An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Wednesday, May 30, 1984, with a magnitude of 0.998. 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). The Moon's apparent diameter was near the average diameter because it occurred 6.6 days after apogee (on May 24, 1984, at 2:00 UTC) and 7.8 days before perigee (on June 7, 1984, at 12:20 UTC).
This was the first annular solar eclipse visible in the United States in 33 years.
Annularity was visible in Mexico, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia in the United States, the Azores Islands, Morocco and Algeria. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Hawaii, North America, Central America, the Caribbean, northern South America, Western Europe, and Northwest Africa.
Observations During this eclipse, the apex of the Moon's umbral cone was very close to the Earth's surface, and the magnitude was very large. The edges of the Moon and the Sun were very close to each other as seen from the Earth. Images of the chromosphere and Baily's beads on the lunar limb, which are usually only visible during a total solar eclipse, could also be taken. A team of the University of Florida took images, about half of which being those of the chromosphere and the other half the photosphere, in Greenville, South Carolina. Jay Pasachoff led a team from Williams College, Massachusetts to Picayune, Mississippi.
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.
+May 30, 1984 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1984 May 30 at 13:55:14.3 UTC First Umbral External Contact 1984 May 30 at 14:57:46.9 UTC First Central Line 1984 May 30 at 14:58:22.6 UTC Greatest Duration 1984 May 30 at 14:58:22.6 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 1984 May 30 at 14:58:58.3 UTC First Penumbral Internal Contact 1984 May 30 at 16:06:12.7 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1984 May 30 at 16:45:41.5 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1984 May 30 at 16:48:44.8 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1984 May 30 at 16:53:32.9 UTC Last Penumbral Internal Contact 1984 May 30 at 17:25:00.1 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 1984 May 30 at 18:32:21.8 UTC Last Central Line 1984 May 30 at 18:32:54.6 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 1984 May 30 at 18:33:27.3 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1984 May 30 at 19:35:58.9 UTC
+May 30, 1984 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 0.99801 Eclipse Obscuration 0.99602 Gamma 0.27552 Sun Right Ascension 04h31m02.1s Sun Declination +21°52'05.5" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'46.4" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.7" Moon Right Ascension 04h30m45.4s Moon Declination +22°07'14.4" Moon Semi-Diameter 15'30.3" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°56'54.1" ΔT 54.0 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. The first and last eclipse in this sequence is separated by one synodic month.
+ Eclipse season of May–June 1984 May 15Descending node (full moon) May 30Ascending node (new moon) June 13Descending node (full moon) Penumbral lunar eclipseLunar Saros 111 Annular solar eclipseSolar Saros 137 Penumbral lunar eclipseLunar Saros 149
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1984 A penumbral lunar eclipse on May 15. An annular solar eclipse on May 30. A penumbral lunar eclipse on June 13. A penumbral lunar eclipse on November 8. A total solar eclipse on November 22.
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 10, 1980 Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 18, 1988
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 18, 1977 Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 11, 1991
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 25, 1975 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of June 4, 1993
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 30, 1973 Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 29, 1995
Solar Saros 137 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 20, 1966 Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 10, 2002
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 20, 1955 Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 10, 2013
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 29, 1897 Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 31, 2071
Solar eclipses of 1982–1985
Saros 137
Metonic series
Tritos series
Inex series
Notes
References