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Solar eclipse of December 4, 1983

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Solar eclipse of December 4, 1983
Map
Type of eclipse
NatureAnnular
Gamma0.4015
Magnitude0.9666
Maximum eclipse
Duration241 s (4 min 1 s)
Coordinates0°54′N 4°42′W / 0.9°N 4.7°W / 0.9; -4.7
Max. width of band131 km (81 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse12:31:15
References
Saros132 (44 of 71)
Catalog # (SE5000)9473

An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Sunday, December 4, 1983,[1] with a magnitude of 0.9666. 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 6.5 days before apogee (on December 11, 1983, at 12:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.[2]

Annularity was visible in Cape Verde, Annobón Island of Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the People's Republic of Congo (today's Republic of Congo), Zaire (today's Democratic Republic of Congo), northern Uganda, southern Sudan (today's South Sudan), northwestern Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of northern South America, Southern Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

Eclipse details

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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.[3]

December 4, 1983 Solar Eclipse Times
Event Time (UTC)
First Penumbral External Contact 1983 December 04 at 09:41:52.5 UTC
First Umbral External Contact 1983 December 04 at 10:46:44.4 UTC
First Central Line 1983 December 04 at 10:48:24.1 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact 1983 December 04 at 10:50:04.1 UTC
First Penumbral Internal Contact 1983 December 04 at 12:11:46.8 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction 1983 December 04 at 12:20:29.0 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction 1983 December 04 at 12:26:45.1 UTC
Greatest Eclipse 1983 December 04 at 12:31:15.1 UTC
Last Penumbral Internal Contact 1983 December 04 at 12:50:58.3 UTC
Greatest Duration 1983 December 04 at 12:51:39.2 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact 1983 December 04 at 14:12:31.0 UTC
Last Central Line 1983 December 04 at 14:14:13.9 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact 1983 December 04 at 14:15:56.6 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact 1983 December 04 at 15:20:48.9 UTC
December 4, 1983 Solar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter Value
Eclipse Magnitude 0.96656
Eclipse Obscuration 0.93425
Gamma 0.40150
Sun Right Ascension 16h41m03.6s
Sun Declination -22°12'07.8"
Sun Semi-Diameter 16'13.7"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9"
Moon Right Ascension 16h41m26.3s
Moon Declination -21°50'01.7"
Moon Semi-Diameter 15'27.6"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°56'44.4"
ΔT 53.7 s

Eclipse season

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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 1983
December 4
Descending node (new moon)
December 20
Ascending node (full moon)
Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 132
Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 144
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Eclipses in 1983

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Metonic

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Tzolkinex

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Half-Saros

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Tritos

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Solar Saros 132

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Inex

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Triad

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Solar eclipses of 1982–1985

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This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.[4]

The partial solar eclipses on January 25, 1982 and July 20, 1982 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1982 to 1985
Ascending node   Descending node
Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma
117 June 21, 1982

Partial
−1.2102 122 December 15, 1982

Partial
1.1293
127 June 11, 1983

Total
−0.4947 132 December 4, 1983

Annular
0.4015
137 May 30, 1984

Annular
0.2755 142

Partial in Gisborne,
New Zealand
November 22, 1984

Total
−0.3132
147 May 19, 1985

Partial
1.072 152 November 12, 1985

Total
−0.9795

Saros 132

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This eclipse is a part of Saros series 132, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on August 13, 1208. It contains annular eclipses from March 17, 1569 through March 12, 2146; hybrid eclipses on March 23, 2164 and April 3, 2182; and total eclipses from April 14, 2200 through June 19, 2308. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on September 25, 2470. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.

The longest duration of annularity was produced by member 25 at 6 minutes, 56 seconds on May 9, 1641, and the longest duration of totality will be produced by member 61 at 2 minutes, 14 seconds on June 8, 2290. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.[5]

Series members 34–56 occur between 1801 and 2200:
34 35 36

August 17, 1803

August 27, 1821

September 7, 1839
37 38 39

September 18, 1857

September 29, 1875

October 9, 1893
40 41 42

October 22, 1911

November 1, 1929

November 12, 1947
43 44 45

November 23, 1965

December 4, 1983

December 14, 2001
46 47 48

December 26, 2019

January 5, 2038

January 16, 2056
49 50 51

January 27, 2074

February 7, 2092

February 18, 2110
52 53 54

March 1, 2128

March 12, 2146

March 23, 2164
55 56

April 3, 2182

April 14, 2200

Metonic series

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The metonic series repeats eclipses every 19 years (6939.69 days), lasting about 5 cycles. Eclipses occur in nearly the same calendar date. In addition, the octon subseries repeats 1/5 of that or every 3.8 years (1387.94 days). All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's descending node.

21 eclipse events between July 11, 1953 and July 11, 2029
July 10–11 April 29–30 February 15–16 December 4 September 21–23
116 118 120 122 124

July 11, 1953

April 30, 1957

February 15, 1961

December 4, 1964

September 22, 1968
126 128 130 132 134

July 10, 1972

April 29, 1976

February 16, 1980

December 4, 1983

September 23, 1987
136 138 140 142 144

July 11, 1991

April 29, 1995

February 16, 1999

December 4, 2002

September 22, 2006
146 148 150 152 154

July 11, 2010

April 29, 2014

February 15, 2018

December 4, 2021

September 21, 2025
156

July 11, 2029

Tritos series

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This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

Series members between 1801 and 2200

April 14, 1809
(Saros 116)

March 14, 1820
(Saros 117)

February 12, 1831
(Saros 118)

January 11, 1842
(Saros 119)

December 11, 1852
(Saros 120)

November 11, 1863
(Saros 121)

October 10, 1874
(Saros 122)

September 8, 1885
(Saros 123)

August 9, 1896
(Saros 124)

July 10, 1907
(Saros 125)

June 8, 1918
(Saros 126)

May 9, 1929
(Saros 127)

April 7, 1940
(Saros 128)

March 7, 1951
(Saros 129)

February 5, 1962
(Saros 130)

January 4, 1973
(Saros 131)

December 4, 1983
(Saros 132)

November 3, 1994
(Saros 133)

October 3, 2005
(Saros 134)

September 1, 2016
(Saros 135)

August 2, 2027
(Saros 136)

July 2, 2038
(Saros 137)

May 31, 2049
(Saros 138)

April 30, 2060
(Saros 139)

March 31, 2071
(Saros 140)

February 27, 2082
(Saros 141)

January 27, 2093
(Saros 142)

December 29, 2103
(Saros 143)

November 27, 2114
(Saros 144)

October 26, 2125
(Saros 145)

September 26, 2136
(Saros 146)

August 26, 2147
(Saros 147)

July 25, 2158
(Saros 148)

June 25, 2169
(Saros 149)

May 24, 2180
(Saros 150)

April 23, 2191
(Saros 151)

Inex series

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This eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

Series members between 1801 and 2200

April 4, 1810
(Saros 126)

March 15, 1839
(Saros 127)

February 23, 1868
(Saros 128)

February 1, 1897
(Saros 129)

January 14, 1926
(Saros 130)

December 25, 1954
(Saros 131)

December 4, 1983
(Saros 132)

November 13, 2012
(Saros 133)

October 25, 2041
(Saros 134)

October 4, 2070
(Saros 135)

September 14, 2099
(Saros 136)

August 25, 2128
(Saros 137)

August 5, 2157
(Saros 138)

July 16, 2186
(Saros 139)

Notes

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  1. ^ "December 4, 1983 Annular Solar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  3. ^ "Annular Solar Eclipse of 1983 Dec 04". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  4. ^ van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  5. ^ "NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 132". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.

References

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