1935		August 12, 1942	May 30, 1946	March 18, 1950
121	123	125	127	129
January 5, 1954	October 23, 1957	August 11, 1961	May 30, 1965	March 18, 1969
131	133	135	137	139
January 4, 1973	October 23, 1976	August 10, 1980	May 30, 1984	March 18, 1988
141	143	145	147	149
January 4, 1992	October 24, 1995	August 11, 1999	May 31, 2003	March 19, 2007
151	153	155
January 4, 2011	October 23, 2014	August 11, 2018

Popular culture

• Sleeping Sun (1999), by the Finnish band Nightwish
• Les Terriens (2000), French documentary directed by Ariane Doublet
• Les Ensoleillés (2002), compilation of around twenty short stories based on the 1999 eclipse, written by Joël Egloff

See also

• List of solar eclipses visible from the United Kingdom

References

• Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
  • Google interactive map
  • Besselian elements

• Eclipse at hermit.org
• "Club Krile Magazine", Vol. 11, 1999, "Air Group 2000" Publishing, Sofia, Bulgaria
• The Total Solar Eclipse of 1999 August 11
• Russia expedition

Photos

• Turkey. Prof. Druckmüller's eclipse photography site
• Hungary. Prof. Druckmüller's eclipse photography site
• France. Prof. Druckmüller's eclipse photography site
• Bulgaria
• Solar Corona Shape
• Exploratorium Webcast: Solar Eclipse August 11, 1999
• KryssTal - Eclipse in Cornwall (UK)—totality not seen but scene photographed
• Solar eclipse of August 11, 1999 Romania, shown in Romanian Maximum Card Archived August 21, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
• Solar eclipse of August 11, 1999 Romania, shown in Romanian Maximum Card Archived August 21, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
• Images from Turkey by Crayford Manor House Astronomical Society Archived 2013-02-09 at archive.today
• A Crescent Sunrise, APOD 8/17/1999, partial eclipse from Quebec, Canada
• Sun Block, APOD 8/18/1999, totality from Hungary
• Light From The Dark Sun, APOD 8/19/1999, totality from Siofok, Hungary
• At The Sun's Edge, APOD 8/20/1999, totality near Bagdere, Turkey
• The Big Corona, APOD 4/8/2001, totality by Fred Espenak
• Total Eclipse of the Active Sun, APOD 6/20/2001, from Kecel, Hungary
• Diamond Ring in the Sun, APOD 6/21/2001, totality from eastern Turkey
• Looking Back at an Eclipsed Earth, APOD 9/26/2004, total eclipse shadow seen from Mir spacestation, chosen as APOD again on 6/10/2007
• Russian scientist observed eclipse