An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Friday, January 15, 2010, with a magnitude of 0.919. 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 (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 1.75 days before apogee (on January 17, 2010, at 1:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.

This was the longest annular solar eclipse of the millennium,NASA – Solar Eclipse Search Engine and the longest until December 23, 3043, with the length of maximum eclipse of 11 minutes, 7.8 seconds, and the longest duration of 11 minutes, 10.7 seconds. This is about 4 minutes longer than total solar eclipses could ever get. (The solar eclipse of January 4, 1992, was longer, at 11 minutes, 40.9 seconds, occurring in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.)Annular Solar Eclipse Occurs on January 15, 2010

It was seen as an annular eclipse within a narrow stretch of width across the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, the Maldives, South Kerala (India), South Tamil Nadu (India), Sri Lanka and parts of Bangladesh, Burma and China. The eclipse was visible as only a partial eclipse in much of Africa, Southeastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Visibility

The eclipse started in the Central African Republic near the border with Chad, traversed DR Congo, Uganda, Kenya, passed through the northern tip of Tanzania, southwestern Somalia and three islands of Seychelles (Bird, Denis and Aride), before it entered the Indian Ocean, where it reached its greatest visibility. It then passed through Maldives. The annular eclipse at Malé, the capital city of the country, started at 12:20:17 and ended at 12:31:02 local time (UTC+5), lasting for 10 minutes and 45 seconds (645 seconds). This was also the longest duration of any eclipse with an international airport in its track.NASA: Eclipses During 2010: Annular Solar Eclipse of January 15

At approximately 13:20 IST, the annular solar eclipse entered India at Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), the capital of Kerala and exited India at Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu.

The eclipse was viewable for 10 minutes in India. After Rameswaram, it entered Sri Lanka at Delft Island, exited at Jaffna in Sri Lanka, crossed the Bay of Bengal and re-entered India in Mizoram.

Thiruvananthapuram, which was the entry point of the eclipse in India, was equipped with telescopes and announced facilities for the public to view the eclipse.Facilities to view the solar eclipse in Trivandrum Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, situated in Trivandrum, analysed the atmospheric-ionospheric parameters during the eclipse.VSSC expects insights from eclipse Many scientists camped in the city to witness and study the eclipse.

At Rameswaram, the sunrise was not visible due to thick clouds, but it started getting clear at around 9am local time and became almost totally clear by the time the eclipse began. The sky had a thin layer of cirrus clouds till 2:30pm. Among the eclipse-watchers was Sky Watchers' Association of North Bengal (SWAN) from Siliguri at the foothills of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu Astronomical Association.

Dhanushkodi, which falls on the central line of the eclipse, was a good place to view the eclipse. The northernmost limit of shadow in India was Cuddalore, Neyveli, Erode, Kodaikanal, and Madurai. Other prime viewing locations in Tamil Nadu include Thoothukudi and Cape Comorin, 22 km north of the center line. The exact location of the line is between the NH end and the Dhanushkodi ruins. Dhanushkodi is about 2 km east of the central line. The degree difference is about 0.2 between the central line – with Kodandaramar Temple and Dhanushkodi ruins vice versa. Dhanushkodi is about 5 km from the Kodandaramar Temple.

After South Asia, the antumbra passed through the southern tip of Bangladesh, Myanmar and China before leaving the Earth.

