Solar eclipse of October 3, 1986


A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Friday, October 3, 1986, with a magnitude of 1. It was a hybrid event, with only a fraction of its path as total, and longer sections at the start and end as an annular eclipse. 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 Moon's apparent diameter was near the average diameter because it occurred 8.3 days after apogee and 3.7 days before perigee.
Totality occurred for a very short time in an area in the Atlantic Ocean, just east of the southern tip of Greenland. The path, on the surface of the Earth, was a narrow, tapered, horse-shoe, and visible only from a thin strip between Iceland and Greenland. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of North America, Central America, the Caribbean, northern South America, and Iceland. This eclipse was the last central eclipse of Solar Saros 124 and the only hybrid eclipse of that cycle.

Observations

The only witnesses of a few seconds of brief totality were the "Gang of Nine" eclipse chasers aboard a plane at an altitude of 40,000 feet.
The eclipse also resulted in litigation involving a Florida fourth grader whose eyes were allegedly damaged when he viewed the partial eclipse on school grounds. A lower court had dismissed the case on the grounds that the school had no duty to supervise the child after school hours. But the Florida Court of Appeals ruled in 1994 that the jury instruction on that question was improper, and remanded the case.

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 Contact1986 October 3 at 16:58:20.8 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction1986 October 3 at 18:07:22.2 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction1986 October 3 at 18:55:40.6 UTC
First Umbral External Contact1986 October 3 at 18:55:55.1 UTC
First Central Line1986 October 3 at 18:56:25.6 UTC
Greatest Duration1986 October 3 at 18:56:25.6 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact1986 October 3 at 18:56:57.6 UTC
Greatest Eclipse1986 October 3 at 19:06:15.0 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact1986 October 3 at 19:16:11.3 UTC
Last Central Line1986 October 3 at 19:16:40.7 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact1986 October 3 at 19:17:08.5 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact1986 October 3 at 21:14:27.6 UTC

ParameterValue
Eclipse Magnitude1.00002
Eclipse Obscuration1.00004
Gamma0.99305
Sun Right Ascension12h37m45.8s
Sun Declination-04°04'06.7"
Sun Semi-Diameter15'59.2"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax08.8"
Moon Right Ascension12h39m37.6s
Moon Declination-03°13'11.4"
Moon Semi-Diameter15'58.2"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax0°58'36.8"
ΔT55.2 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.
October 3
Descending node
October 17
Ascending node
Hybrid solar eclipse
Solar Saros 124		Total lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 136

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 1986

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Solar Saros 124

Inex

Triad