A partial solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Monday, December 25, 2000 (also known as the "Christmas 2000 Solar Eclipse"), with a magnitude of 0.7228. It was the first solar eclipse to fall on Christmas since 1954, and will be the last until 2038. 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 partial solar eclipse occurs in the polar regions of the Earth when the center of the Moon's shadow misses the Earth. This was also the last solar eclipse of the 20th century.
This was the first solar eclipse on Christmas Day since the annular solar eclipse of 1954.
This was the last of four partial solar eclipses in 2000, with the others occurring on February 5, July 1, and July 31.
A partial eclipse was visible for parts of North America and the Caribbean.
Images Animated path
Eclipse timing Places experiencing partial eclipse Solar Eclipse of December 25, 2000(Local Times)Country or territory City or placeStart of partial eclipseMaximum eclipseEnd of partial eclipseDuration of eclipse (hr:min)Maximum coverage San Francisco 07:33:09 08:20:50 09:12:55 1:40 9.03% Los Angeles 07:37:05 08:22:50 09:12:45 1:36 6.81% Mexico City 10:16:33 10:53:46 11:33:08 1:17 1.65% New Orleans 09:48:22 11:12:13 12:41:28 2:53 23.16% Guatemala City 10:45:38 11:16:17 11:47:41 1:02 0.70% Chicago 09:44:55 11:17:09 12:53:23 3:08 43.29% Belmopan 10:26:10 11:19:27 12:14:37 1:48 3.97% San Salvador 10:54:42 11:20:04 11:45:52 0:51 0.38% Nuuk 13:36:58 14:20:39 14:31:37 (sunset) 0:55 32.86% Tegucigalpa 10:48:58 11:24:53 12:01:26 1:12 1.09% Detroit 10:51:56 12:26:57 14:03:19 3:11 45.68% Havana 11:13:14 12:33:43 13:54:35 2:41 15.10% Toronto 10:58:17 12:34:30 14:09:54 3:12 48.17% George Town 11:27:16 12:37:47 13:47:58 2:21 9.07% Washington, D.C. 11:03:53 12:41:19 14:16:09 3:12 41.93% Paamiut 13:41:13 14:44:38 14:54:27 (sunset) 1:13 49.47% Montreal 11:09:11 12:45:39 14:18:20 3:09 50.57% Nassau 11:19:36 12:46:09 14:09:48 2:50 19.10% New York City 11:09:35 12:47:14 14:20:37 3:11 44.43% Kingston 11:43:04 12:50:09 13:54:59 2:12 7.44% Providenciales 11:42:15 13:00:21 14:13:21 2:31 12.88% Port-au-Prince 11:53:46 13:01:12 14:04:43 2:11 7.74% Cockburn Harbour 11:45:23 13:02:13 14:13:48 2:28 12.23% Cockburn Town 11:46:44 13:03:12 14:14:17 2:28 12.07% Santo Domingo 13:02:13 14:07:06 15:07:33 2:05 7.02% Hamilton 12:41:35 14:12:24 15:34:01 2:52 28.23% Saint-Pierre 13:45:18 15:14:36 16:35:23 2:50 45.85% San Juan 13:16:23 14:15:57 15:10:53 1:55 5.72% St. John's 13:21:38 14:48:23 16:06:35 2:45 44.77% Ponta Delgada 17:06:42 17:21:16 17:29:45 (sunset) 0:23 3.14%References:
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.
+December 25, 2000 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 2000 December 25 at 15:27:44.5 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 2000 December 25 at 17:22:41.2 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 2000 December 25 at 17:27:01.0 UTC Greatest Eclipse 2000 December 25 at 17:35:56.9 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 2000 December 25 at 19:44:16.3 UTC
+December 25, 2000 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 0.72279 Eclipse Obscuration 0.62922 Gamma 1.13669 Sun Right Ascension 18h18m29.8s Sun Declination -23°22'12.5" Sun Semi-Diameter 16'15.7" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9" Moon Right Ascension 18h18m47.5s Moon Declination -22°20'41.9" Moon Semi-Diameter 14'49.1" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°54'22.8" ΔT 64.1 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 2000–January 2001 December 25Descending node (new moon) January 9Ascending node (full moon) Partial solar eclipseSolar Saros 122 Total lunar eclipseLunar Saros 134
Related eclipses Eclipses in 2000 A total lunar eclipse on January 21. A partial solar eclipse on February 5. A partial solar eclipse on July 1. A total lunar eclipse on July 16. A partial solar eclipse on July 31. A partial solar eclipse on December 25.
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 9, 1997 Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 14, 2004
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 13, 1993 Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 7, 2008
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of December 21, 1991 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of December 31, 2009
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 26, 1990 Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 25, 2011
Solar Saros 122 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 15, 1982 Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 6, 2019
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 16, 1972 Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 5, 2029
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 25, 1914 Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 26, 2087
Solar eclipses of 2000–2003
Saros 122
Metonic series
Tritos series
Inex series
References
External links
On Christmas Day, 2000, alert sky watchers across North America can enjoy a partial solar eclipse. Second Millennium, Last Eclipse, May 1, 2001 APOD, from Cary, North Carolina