Solar eclipse of 2006 March 29
Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Total
Gamma	0.3843
Magnitude	1.0515
Saros	139 (29 of 71)
Maximum eclipse
Duration	4m7s
Max. width of band	184km
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse	10:12:23

A total solar eclipse occurred on March 29, 2006, visible from a narrow corridor which traversed half the Earth. The magnitude, that is, the ratio between the apparent sizes of the Moon and that of the Sun, was 1.052, and it was part of Saros 139.

Contents 1 Visibility 2 Observations 3 Notable times and coordinates 4 Type of the eclipse 5 Solar Eclipse in Turkey 6 Satellite failure 7 Images 8 Related eclipses 8.1 Solar eclipses 2004-2008 8.2 Saros 139 8.3 Metonic series 9 References 10 External links 10.1 Photos and videos 10.2 Other resources

[edit] Visibility

The path of totality of the Moon's shadow began at sunrise in Brazil and extended across the Atlantic to Africa, traveling across Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Libya, and a small corner of Egypt, from there across the Mediterranean Sea to Greece (Kastellórizo) and Turkey, then across the Black Sea via Georgia, Russia, and Kazakhstan to Western Mongolia, where it ended at sunset. A partial eclipse was seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including the northern two-thirds of Africa, the whole of Europe, and Central Asia.

[edit] Observations

People gathered in large areas where solar eclipse is visible around the World to view the event. Manchester Astronomical Society, the Malaysian Space Agency, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, as well as dozens of tour groups met at the Apollo temple and the theater in Side, Turkey. The San Francisco Exploratorium featured a live webcast from the site, where thousands took their seats in the ancient, Roman-style theater.^[1]

Almost all actively visited areas in the path of totality had perfect weather. Many observers reported an unusually beautiful eclipse, with many or all effects visible, and a very nice corona despite proximity to solar minimum. The partial phase of the eclipse was also visible from the International Space Station, while the astronauts on board took spectacular pictures of the shadow on the Earth's surface. At first, it looked as though an orbit correction in the middle of March would bring the ISS in the path of totality, but this correction was postponed.

Sahara, Libya, 10:11 UTC	Smolyan, Bulgaria, 10:30 UTC	Side, Turkey, 10:55 UTC	International Space Station over Turkey and Cyprus, 10:56:55 UTC
Berkhamsted, England, 11:01 UTC	Novosibirsk, Russia, 11:42 UTC	Krasnoyarsk, Russia, 12:21 UTC	Kalmykia, Russia, 12:22 UTC

[edit] Notable times and coordinates

Event	Time (UTC)	Coordinates
Beginning of the general eclipse	07:36:50	14°27′42″S 22°06′24″W / 14.46167°S 22.10667°W / -14.46167; -22.10667
Beginning of the total eclipse	08:34:20	06°31′42″S 36°59′06″W / 6.52833°S 36.985°W / -6.52833; -36.985
Beginning of the central eclipse	08:35:25	06°18′18″S 37°15′48″W / 6.305°S 37.26333°W / -6.305; -37.26333
Greatest eclipse	10:11:20	23°08′54″N 16°45′36″E / 23.14833°N 16.76°E / 23.14833; 16.76
End of the central eclipse	11:46:55	51°33′42″N 98°48′12″E / 51.56167°N 98.80333°E / 51.56167; 98.80333
End of the total eclipse	11:47:55	51°20′36″N 98°30′30″E / 51.34333°N 98.50833°E / 51.34333; 98.50833
End of the general eclipse	12:45:35	43°26′18″N 83°03′00″E / 43.43833°N 83.05°E / 43.43833; 83.05

[edit] Type of the eclipse

Nature of the eclipses	Total
Area of visibility	Type IV
Gamma	0,3842
Magnitude	1.052
Duration at greatest eclipse point	247 s (4 min 7 s) at 10:11:18 UTC, near Chad border of Libya: 23°08′54″N 16°45′36″E / 23.14833°N 16.76°E / 23.14833; 16.76
Maximum width of band	183.5 km

[edit] Solar Eclipse in Turkey

Place	Height for eclipse	Time
Aksaray	14:02:30	03:32
Alanya	13:57:34	02:38
Amasya	14:07:04	01:20
Antalya	13:55:59	03:11
Erbaa	14:08:07	03:02
Giresun	14:10:41	03:17
Karaman	14:00:04	01:22
Kayseri	14:04:53	01:43
Kırşehir	14:03:25	03:16
Konya	13:59:46	03:36
Nevşehir	14:03:42	03:15
Niksar	14:08:32	03:28
Ordu	14:10:04	03:30
Sivas	14:07:56	02:16
Tokat	14:07:46	03:31
Turhal	14:07:12	03:31
Yıldızeli	14:07:29	03:16
Yozgat	14:07:29	03:16
Zile	14:06:51	03:02

[edit] Satellite failure

The satellite responsible for SKY Network Television, a New Zealand pay TV company, failed the day after this eclipse at around 1900 local time. While SKY didn't directly attribute the failure to the eclipse, they said in a media release that it took longer to resolve the issue because of it, but this claim was refuted by astronomers. The main reason for the failure was because of an aging and increasingly faulty satellite.^[2]

[edit] Images

Animated path

[edit] Related eclipses

This solar eclipse was preceded by the penumbral lunar eclipse on March 14, 2006.

[edit] Solar eclipses 2004-2008

This set of solar eclipses repeat approximately every 177 days and 4 hours at alternating nodes of the moon's orbit.

Solar eclipse series sets from 2004–2007

Ascending node				Descending node
Saros	Map	Photo		Saros	Map	Photo
119	2004 April 19 Partial (south)			124	2004 October 14 Partial (north)
129	2005 April 8 Hybrid			134	2005 October 3 Annular	Annular from Spain
139	2006 March 29 Total	Total from Russia		144	2006 September 22 Annular	Partial from São Paulo, Brazil
149	2007 March 19 Partial (north)			154	2007 September 11 Partial (south)

[edit] Saros 139

It is a part of Saros cycle 139, repeating every 18 year, 11 days, containing 71 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on May 17, 1501. It contains hybrid eclipses on August 11, 1627 through December 9, 1825 and total eclipses from December 21, 1843 through March 26, 2601. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on July 3, 2763.

The solar eclipse of June 13, 2132 will be the next longest total solar eclipse at 6 minutes, 55 seconds.

The longest duration of totality will be 7 minutes, 29 seconds on Jul 16, 2186.^[3] This is the longest solar eclipse computed between 2000BC and 3000AD.^[4]

Series members 24-39 occur between 1901 and 2200:

24	25	26
February 3, 1916	February 14, 1934	February 25, 1952
27	28	29
March 7, 1970	March 18, 1988	March 29, 2006
30	31	32
April 8, 2024	April 20, 2042	April 30, 2060
33	34	35
May 11, 2078	May 22, 2096	June 3, 2114
36	37	38
June 13, 2132	June 25, 2150	July 5, 2168
39
July 16, 2186

[edit] Metonic series

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).

This series has 20 eclipse events between June 10, 1964 and August 21, 2036.

June 10-11	March 27-29	January 15-16	November 3	August 21-22
117	119	121	123	125
June 10, 1964	March 28, 1968	January 16, 1972	November 3, 1975	August 22, 1979
127	129	131	133	135
June 11, 1983	March 29, 1987	January 15, 1991	November 3, 1994	August 22, 1998
137	139	141	143	145
June 10, 2002	March 29, 2006	January 15, 2010	November 3, 2013	August 21, 2017
147	149	151	153	155
June 10, 2021	March 29, 2025	January 14, 2029	November 3, 2032	August 21, 2036

[edit] References

• Fred Espenak and Jay Anderson. "Total Solar Eclipse of 2006 March 29". NASA Technical publication (NASA/TP-2004-212762), November 2004.
  • NASA graphics
  • Google interactive map of the eclipse from NASA

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Solar eclipse of 2006 March 29

[edit] Photos and videos

• Total eclipse photographs from Turkey
• Another set of total eclipse photographs from Turkey
• Photo gallery from Turkey
• Phases of solar eclipse view from Antalya
• NASA videos and photos from Libya and Turkey
• Pictures taken from Smolyan, Bulgaria
• NASA video of eclipse
• Solar eclipse images and videos from Libya by traveling NASA employees and scientists
• Images by Crayford Manor House Astronomical Society from Libya and Turkey
• Spaceweather.com eclipse gallery
• [1] APOD 7/26/2009, The Big Corona, [2]
• [3] APOD, 3/30/2006, When Diamonds Aren't Forever, totality from Greek island of Kastelorizo in the eastern Aegean

[edit] Other resources

• solar-eclipse-2006.info - Information about the March 29th Solar Eclipse.
• NASA - Total Solar Eclipse of 2006 March 29
• Interactive 2006 March 29 Total Solar Eclipse map with local circumstances
• eclipse.za.net - Umbral Paths of March 29 Eclipse in Africa
• University of Athens - Solar Eclipse 29/3/2006, Solar Party
• Solar Total Eclipse of 2006 March 29
• TÜBİTAK National Observatory - 29 March 2006 Total Solar Eclipse
• KryssTal - The total eclipse seen from Side in Turkey - includes panorama with Venus visible and slide show of temple during totality.

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