Eclipse timing Places experiencing annular eclipse Solar Eclipse of January 15, 2010(Local Times)Country or territory City or placeStart of partial eclipseStart of annular eclipseMaximum eclipseEnd of annular eclipseEnd of partial eclipseDuration of annularity (min:s)Duration of eclipse (hr:min)Maximum coverage Bimbo 05:58:41 (sunrise) 06:15:48 06:17:05 06:18:20 07:39:13 2:32 1:41 82.39% Bangui 05:58:14 (sunrise) 06:15:12 06:17:10 06:19:07 07:39:30 3:55 1:41 82.39% Bozoum 06:09:58 (sunrise) 06:13:55 06:17:25 06:20:56 07:37:55 7:01 1:28 82.27% Bambari 05:51:56 (sunrise) 06:15:06 06:18:29 06:21:52 07:43:16 6:46 1:51 82.47% Kaga-Bandoro 05:59:50 (sunrise) 06:16:12 06:18:30 06:20:48 07:41:49 4:36 1:42 82.39% Moundou 06:14:44 (sunrise) 06:17:36 06:18:39 06:19:16 07:38:50 1:40 1:24 82.23% Entebbe 07:05:42 08:21:21 08:24:47 08:28:12 10:03:42 6:51 2:58 83.11% Kampala 07:05:46 08:21:11 08:25:00 08:28:48 10:04:11 7:37 2:58 83.11% Lira 07:06:23 08:23:54 08:26:06 08:28:15 10:06:10 4:21 3:00 83.10% Mbale 07:06:16 08:23:16 08:27:06 08:30:56 10:08:55 7:40 3:03 83.18% Kisumu 07:06:07 08:23:18 08:27:22 08:31:26 10:09:46 8:08 3:04 83.22% Nakuru 07:06:26 08:24:49 08:29:00 08:33:12 10:13:26 8:23 3:07 83.29% Nairobi 07:06:30 08:26:15 08:29:40 08:33:06 10:14:55 6:51 3:08 83.34% Garissa 07:07:52 08:30:12 08:34:17 08:38:23 10:24:28 8:11 3:17 83.48% Kismayo 07:09:38 08:36:55 08:39:32 08:42:08 10:34:32 5:13 3:25 83.63% Malé 10:15:22 12:20:25 12:25:47 12:31:08 14:23:19 10:43 4:08 84.55% Thiruvananthapuram 11:04:54 13:10:41 13:14:19 13:17:57 15:05:27 7:16 4:01 84.42% Madurai 11:11:43 13:18:24 13:20:02 13:21:41 15:08:58 3:17 3:57 84.36% Jaffna 11:17:42 13:19:35 13:24:40 13:29:43 15:11:20 10:08 3:54 84.33% Mayiladuthurai 11:19:19 13:23:34 13:26:04 13:28:33 15:12:29 4:59 3:53 84.29% Mandalay 13:25:27 15:04:39 15:08:27 15:12:15 16:34:00 7:36 3:09 83.45% Leshan 15:16:24 16:46:39 16:48:36 16:50:34 18:07:05 3:55 2:51 82.96% Chongqing 15:20:51 16:46:48 16:50:43 16:54:37 18:07:30 7:49 2:47 82.85% Zhengzhou 15:30:43 16:51:31 16:53:48 16:56:05 17:37:07 (sunset) 4:34 2:06 82.48% Jinan 15:33:49 16:53:28 16:54:18 16:55:09 17:19:07 (sunset) 1:41 1:45 82.33% Zibo 15:34:43 16:52:22 16:54:33 16:56:45 17:14:39 (sunset) 4:23 1:40 82.29% Xinyang 15:31:20 16:52:03 16:54:39 16:57:15 17:41:19 (sunset) 5:12 2:10 82.52% Huaibei 15:34:06 16:51:52 16:55:13 16:58:34 17:26:21 (sunset) 6:42 1:52 82.39% Xuzhou 15:34:26 16:51:49 16:55:15 16:58:42 17:24:05 (sunset) 6:53 1:50 82.37% Qingdao 15:36:52 16:51:50 16:55:26 16:59:02 17:07:09 (sunset) 7:12 1:30 82.22%References:

