A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Sunday, March 29, 1987, with a magnitude of 1.0013. 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. The eclipse lasted a maximum of only 7.57 seconds. 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. The Moon's apparent diameter was larger because it occurred 4.7 days after perigee (on March 24, 1987, at 19:00 UTC) and 7.8 days before apogee (on April 6, 1987, at 7:40 UTC).
Totality of this eclipse was not visible on any land, while annularity was visible in southern Argentina, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Sudan (part of the path of annularity crossed today's South Sudan), Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somaliland. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of southern and central South America, Antarctica, Africa, and the Middle East.
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.
+March 29, 1987 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1987 March 29 at 10:03:29.8 UTC First Umbral External Contact 1987 March 29 at 11:05:14.4 UTC First Central Line 1987 March 29 at 11:05:40.9 UTC Greatest Duration 1987 March 29 at 11:05:40.9 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 1987 March 29 at 11:06:07.5 UTC First Penumbral Internal Contact 1987 March 29 at 12:14:03.2 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1987 March 29 at 12:31:19.9 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1987 March 29 at 12:46:28.0 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1987 March 29 at 12:49:47.3 UTC Last Penumbral Internal Contact 1987 March 29 at 13:25:55.5 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 1987 March 29 at 14:33:36.4 UTC Last Central Line 1987 March 29 at 14:34:05.6 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 1987 March 29 at 14:34:34.9 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1987 March 29 at 15:36:18.1 UTC
+March 29, 1987 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 1.00134 Eclipse Obscuration 1.00267 Gamma −0.30531 Sun Right Ascension 00h30m29.5s Sun Declination +03°17'32.1" Sun Semi-Diameter 16'01.1" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.8" Moon Right Ascension 00h31m03.7s Moon Declination +03°02'04.7" Moon Semi-Diameter 15'47.7" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°57'58.2" ΔT 55.4 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 March–April 1987 March 29Ascending node (new moon) April 14Descending node (full moon) Hybrid solar eclipseSolar Saros 129 Penumbral lunar eclipseLunar Saros 141
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1987 A hybrid solar eclipse on March 29. A penumbral lunar eclipse on April 14. An annular solar eclipse on September 23. A penumbral lunar eclipse on October 7.
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 11, 1983 Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 15, 1991
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 16, 1980 Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 10, 1994
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 24, 1978 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 4, 1996
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 29, 1976 Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 26, 1998
Solar Saros 129 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 18, 1969 Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 8, 2005
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 19, 1958 Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 9, 2016
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 28, 1900 Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 27, 2074
Solar eclipses of 1986–1989
Saros 129
Metonic series
Tritos series
Inex series
Notes
References