Sunday, June 21, Annular Solar Eclipse Belongs to Saros Series 137

Summary: The Sunday, June 21, annular solar eclipse belongs to Saros cycle 137, a series of 70 similar solar eclipses.

Partial solar eclipse of Monday, May 25, 1389, opened Saros solar series 137’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)," vvia NASA Eclipse Web Site

The Sunday, June 21, annular solar eclipse belongs to Saros cycle 137, which comprises 70 solar eclipses with similar geometries.

June’s solar eclipse begins Sunday, June 21, at 03:45 Universal Time (Saturday, June 20, at 11:45 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time), according to NASA’s Eclipse Web Site. At 06:39 UT (2:39 a.m. EDT, Sunday, June 21), the event registers its greatest eclipse, the instant of the closest passage of the lunar shadow cone’s axis to Earth’s center. The eclipse ends Sunday, June 21, at 09:33 UT (5:33 a.m. EDT).

June’s annular solar eclipse appears as number 36 in the lineup of 70 solar eclipses composing Saros cycle 137. The similar geometries of these 70 solar eclipses unites them into a family, known as a series.

Saros 137 solar eclipses have the shared geometry of occurrence at the moon’s ascending node. Each succeeding eclipse in the series evinces more southward movement with respect to the ascending node.

The moon’s descending node pairs with an ascending node as markers of lunar orbit intersections with Earth’s orbit. The nodal pair reveal the approximately 5.1 degree tilt of the lunar orbit with respect to Earth’s orbit. The descending node concerns the lunar orbital crossing to the south of Earth’s orbit. The ascending node connects with the lunar orbital crossing to the north 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 consists of 70 or more eclipses and typically spans 12 to 13 centuries.

Saros solar series 137 has a time span of 1,288.08 years. The series stretches across 14 centuries, from the 14th to the 27th centuries.

Saros series 137 displays a sequence profile of eight partial solar eclipses, 10 total solar eclipses, six hybrid solar eclipses, four annular solar eclipses, three hybrid solar eclipses, 32 annular solar eclipses and seven partial solar eclipses. Annular solar eclipses number as the most frequent type of eclipse in Saros series 137, with 36 occurrences. Partial solar eclipses claim second most frequency, with a total of 15 occurrences.

The 14th century’s partial solar eclipse of Monday, May 25, 1389, opened Saros solar series 137. This Northern Hemisphere event staged its greatest eclipse, with coordinates of 64.4 north latitude at 139.8 east longitude, over Tomponskiy Ulus (“district”) in eastern Sakha Republic in the Russian Far East.

The 27th century’s partial solar eclipse of Friday, June 28, 2633, closes Saros solar series 137. This Southern Hemisphere event’s greatest eclipse will occur, with coordinates of 66.75 south at 41.2 west, over the Southern Ocean, south of the South Orkney Islands’ largest island, Coronation Island, and east of the Antarctic Peninsula.

The Sunday, June 21, annular solar eclipse appears as number five within the second sequence of annular solar eclipses in Saros solar series 137. NASA’s Eclipse Web Site places this event’s greatest eclipse, with coordinates of 30.5 north at 79.7 east, over North India’s Uttarakhand province.

The successor of June’s annular solar eclipse in Saros series 137 will appear Friday, July 2, 2038. This event’s greatest eclipse, with coordinates of 25.4 north at 21.9 west, will take place over the open northeastern Atlantic Ocean, southwest of Spain’s Canary Islands.

June’s solar eclipse begins as a partial eclipse, with the moon’s partial obscuring of the solar disk. The moon’s coverage of all but the outer edges of the solar disk initiates the eclipse’s annular phase. Annularity (Latin: annulus, “little ring”) dramatically rings the moon-darkened, central solar disk.

June’s solar eclipse numbers as the third eclipse in the lineup of six eclipses in 2020 and occurs as the first of the year’s two solar eclipses. The year’s second solar eclipse happens Monday, Dec. 14, as the last eclipse of 2020.

The takeaway for the Sunday, June 21, annular solar eclipse is that the year’s first of two solar eclipses belongs to Saros solar series 149 and occurs as number 37 in the lineup of 70 lunar eclipses in the series.

