Solar eclipse of August 22, 1998
PreviousSolar eclipse of February 26, 1998
NextSolar eclipse of February 16, 1999

An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Saturday, August 22, 1998,[1][2] [3] [4] with a magnitude of 0.9734. 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 5.2 days before apogee (on August 27, 1998, at 7:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.[5]

Annularity was visible in Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands (Bellona Island and Rennell Island) and Vanuatu. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Southeast Asia, East Asia, Australia, and Oceania.

Observations

It is usually very dry in Malaysia in August. But due to the El Niño, it rained every day for 2 weeks before the eclipse. On the eclipse day, the Sun was seen going in and out the gaps of the clouds at first, and later the clouds dispersed near Kota Tinggi District, the observation site of NASA's Johnson Space Center. The whole annular phase was seen. The sky cleared up completely 40 minutes later.[6]

Eclipse timing

Places experiencing annular eclipse

Solar eclipse of August 22, 1998
(local times)
Country or territoryCity 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
Malacca City07:10:3208:19:1308:20:3708:22:0109:44:302:482:3692.96%
Luganville12:37:3914:21:2114:22:2214:23:2315:50:222:023:1393.99%
References: [1]

Places experiencing partial eclipse

Solar eclipse of August 22, 1998
(local times)
Country or territoryCity or placeStart of partial eclipseMaximum eclipseEnd of partial eclipseDuration of eclipse (hr:min)Maximum coverage
Yangon05:50:14 (sunrise)06:46:4707:52:542:0339.84%
Bangkok06:14:2207:18:1308:32:272:1852.75%
Kuala Lumpur07:10:2008:19:5509:43:002:3391.65%
Phnom Penh06:12:2807:21:0608:42:182:3062.74%
Singapore07:10:5608:22:1509:48:012:3791.98%
Ho Chi Minh City06:12:0907:22:4008:46:352:3466.45%
Jakarta06:17:1107:29:2908:56:532:4064.67%
Bandar Seri Begawan07:13:4508:34:0210:12:192:5990.88%
Manila07:21:2008:40:5710:15:352:5455.56%
General Santos07:22:1908:53:0410:42:433:2086.15%
Davao City07:22:4408:53:2610:42:393:2082.48%
Dili07:37:3909:08:5010:57:443:2056.58%
Ngerulmud08:36:1610:16:2812:10:333:3475.53%
Colonia09:43:2111:24:2013:15:493:3264.88%
Darwin09:24:4811:00:5112:49:383:2548.14%
Port Moresby10:26:1112:22:5314:13:133:4779.59%
Cairns10:40:1712:29:2914:12:353:3254.61%
Honiara12:06:0913:59:4915:37:153:3189.39%
Brisbane11:26:3313:00:3614:25:232:5937.83%
Yaren13:23:0215:03:3016:29:203:0647.65%
Nouméa12:45:3114:25:3715:50:523:0574.62%
Port Vila12:43:4514:26:1015:52:233:0992.47%
Funafuti14:08:0815:35:4516:49:472:4251.80%
Auckland14:20:0415:37:2816:46:152:2641.58%
Suva14:09:3115:41:1716:58:442:4985.27%
Mata Utu14:20:3215:44:5016:56:282:3660.89%
Nuku'alofa15:23:5016:48:4618:01:192:3786.65%
Apia15:29:5916:49:1017:57:052:2756.99%
Alofi[a]15:32:4416:52:1918:00:502:2872.80%
Rarotonga[a]16:45:4317:57:0518:27:01 (sunset)1:4169.92%
References: [1]

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.[7]

August 22, 1998 solar eclipse times
EventTime (UTC)
First penumbral external contact1998 August 21 at 23:11:19.7 UTC
First umbral external contact1998 August 22 at 00:15:19.1 UTC
First central line1998 August 22 at 00:16:42.3 UTC
First umbral internal contact1998 August 22 at 00:18:05.7 UTC
First penumbral internal contact1998 August 22 at 01:26:40.7 UTC
Greatest duration1998 August 22 at 01:59:47.4 UTC
Ecliptic conjunction1998 August 22 at 02:04:08.9 UTC
Greatest eclipse1998 August 22 at 02:07:10.5 UTC
Equatorial conjunction1998 August 22 at 02:15:05.3 UTC
Last penumbral internal contact1998 August 22 at 02:47:26.3 UTC
Last umbral internal contact1998 August 22 at 03:56:07.6 UTC
Last central line1998 August 22 at 03:57:33.7 UTC
Last umbral external contact1998 August 22 at 03:58:59.8 UTC
Last penumbral external contact1998 August 22 at 05:03:03.8 UTC
August 22, 1998 solar eclipse parameters
ParameterValue
Eclipse magnitude0.97336
Eclipse obscuration0.94742
Gamma−0.26441
Sun right ascension10h03m45.9s
Sun declination+11°53'26.2"
Sun semi-diameter15'48.7"
Sun equatorial horizontal parallax08.7"
Moon right ascension10h03m30.7s
Moon declination+11°39'14.3"
Moon semi-diameter15'09.7"
Moon equatorial horizontal parallax0°55'38.7"
ΔT63.3 s

Eclipse season

See also: Eclipse cycle

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 August–September 1998
August 8
Descending node (full moon)
August 22
Ascending node (new moon)
September 6
Descending node (full moon)
Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 109		Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 135		Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 147

Eclipses in 1998

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Solar Saros 135

Inex

Triad

Notes

  1. ^ The times listed for this location occur on August 21, 1998, local time.

References

  1. ^ "August 21–22, 1998 Annular Solar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Clouds may put eclipse in shade". The Sydney Morning Herald. 1998-08-22. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-10-21. – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Saturday". Newsday (Suffolk Edition). 1998-08-19. p. 114. Retrieved 2023-10-21. – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Eclipse Aug. 23". Mitchell Tribune. 1998-08-05. p. 12. Retrieved 2023-10-21. – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  6. ^ Paul Maley. "The August 22, 1998 Annular Solar Eclipse Seen from Malaysia". Archived 30 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ^ "Annular Solar Eclipse of 1998 Aug 22". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 10 August 2024.

Photos: