An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Friday, January 26, 1990, with a magnitude of 0.967. 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 7.1 days after apogee (on January 19, 1990, at 16:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
Annularity was visible from a part of Antarctica. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Antarctica, southern and eastern South America, and New Zealand.
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.3
January 26, 1990 Solar Eclipse Times| Event | Time (UTC) |
|---|---|
| First Penumbral External Contact | 1990 January 26 at 17:14:16.9 UTC |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1990 January 26 at 18:52:41.6 UTC |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1990 January 26 at 18:52:52.1 UTC |
| First Central Line | 1990 January 26 at 18:56:20.7 UTC |
| Greatest Duration | 1990 January 26 at 18:56:20.7 UTC |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 1990 January 26 at 19:00:22.0 UTC |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1990 January 26 at 19:20:58.8 UTC |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1990 January 26 at 19:31:23.9 UTC |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1990 January 26 at 20:02:53.7 UTC |
| Last Central Line | 1990 January 26 at 20:06:51.8 UTC |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1990 January 26 at 20:10:27.5 UTC |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1990 January 26 at 21:48:40.7 UTC |
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Eclipse Magnitude | 0.96698 |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 0.93506 |
| Gamma | −0.94571 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 20h35m55.4s |
| Sun Declination | -18°37'40.0" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'14.5" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.9" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 20h37m14.5s |
| Moon Declination | -19°28'27.1" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 15'38.0" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°57'22.4" |
| ΔT | 56.9 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.
Eclipse season of January–February 1990| January 26Ascending node (new moon) | February 9Descending node (full moon) |
|---|---|
| Annular solar eclipseSolar Saros 121 | Total lunar eclipseLunar Saros 133 |
Related eclipses
Eclipses in 1990
- An annular solar eclipse on January 26.
- A total lunar eclipse on February 9.
- A total solar eclipse on July 22.
- A partial lunar eclipse on August 6.
Metonic
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 9, 1986
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 13, 1993
Tzolkinex
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 15, 1982
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 9, 1997
Half-Saros
- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of January 20, 1981
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of January 31, 1999
Tritos
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 26, 1979
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 25, 2000
Solar Saros 121
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 16, 1972
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 7, 2008
Inex
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 15, 1961
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 6, 2019
Triad
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 29, 1903
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 26, 2076
Solar eclipses of 1990–1992
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
| Solar eclipse series sets from 1990 to 1992 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ascending node | Descending node | |||||
| Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma | |
| 121 | January 26, 1990Annular | −0.9457 | 126Partial in Finland | July 22, 1990Total | 0.7597 | |
| 131 | January 15, 1991Annular | −0.2727 | 136Totality in Playas del Coco,Costa Rica | July 11, 1991Total | −0.0041 | |
| 141 | January 4, 1992Annular | 0.4091 | 146 | June 30, 1992Total | −0.7512 | |
| 151 | December 24, 1992Partial | 1.0711 | ||||
Saros 121
This eclipse is a part of Saros series 121, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on April 25, 944 AD. It contains total eclipses from July 10, 1070 through October 9, 1809; hybrid eclipses on October 20, 1827 and October 30, 1845; and annular eclipses from November 11, 1863 through February 28, 2044. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on June 7, 2206. 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 totality was produced by member 39 at 6 minutes, 20 seconds on June 21, 1629, and the longest duration of annularity will be produced by member 62 at 2 minutes, 27 seconds on February 28, 2044. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.5
| Series members 49–70 occur between 1801 and 2200: | ||
|---|---|---|
| 49 | 50 | 51 |
| October 9, 1809 | October 20, 1827 | October 30, 1845 |
| 52 | 53 | 54 |
| November 11, 1863 | November 21, 1881 | December 3, 1899 |
| 55 | 56 | 57 |
| December 14, 1917 | December 25, 1935 | January 5, 1954 |
| 58 | 59 | 60 |
| January 16, 1972 | January 26, 1990 | February 7, 2008 |
| 61 | 62 | 63 |
| February 17, 2026 | February 28, 2044 | March 11, 2062 |
| 64 | 65 | 66 |
| March 21, 2080 | April 1, 2098 | April 13, 2116 |
| 67 | 68 | 69 |
| April 24, 2134 | May 4, 2152 | May 16, 2170 |
| 70 | ||
| May 26, 2188 | ||
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). All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's ascending node.
| 21 eclipse events between June 21, 1982 and June 21, 2058 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 21 | April 8–9 | January 26 | November 13–14 | September 1–2 |
| 117 | 119 | 121 | 123 | 125 |
| June 21, 1982 | April 9, 1986 | January 26, 1990 | November 13, 1993 | September 2, 1997 |
| 127 | 129 | 131 | 133 | 135 |
| June 21, 2001 | April 8, 2005 | January 26, 2009 | November 13, 2012 | September 1, 2016 |
| 137 | 139 | 141 | 143 | 145 |
| June 21, 2020 | April 8, 2024 | January 26, 2028 | November 14, 2031 | September 2, 2035 |
| 147 | 149 | 151 | 153 | 155 |
| June 21, 2039 | April 9, 2043 | January 26, 2047 | November 14, 2050 | September 2, 2054 |
| 157 | ||||
| June 21, 2058 | ||||
Tritos series
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 1837 and 2200 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 5, 1837(Saros 107) | March 5, 1848(Saros 108) | February 3, 1859(Saros 109) | December 2, 1880(Saros 111) | |
| August 31, 1913(Saros 114) | July 31, 1924(Saros 115) | June 30, 1935(Saros 116) | ||
| May 30, 1946(Saros 117) | April 30, 1957(Saros 118) | March 28, 1968(Saros 119) | February 26, 1979(Saros 120) | January 26, 1990(Saros 121) |
| December 25, 2000(Saros 122) | November 25, 2011(Saros 123) | October 25, 2022(Saros 124) | September 23, 2033(Saros 125) | August 23, 2044(Saros 126) |
| July 24, 2055(Saros 127) | June 22, 2066(Saros 128) | May 22, 2077(Saros 129) | April 21, 2088(Saros 130) | March 21, 2099(Saros 131) |
| February 18, 2110(Saros 132) | January 19, 2121(Saros 133) | December 19, 2131(Saros 134) | November 17, 2142(Saros 135) | October 17, 2153(Saros 136) |
| September 16, 2164(Saros 137) | August 16, 2175(Saros 138) | July 16, 2186(Saros 139) | June 15, 2197(Saros 140) | |
Inex series
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 | ||
|---|---|---|
| May 27, 1816(Saros 115) | May 6, 1845(Saros 116) | April 16, 1874(Saros 117) |
| March 29, 1903(Saros 118) | March 7, 1932(Saros 119) | February 15, 1961(Saros 120) |
| January 26, 1990(Saros 121) | January 6, 2019(Saros 122) | December 16, 2047(Saros 123) |
| November 26, 2076(Saros 124) | November 6, 2105(Saros 125) | October 17, 2134(Saros 126) |
| September 28, 2163(Saros 127) | September 6, 2192(Saros 128) | |
Notes
- Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
References
"January 26, 1990 Annular Solar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved 9 August 2024. https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/1990-january-26 ↩
"Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 9 August 2024. https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/distance.html?year=1990&n=136 ↩
"Annular Solar Eclipse of 1990 Jan 26". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 9 August 2024. https://eclipsewise.com/solar/SEprime/1901-2000/SE1990Jan26Aprime.html ↩
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. http://www.staff.science.uu.nl/~gent0113/eclipse/eclipsecycles.htm#Sar%20%28Half%20Saros%29 ↩
"NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 121". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov. https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsaros/SEsaros121.html ↩