Eclipses During 2001
The second lunar eclipse of the year is partial and occurs in eastern Sagittarius three degrees north of Nunki (Sigma Sag). The event is a moderate partial eclipse with the Moon's northern limb dipping 15 arc-minutes into Earth's umbral shadow. The penumbral phase begins at 12:10.9 UT, but most observers will be unable to detect any shading during the first half hour or so. The partial eclipse commences with first umbral contact at 13:35.2 UT. Two hours and forty minutes later, the partial eclipse ends at 16:15.3 UT. Although it can not actually be observed, the eclipse technically ends when the Moon leaves the penumbral shadow at 17:39.8 UT.
At the instant of mid-eclipse (14:55.3 UT), the Moon will stand at the zenith for observers in central Australia. At that time, the umbral eclipse magnitude peaks at 0.4992 as the centre of the Moon passes along the southern edge of the umbra. Unfortunately, none of the partial phases will be visible from North America except from the Aleutian Islands. The eclipse is best seen from the western Pacific, Asia and Australia. The Moon's path through Earth's shadow(s) as well as a map showing worldwide visibility of the event is shown in Figure 4.
Table 4 lists predicted umbral immersion and emersion times for fifteen bright lunar craters. The timing of craters is useful in determining the atmospheric enlargement of Earth's shadow (see section: Crater Timings During Lunar Eclipses).
2001 Dec 14: Annular Solar Eclipse
The last solar eclipse of 2001 is an annular eclipse visible primarily from the western hemisphere (Figure 5). The Moon's antumbral shadow first touches down on Earth at 19:08 UT near the International Date Line some 3000 kilometres northwest of the Hawaiian Islands. Unfortunately, the path of annularity misses the island chain and passes about 500 km to its south. Still, the islands enjoy a deep partial eclipse with a magnitude exceeding 0.8.
Traveling along a southeastern track, the path begins curving northward as it reaches the Equator. Greatest eclipse occurs at 20:51:56 UT just half a degree north of the Equator. The duration of the annular phase will last for 3m53s, but the event takes place in open ocean with no landfall in sight.
As the path swings to the northeast, it finally makes its only major landfall as it quickly crosses the Central American nations of Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Figure 6 is a detailed map showing the path limits, centreline and curves of constant duration through these countries. Mid-annularity occurs along the Pacific coast of Costa Rica at 22:32 UT during the late afternoon. The Sun will stand 11° above the southwestern horizon during an annular phase lasting 3m19s. The corresponding eclipse magnitude and obscuration (fraction of Sun's surface) will be 0.956 and 0.915, respectively. Costa Rica's capital city of San Jose actually lies just inside the southern limit where mid-annularity occurs at 23:33 UT.
Several minutes later, the antumbral shadow leaves Earth's surface at 22:35:53 UT. Over the course of 3 hours and 28 minutes, the Moon's antumbra travels along a path approximately 12,900 kilometres long and covering 0.4% of Earth's surface area. Path coordinates and centreline circumstances are presented in Table 5.
Partial phases of the eclipse are visible from much of North America as well as northwestern South America. Local circumstances for a number of cities are listed in Table 6. All times are given in Universal Time. The Sun's altitude and azimuth, the eclipse magnitude and obscuration are all given at the instant of maximum eclipse.
The appearance of the eclipse at maximum phase for a number of locations is depicted in What Will The Eclipse Look Like? Additional information is also available at the 2001 annular solar eclipse web site:
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEmono/ASE2001/ASE2001.html
2001 Dec 30: Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
Penumbral Eclipse Begins: 08:25:24 UT
Greatest Eclipse: 10:29:12 UT
Penumbral Eclipse Ends: 12:33:06 UT
The final event of the year is a deep penumbral lunar eclipse visible from much of the Western Hemisphere. First and last penumbral contacts occur at 08:25.5 UT and 12:33.2 UT, respectively.
Greatest eclipse occurs at 10:29.3 UT with a maximum penumbral eclipse magnitude of 0.9190. Observers will note subtle yet distinct shading across the southern portions of the Moon. The Moon's southern limb actually lies 3.5 arc-minutes north of the umbra at its closest approach.
The Moon's path through Earth's penumbra as well as a map showing worldwide visibility of the event is shown in Figure 7.