Solar eclipse of August 22, 1998


An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Saturday, August 22, 1998,
with a magnitude of 0.9734. 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. An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 5.2 days before apogee, the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
Annularity was visible in Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Southeast Asia, East Asia, Australia, and Oceania.

Observations

It is usually very dry in Malaysia in August. But due to the El Niño, it rained every day for 2 weeks before the eclipse. On the eclipse day, the Sun was seen going in and out the gaps of the clouds at first, and later the clouds dispersed near Kota Tinggi District, the observation site of NASA's Johnson Space Center. The whole annular phase was seen. The sky cleared up completely 40 minutes later.

Eclipse details

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.
EventTime
First penumbral external contact1998 August 21 at 23:11:19.7 UTC
First umbral external contact1998 August 22 at 00:15:19.1 UTC
First central line1998 August 22 at 00:16:42.3 UTC
First umbral internal contact1998 August 22 at 00:18:05.7 UTC
First penumbral internal contact1998 August 22 at 01:26:40.7 UTC
Greatest duration1998 August 22 at 01:59:47.4 UTC
Ecliptic conjunction1998 August 22 at 02:04:08.9 UTC
Greatest eclipse1998 August 22 at 02:07:10.5 UTC
Equatorial conjunction1998 August 22 at 02:15:05.3 UTC
Last penumbral internal contact1998 August 22 at 02:47:26.3 UTC
Last umbral internal contact1998 August 22 at 03:56:07.6 UTC
Last central line1998 August 22 at 03:57:33.7 UTC
Last umbral external contact1998 August 22 at 03:58:59.8 UTC
Last penumbral external contact1998 August 22 at 05:03:03.8 UTC

ParameterValue
Eclipse magnitude0.97336
Eclipse obscuration0.94742
Gamma−0.26441
Sun right ascension10h03m45.9s
Sun declination+11°53'26.2"
Sun semi-diameter15'48.7"
Sun equatorial horizontal parallax08.7"
Moon right ascension10h03m30.7s
Moon declination+11°39'14.3"
Moon semi-diameter15'09.7"
Moon equatorial horizontal parallax0°55'38.7"
ΔT63.3 s

Eclipse season

This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months 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. The first and last eclipse in this sequence is separated by one synodic month.
August 8
Descending node
August 22
Ascending node
September 6
Descending node
Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 109		Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 135		Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 147

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 1998

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Solar Saros 135

Inex

Triad