Partial solar eclipse of Friday, June 28, 2633, will close Saros solar series 137’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 Monday, May 25, 1389, opened Saros solar series 137’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/1301-1400/1389-05-25.gif

Partial solar eclipse of Friday, June 28, 2633, will close Saros solar series 137’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/2601-2700/2633-06-28.gif

For further information:

Espenak, Fred. “Annular Solar Eclipse of 2020 Jun 21.” EclipseWise > Solar Eclipses > Solar Eclipse Preview: 2018 Through 2030.
Available via EclipseWise @ http://eclipsewise.com/solar/SEprime/2001-2100/SE2020Jun21Aprime.html

Espenak, Fred. “Annular 2020 Jun 21.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Solar Eclipses > Solar Eclipse Catalogs > Saros Catalog of Solar Eclipses: Saros 0-180 > Saros Series 137.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCSEmap/2001-2100/2020-06-21.gif

Espenak, Fred. “Annular 2038 Jul 02.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Solar Eclipses > Solar Eclipse Catalogs > Saros Catalog of Solar Eclipses: Saros 0-180 > Saros Series 137.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCSEmap/2001-2100/2038-07-02.gif

Espenak, Fred. “Partial 1389 May 25.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Solar Eclipses > Solar Eclipse Catalogs: Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 > Five Millennnium Catalog of Solar Eclipses: 1301 to 1400 > 08066 1389 May 25.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCSEmap/1301-1400/1389-05-25.gif

Espenak, Fred. “Partial 2633 Jun 28.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Solar Eclipses > Solar Eclipse Catalogs: Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 > Five Millennnium Catalog of Solar Eclipses: 2601 to 2700 > 11001 2633 Jun 28.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCSEmap/2601-2700/2633-06-28.gif

Espenak, Fred. “Saros Series 137.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Solar Eclipses > Solar Eclipse Catalogs > Saros Catalog of Solar Eclipses: Saros 0-180.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsaros/SEsaros137.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Sunday, June 21, Annular Solar Eclipse Is First 2020 Solar Eclipse.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, June 10, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/sunday-june-21-annular-solar-eclipse-is.html

Rao, Joe. “Solar Eclipses: When Is the Next One?” Space.com > Science & Astronomy. March 6, 2019.
Available @ https://www.space.com/15584-solar-eclipses.html

Smith, Ian Cameron. “Annular Solar Eclipse of 21 Jun, 2020 AD.” Moon Blink > Hermit Eclipse > Eclipse Database > Full Lunar Catalog > 2001-3000 AD > 2001 AD > 2001-2020 AD.
Available @ https://moonblink.info/Eclipse/eclipse/2020_06_21

Smith, Ian Cameron. “Annular Solar Eclipse of 2 Jul, 2038.” Moon Blink > Hermit Eclipse > Eclipse Database > Full Solar Catalog > 2001-3000 AD > 2001 AD > 2021-2040 AD.
Available @ https://moonblink.info/Eclipse/eclipse/2038_07_02

Smith, Ian Cameron. “Partial Solar Eclipse of 25 May, 1389 AD.” Moon Blink > Hermit Eclipse > Eclipse Database > Full Lunar Catalog > 1001-2000 AD > 1301 AD > 1381-1400 AD.
Available @ https://moonblink.info/Eclipse/eclipse/1389_05_25

Smith, Ian Cameron. “Partial Solar Eclipse of 28 Jun, 2633 AD.” Moon Blink > Hermit Eclipse > Eclipse Database > Full Solar Catalog > 2001-3000 AD > 2601 AD > 2621-2640 AD.
Available @ https://moonblink.info/Eclipse/eclipse/2633_06_28

Tran, Lina; Rob Garner, ed. “Greatest Eclipse and Greatest Duration: What’s the Difference?” NASA > Feature > Goddard Space Flight Center > 2017 > Eclipses and Transits. Aug. 22, 2017.
Available via NASA @ https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/greatest-eclipse-and-greatest-duration-what-s-the-difference