Partial Solar Eclipse Jan. 5-6 Is First of Three 2019 Solar Eclipses

Summary: The partial solar eclipse Jan. 5-6 is the first of three 2019 solar eclipses and also is the first of the year’s five eclipses.

details of Jan. 5-6, 2019, partial solar eclipse: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA GSFC Emeritus," via NASA Eclipse Web Site

The partial solar eclipse Jan. 5-6 is the first of three 2019 solar eclipses and also heads the year’s lineup of five eclipses, of which two are lunar.

The partial solar eclipse Jan. 5-6, 2019, is a Northern Hemisphere event. The year’s first eclipse favors northeastern Asia, Alaska’s Aleutian Islands and the North Pacific Ocean.

January’s partial solar eclipse begins with first contact between Earth’s surface and the moon’s penumbra, the lighter, outer region of the lunar shadow. First contact takes place Saturday, Jan. 5, at 23:34:08.7 Universal Time (Saturday, Jan. 5, 2:34 p.m. Alaska Standard Time; Sunday, Jan. 6, at 7:34 a.m. China Standard Time and Irkutsk Time; Sunday, Jan. 6, at 10:34 a.m. Srednekolymsk Time), according to NASA’s Eclipse website.

Greatest eclipse is slated for Sunday, Jan. 6, at 01:41.38.3 UT1 (Saturday, Jan. 5, at 4:41 p.m. AKST; Sunday, Jan. 6, at 9:41 a.m. CST, IRKT; Sunday, Jan. 6, at 12:41 p.m. SRET). Retired NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak places the greatest eclipse’s occurrence over Srednekolymysky District in the Russian Far East’s Sakha Republic (67 degrees 26.1 minutes north latitude 153 degrees 33.7 degrees east longitude). For solar eclipses, greatest eclipse (GE) designates the instant of closest passage to Earth’s center by the lunar shadow cone’s axis.

January’s partial solar eclipse ends with last contact between the lunar penumbra and Earth’s surface. Last contact is expected to take place Sunday, Jan. 6, at 03:48:50.3 UT1 (Saturday, Jan. 5, at 6:48 p.m. AKST; Sunday, Jan. 6, at 11:48 a.m. CST, IRKT; Sunday, Jan. 6, at 2:48 p.m. SRET).

January’s partial solar eclipse belongs to Saros 122. The Saros cycle groups similar eclipses into families, known as series. A Saros cycle spans approximately 6,585.3 days (18 years 11 days 8 hours).

Same Saros cycle eclipses present similar geometries, such as occurrence at the same ascending or descending node with the moon, at a nearly same distance from Earth. Saros 122 eclipses occur at the descending node of the lunar orbit’s crossing of Earth’s orbit. The descending node marks the lunar orbit’s crossing to the south of Earth’s orbit. The moon’s movement is northward with respect to the descending node.

Saros series 122 endures for 1,244.08 years. Saros cycle 122 began April 17, 991, with a partial solar eclipse in the Southern Hemisphere. Saros 122 ends May 17, 2235, with a partial solar eclipse in the Northern Hemisphere.

January’s partial solar eclipse numbers as 58 of 70 eclipses in Saros 122. Saros 122 series of 70 solar eclipses comprise 28 partial solar eclipses, 37 annular solar eclipses, three total solar eclipses and two hybrid solar eclipses.

Saros 122’s first eight eclipses, occurring between April 17, 991, and July 1, 1117, happened as partial solar eclipses. The next three (July 12, 1135; July 23, 1153; Aug. 3, 1171) were total solar eclipses, followed by two hybrid solar eclipses (Aug. 13, 1189; Aug. 25, 1207). The next 37 eclipses, beginning Sept. 4, 1225, and ending Oct. 10, 1874, were annular solar eclipses. Saros 122’s last 20 eclipses occur as partial solar eclipses, beginning Oct. 20, 1892, and ending May 17, 2235.

Prior to January’s eclipse, the most recent Saros 122 eclipse took place Dec. 25, 2000. After January’s eclipse, the next Saros 122 eclipse takes place Jan. 16, 2037.

January’s eclipse numbers as the fourth of four consecutive partial solar eclipses. All three of 2018’s solar eclipses occurred as partials. The year’s first partial solar eclipse took place Feb. 15, 2018. The second of the year’s trio occurred July 13, 2018. The year’s third solar eclipse happened Aug. 11, 2018.

January 2019 welcomes two eclipses. About two weeks after the month’s solar eclipse, a total lunar eclipse takes place Jan. 21. July 2019 also features two eclipses, with a total solar eclipse July 2 and a partial lunar eclipse July 16. The year’s fifth and last eclipse occurs as an annular solar eclipse Dec. 26, 2019.

The takeaway for the partial solar eclipse Jan. 5-6, 2019, is that the month’s eclipse occurs as the first of 2019’s three solar eclipses and as the first of the year’s total lineup of five eclipses.

animation of partial solar eclipse Jan. 5-6, 2019: A.T. Sinclair/NASA, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

details of Jan. 5-6, 2019, partial solar eclipse: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA GSFC Emeritus," via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEplot/SEplot2001/SE2019Jan06P.GIF

animation of partial solar eclipse Jan. 5-6, 2019: A.T. Sinclair/NASA, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SE2019Jan06P.gif

For further information:

Espenak, Fred. “Eclipses During 2019.” EclipseWise > Solar Eclipses > Eclipses During 2019.
Available via EclipseWise @ http://www.eclipsewise.com/oh/ec2019.html

Espenak, Fred. “Glossary of Solar Eclipse Terms.” NASA Eclipse Web Site.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/help/SEglossary.html

Espenak, Fred. “Partial Solar Eclipse of 2019 Jan 06.” EclipseWise > Solar Eclipses > Eclipses During 2019 > Partial Solar Eclipse of January 06.
Available via EclipseWise @ https://www.eclipsewise.com/oh/oh-figures/ec2019-Fig01.pdf

Espenak, Fred. “Partial Solar Eclipse of 2019 Jan 06.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Solar Eclipses > Decade Tables of Solar Eclipses > Solar Eclipses: 2011-2020.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEplot/SEplot2001/SE2019Jan06P.GIF

Espenak, Fred. “Saros 122.” EclipseWise > Solar Eclipses > Saros Catalog of Solar Eclipses.
Available via EclipseWise @ http://www.eclipsewise.com/solar/SEsaros/SEsaros122.html

Espenak, Fred. “Solar Eclipse Prime Page: Partial Solar Eclipse of 2019 Jan 06.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Solar Eclipses > Solar Eclipse Primary Links > Solar Eclipses: 2011-2020.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ http://www.eclipsewise.com/solar/SEprime/2001-2100/SE2019Jan06Pprime.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Partial Solar Eclipse Aug. 11 Is Third of Three 2018 Solar Eclipses.” Earth and Space News.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/08/partial-solar-eclipse-aug-11-is-third.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Partial Solar Eclipse Feb. 15 Is First of Three 2018 Solar Eclipses.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/02/partial-solar-eclipse-feb-15-is-first.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Partial Solar Eclipse July 13 Is Second of Three 2018 Solar Eclipses.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, July 11, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/07/partial-solar-eclipse-july-13-is-second.html