Friday, May 10, 2013, Annular Solar Eclipse Belongs to Saros Cycle 138

Summary: The Friday, May 10, 2013, annular solar eclipse belongs to Saros cycle 138, a series of 70 similar solar eclipses.

Partial solar eclipse of June 6, 1472, opened Saros solar series 138’s lineup of 70 solar eclipses: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak (NASA's GSFC)," via NASA Eclipse Web Site

The Friday, May 10, 2013, annular solar eclipse belongs to Saros cycle 138, which comprises 70 solar eclipses with similar geometries.

May’s annular solar eclipse begins Thursday, May 9, 2013, at 21:25:09.7 Universal Time, according to the NASA Eclipse Web Site. Greatest eclipse takes place Friday, May 10, at 00:25:12.9 UT. Greatest eclipse refers to the instant of the closest passage of the lunar shadow cone’s axis to Earth’s center. The eclipse ends Friday, May 10, at 03:25:23.0 UT.

May 2013’s annular solar eclipse numbers as 31 in the lineup of 70 solar eclipses that compose Saros cycle 138. Similar geometries unify the 70 solar eclipses into a family, known as a series.

The NASA Eclipse Web Site describes Saros 138 solar eclipses as sharing the geometry of occurring at the moon’s descending node. With each succeeding eclipse in Saros 138, the lunar movement is northward of the descending node.

A pair of ascending and descending nodes reveals the intersections of Earth’s orbit by the moon’s orbit. The two nodes evince the approximately 5.1 degree tilt of the moon’s orbit with respect to Earth’s orbit. The ascending node pertains to the lunar orbital crossing to the north of Earth’s orbit. The descending node distinguishes the lunar orbital crossing to the south of Earth’s orbit.

The Saros cycle of approximately 6,585.3 days (18 years 11 days 8 hours) directs the periodicity and recurrence of solar eclipses. Each Saros series comprises 70 or more eclipses and extends over 12 to 13 centuries.

Saros solar series 138 lasts for 1,244.08 years, according to the NASA Eclipse Web Site. The series lasts for 14 centuries. Saros solar series 138 spans the 15th through 28th centuries.

Solar eclipses in Saros series 138 observe a sequence order of seven partial solar eclipses, 50 annular solar eclipses, one hybrid solar eclipse, three total solar eclipses and nine partial solar eclipses. Annular solar eclipses number as the most frequent eclipse type in Saros series 138, with a total of 50 occurrences. Partial solar eclipses are the second most frequent, with a total of 16 occurrences.

The partial solar eclipse of June 6, 1472, opened Saros solar series 138. This Southern Hemisphere event’s greatest eclipse, with coordinates of 66.4 south at 132.2 west, took place over the open Southern Ocean, north of West Antarctica.

The partial solar eclipse of Thursday, July 11, 2716, will close Saros solar series 138. This Northern Hemisphere event’s greatest eclipse, with coordinates of 64.4 north at 159.1 east, will favor Magadan Oblast in the Russian Far East.

The annular solar eclipse of Thursday, May 9, to Friday, May 10, 2013, numbers as 24 in Saros solar series 138’s sequence of 50 annular solar eclipses. This event experiences its greatest eclipse, with coordinates of 2.2 north at 175.5 east, over the north central Pacific Ocean, northeast of south Tarawa of the Republic of Kiribati.

An annular solar eclipse on Saturday, April 29, 1995, was the immediate predecessor of the May 2013 annular solar eclipse in Saros solar series 138. This event’s greatest eclipse, with coordinates of 4.8 south at 79.4 west, occurred over southwestern Ecuador’s Loja Province.

The April 1995 annular solar eclipse took place as number 23 in Saros solar series 138’s sequence of 50 annular solar eclipses. This eclipse numbered 30 in the series’ lineup of 70 solar eclipses.

An annular solar eclipse on Wednesday, May 21, 2031, succeeds the May 2013 annular solar eclipse in Saros solar series 138. This event will stage its greatest eclipse, with coordinates of 8.9 north at 71.7 east, over the northern Indian Ocean, southwest of the Republic of India’s Union Territory of Lakshadweep and northwest of the Republic of Maldives.

The May 2031 solar eclipse will occur as number 25 in Saros solar series 138’s sequence of 50 total solar eclipses. This eclipse numbers 32 in the series’ lineup of 70 solar eclipses.

The takeaway for the Thursday, May 9, to Friday, May 10, 2012, annular solar eclipse is that the astronomical event numbers as 31 in Saros solar series 138’s lineup of 70 solar eclipses and as 24 within the series’ sequence of 50 annular solar eclipses.

Partial solar eclipse of Thursday, July 11, 2716, will close Saros solar series 138’s lineup of 70 solar eclipses: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak (NASA's GSFC)," via NASA Eclipse Web Site

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Partial solar eclipse of June 6, 1472, opened Saros solar series 138’s lineup of 70 solar eclipses: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak (NASA's GSFC)," via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCSEmap/1401-1500/1472-06-06.gif

Partial solar eclipse of Thursday, July 11, 2716, will close Saros solar series 138’s lineup of 70 solar eclipses: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak (NASA's GSFC)," via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCSEmap/2701-2800/2716-07-11.gif

For further information:

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