Places experiencing partial eclipse Solar Eclipse of January 15, 2010(Local Times)Country or territory City or placeStart of partial eclipseMaximum eclipseEnd of partial eclipseDuration of eclipse (hr:min)Maximum coverage Impfondo 05:55:57 (sunrise) 06:16:09 07:37:03 1:41 75.91% Berbérati 06:09:08 (sunrise) 06:16:29 07:35:58 1:27 80.70% Kisangani 06:25:42 (sunrise) 07:18:53 08:47:49 2:22 80.43% Bria 05:47:52 (sunrise) 06:19:27 07:45:41 1:58 82.29% Gitega 06:05:41 07:21:31 08:54:57 2:49 73.74% Kigali 06:05:29 07:21:54 08:56:24 2:54 78.33% Gulu 07:06:29 08:25:39 10:04:54 2:58 82.99% Juba 07:07:24 08:25:54 10:04:09 2:57 78.62% N'Djamena 06:24:26 (sunrise) 06:27:53 07:39:35 1:15 70.99% Yaoundé 06:25:36 (sunrise) 06:27:58 07:31:16 1:06 65.89% Dar es Salaam 07:07:54 08:31:52 10:17:13 3:09 71.68% Mombasa 07:07:27 08:33:04 10:21:24 3:14 80.44% Addis Ababa 07:14:32 08:38:54 10:26:13 3:12 60.55% Mogadishu 07:13:14 08:46:57 10:46:52 3:34 77.26% Victoria 08:22:14 10:09:08 12:17:21 3:55 83.79% Addu City 10:07:20 12:15:12 14:13:42 4:06 78.02% Kulhudhuffushi 10:18:18 12:28:57 14:26:05 4:08 83.61% Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte 11:12:13 13:19:41 15:07:28 3:55 83.19% New Delhi 11:53:06 13:39:08 15:11:04 3:18 41.49% Kolkata 12:07:17 13:57:36 15:29:08 3:22 75.99% Dhaka 12:44:05 14:31:36 16:01:00 3:17 77.09% Thimphu 12:47:52 14:32:13 15:59:55 3:12 66.39% Seoul 16:41:02 17:33:58 17:37:01 (sunset) 0:56 55.79% Yangon 13:20:28 15:04:45 16:30:49 3:10 74.11% Bangkok 14:00:25 15:37:26 16:58:08 2:58 57.28% Vientiane 14:08:17 15:43:18 17:02:46 2:54 64.73% Hanoi 14:16:53 15:48:06 17:05:05 2:48 67.35% Beijing 15:32:46 16:52:28 17:13:19 (sunset) 1:41 74.34% Hong Kong 15:32:46 16:54:12 18:00:06 (sunset) 2:27 57.32% Taipei 15:42:29 16:57:28 17:25:41 (sunset) 1:43 54.91%References:

Gallery

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.

+January 15, 2010 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 2010 January 15 at 04:06:33.7 UTC First Umbral External Contact 2010 January 15 at 05:15:01.1 UTC First Central Line 2010 January 15 at 05:18:40.9 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 2010 January 15 at 05:22:22.0 UTC First Penumbral Internal Contact 2010 January 15 at 06:51:13.0 UTC Greatest Duration 2010 January 15 at 06:55:35.8 UTC Greatest Eclipse 2010 January 15 at 07:07:39.2 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 2010 January 15 at 07:12:28.5 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 2010 January 15 at 07:21:27.5 UTC Last Penumbral Internal Contact 2010 January 15 at 07:23:43.9 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 2010 January 15 at 08:52:46.6 UTC Last Central Line 2010 January 15 at 08:56:28.9 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 2010 January 15 at 09:00:10.0 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 2010 January 15 at 10:08:41.4 UTC

+January 15, 2010 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 0.91903 Eclipse Obscuration 0.84462 Gamma 0.40016 Sun Right Ascension 19h47m51.0s Sun Declination -21°07'38.7" Sun Semi-Diameter 16'15.5" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9" Moon Right Ascension 19h47m25.3s Moon Declination -20°46'54.8" Moon Semi-Diameter 14'44.3" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°54'05.4" ΔT 66.0 s

Eclipse season

This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) 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.

+ Eclipse season of December 2009–January 2010 December 31Descending node (full moon) January 15Ascending node (new moon) Partial lunar eclipseLunar Saros 115 Annular solar eclipseSolar Saros 141

Related eclipses Eclipses in 2010 An annular solar eclipse on January 15. A partial lunar eclipse on June 26. A total solar eclipse on July 11. A total lunar eclipse on December 21.

Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 29, 2006 Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 3, 2013

Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 4, 2002 Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 26, 2017

Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of January 9, 2001 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of January 21, 2019

Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 16, 1999 Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 14, 2020

Solar Saros 141 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 4, 1992 Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 26, 2028

Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 4, 1981 Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 26, 2038

Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 17, 1923 Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 15, 2096

Solar eclipses of 2008–2011

Saros 141

Metonic series

Tritos series

Inex series

Notes

References NASA: Annular Solar Eclipse of 2010 January 15

NASA: Eclipses During 2010: Annular Solar Eclipse of January 15 NASA PDF graphic