Solar eclipse of June 1, 2011

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Solar eclipse of June 1, 2011
Course of the penumbra on the earth's surface, running time in UT
Course of the penumbra on the earth's surface, running time in UT
classification
Type Partially
area East Asia , Northern North America , Iceland
Saros cycle 118 (68 of 72)
Gamma value 1.2129
Greatest eclipse
place Barents Sea east of the Kanin Peninsula
location 67 ° 47 ′  N , 46 ° 45 ′  E Coordinates: 67 ° 47 ′  N , 46 ° 45 ′  E
time June 1, 2011 21:16:11   UT
size 0.6013 (60.13%)

In the eclipse of 1 June 2011 there was a partial eclipse, the Earth was so only from the penumbra of the moon taken. The visibility area was limited to the high latitudes of the northern hemisphere . The solar eclipse was the 68th of 72 solar eclipses in the Saros cycle number 118. For the four remaining eclipses of this cycle, the visibility area will become smaller and smaller until the moon penumbra hits the earth for the last time - again in the far north - at the 72nd eclipse.

In a total solar eclipse , the umbra of the moon (maximum about 130 km radius) hits the earth's surface. For areas hit by the surrounding penumbra (around 3400 km radius), the sun is only partially covered. We speak of a purely partial solar eclipse when the moon is not completely in front of the sun at any observation point on earth and only the penumbra of the moon reaches the earth.

During the solar eclipse on June 1, 2011, the distance between the shadow axis and the earth's surface was about 1350 km. As in the two previous eclipses in the cycle, the umbra of the moon no longer hit the earth, but it still clearly hit its penumbra.

Because it was polar day in the north and the penumbral cone hit the earth in the north, the sun shone over the north pole and also illuminated the northern part of the actual night side of the earth. Thus, this part was also darkened by the penumbra of the moon, which led to the unusual situation that in even the largest part of the observation area the shadow area did not migrate from west to east, as is normal, but in the opposite direction. The maximum sun coverage of 60% was observed just north of the Arctic Circle at about 68 ° latitude in the Barents Sea . The sun on the northern horizon was covered - as usual from right to left - but unusually from east to west.

The penumbra reached Earth at 19:25:18 UT ( Universal Time ). The eclipse began in northern China , where it could be seen during the sunrise, according to local time it was already June 2nd there. The penumbra continued westerly and reached the coast of the Arctic Ocean in northwest Siberia , where the eclipse occurred during the midnight sun . The eclipse continued over Greenland and Iceland during the polar day . In Reykjavík the size was 0.462, the end of the eclipse was shortly before sunset. The eclipse was also still visible in Alaska and northern Canada before the penumbra left the earth in the Atlantic north of Newfoundland at 23:06:56 UT.

The day-night line with the night in the south ran from China via Japan to the northeast to Alaska and further east-south-east via Canada to Newfoundland. During the previous eclipse on January 4, 2011 , it was polar night in the north. The sun did not shine over the North Pole. The night was north of the day-night line, and the eclipse occurred in mid-latitudes over North Africa , Europe, and western Asia . It was seen by far more people than the eclipse of June 1st. The shadow area was also larger because the axis of the moon's shadow was closer to the earth.

Only a month passed before the following solar eclipse on July 1st. This is the shortest possible time interval between two solar eclipses, since solar eclipses are only possible at a new moon. Two solar eclipses in direct succession are the "ideal framework" for a lunar eclipse of high totality. One such event took place on June 15, 2011 with a total of 100 minutes. In Central Europe the moon rose darkly, the totality could not be fully observed here.

literature

  • Hans Ulrich Keller: Kosmos Himmelsjahr 2011: Sun, moon and stars over the course of the year. ISBN 3-440-12365-0

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c NASA: Partial Solar Eclipse of June 01

Web links