Solar eclipse of February 16, 1999


An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Tuesday, February 16, 1999, with a magnitude of 0.9928. 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. The Moon's apparent diameter was near the average diameter because it occurred 7.9 days after apogee and 4.3 days before perigee.
Annularity was visible in the southern Indian Ocean including the Prince Edward Islands, South Africa, and Australia. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Southern Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and western Oceania.
The date of this eclipse was the exact day of Lunar New Year, celebrated in places including Southeast Asia, where a partial eclipse was visible.

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 Contact1999 February 16 at 03:53:02.3 UTC
First Umbral External Contact1999 February 16 at 04:57:41.2 UTC
First Central Line1999 February 16 at 04:58:28.2 UTC
Greatest Duration1999 February 16 at 04:58:28.2 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact1999 February 16 at 04:59:15.2 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction1999 February 16 at 06:21:25.3 UTC
Greatest Eclipse1999 February 16 at 06:34:38.1 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction1999 February 16 at 06:39:45.2 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact1999 February 16 at 08:10:12.8 UTC
Last Central Line1999 February 16 at 08:10:56.9 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact1999 February 16 at 08:11:40.9 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact1999 February 16 at 09:16:13.6 UTC

ParameterValue
Eclipse Magnitude0.99276
Eclipse Obscuration0.98557
Gamma−0.47260
Sun Right Ascension21h57m21.0s
Sun Declination-12°28'00.1"
Sun Semi-Diameter16'11.4"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax08.9"
Moon Right Ascension21h57m48.9s
Moon Declination-12°54'33.4"
Moon Semi-Diameter15'50.7"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax0°58'09.2"
ΔT63.5 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.
January 31
Ascending node
February 16
Descending node
Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 114		Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 140

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 1999

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Solar Saros 140

Inex

Triad