Solar eclipse of January 4, 1992


An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit between Saturday, January 4 and Sunday, January 5, 1992, with a magnitude of 0.9179. 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 1.5 days before apogee, the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
The duration of annularity at maximum eclipse was 11 minutes, 40.9 seconds in the Pacific. It will have been the longest annular solar eclipse until January 2, 3062, but the solar eclipse of December 24, 1973 lasted longer.
Annularity was visible in the Federal States of Micronesia, Nauru, Kiribati, Baker Island, Palmyra Atoll, Kingman Reef, and southwestern California, including the southwestern part of Los Angeles. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Northeast Asia, Northern Australia, Oceania, Hawaii, and western North America.

Observations

In San Diego, the eclipse was described as "thrilling", with one observer saying it "looked like God was putting out a fire in the ocean". At other locations, it was partially obscured by clouds. Most attempts to view the eclipse from Los Angeles were unsuccessful due to cloud cover. An astronomer there said that, while around ten thousand people had gathered there to watch the event, it was "completely socked up" and "as if there was no eclipse at all".
While it was only a partial eclipse in Hawaii, people nonetheless gathered to watch it; a museum reported 3,000 people in attendance during the event, although it was noted that "it was hard to tell who were there for the eclipse and who just kind of stumbled upon it".

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 Contact1992 January 04 at 20:04:35.0 UTC
First Umbral External Contact1992 January 04 at 21:13:17.2 UTC
First Central Line1992 January 04 at 21:17:01.0 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact1992 January 04 at 21:20:46.2 UTC
First Penumbral Internal Contact1992 January 04 at 22:52:57.9 UTC
Greatest Duration1992 January 04 at 22:56:52.3 UTC
Greatest Eclipse1992 January 04 at 23:05:37.0 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction1992 January 04 at 23:10:33.0 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction1992 January 04 at 23:15:42.7 UTC
Last Penumbral Internal Contact1992 January 04 at 23:18:00.0 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact1992 January 05 at 00:50:20.4 UTC
Last Central Line1992 January 05 at 00:54:06.6 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact1992 January 05 at 00:57:51.5 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact1992 January 05 at 02:06:36.8 UTC

ParameterValue
Eclipse Magnitude0.91791
Eclipse Obscuration0.84256
Gamma0.40908
Sun Right Ascension19h00m10.0s
Sun Declination-22°43'13.0"
Sun Semi-Diameter16'15.9"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax08.9"
Moon Right Ascension18h59m50.7s
Moon Declination-22°21'37.6"
Moon Semi-Diameter14'43.6"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax0°54'02.8"
ΔT58.3 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.
December 21
Descending node
January 4
Ascending node
Partial lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 115		Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 141

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 1992

An annular solar eclipse on January 4.

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Solar Saros 141

Inex

Triad