WORLD First Solar eclipse of this year 26th January 2009

The first of two solar eclipses of 2009 is the annular kind. It will be visible from a wide track traversing the Indian Ocean and western Indonesia. The first solar eclipse of 2009, in 26th January. A partial eclipse will be seen from the southern third of Africa, Madagascar, Australia (not Tasmania), southeast India, Southeast Asia and Indonesia. The second eclipse of 2009, in July, is a total solar eclipse. These outrank the annular kind for eclipse tourists, and the July eclipse will be spectacularly long.

This is the 50th eclipse of Saros 131, a 70-eclipse family that began with 22 partial eclipses starting on 1 Aug 1125. The first central eclipse was total in the Northern Hemisphere in 1522. The series will produce 29 more annular eclipses, the last of which is on 18 Jun 2243. Saros 131 terminates on 2 Sep 2369 after a string of seven partial eclipses.

An annular solar eclipse is where the Moon lies directly between the Sun and the observer (much like a total solar eclipse), but the location of the Moon is such that the it appears smaller than the Sun. This means the outside of the Sun is still visible. Nov/08



The animation shown in the diagram to the right illustrates the motion of the shadow of the Moon at five minute intervals. This animation runs in a continuous loop.

This graphic, provided by Dr. Andrew Sinclair, shows the grey penumbral shadow where the eclipse will be seen as a partial one and the much smaller red umbral shadow where the eclipse will be seen as an annular one. The UT time is shown in the upper right-hand corner of the diagram and the central line duration of the eclipse can be seen in the lower right-hand corner.