First of Two 2022 Partial Solar Eclipses Occurs Saturday, April 30

Summary: The first of two 2022 partial solar eclipses occurs Saturday, April 30, as a Southern Hemisphere event that favors the Pacific and Southern oceans.

details of partial solar eclipse Saturday, April 30, 2022: "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 first of two 2022 partial solar eclipses occurs Saturday, April 30, as a Southern Hemisphere event that opens the year's lineup of four eclipses and that favors the Pacific and Southern oceans.

As viewed from Earth, the intervention of the moon between Earth and the sun triggers a solar eclipse. In a partial solar eclipse, the moon incompletely obscures the solar disk.

The partial solar eclipse that occurs Saturday, April 30, 2022, opens the year's lineup of four eclipses as the first of two partial solar eclipses and precedes the first of the year's two total lunar eclipses. The year's second partial solar eclipse, taking place Tuesday, Oct. 25, sequences as the third of the year's four eclipses. The year's two total lunar eclipses, occurring Monday, May 16, and Tuesday, Nov. 8, numbers as the year's second and fourth, closing eclipses, respectively.

April's partial solar eclipse is the only one of the year's four eclipses that exclusively favors the Southern Hemisphere. The year's second partial solar eclipse exclusively favors the Northern Hemisphere, while both of the year's total lunar eclipses offer varying degrees of visibility to both the Northern and Southern hemispheres.

Continentally, the year's first partial solar eclipse favors southern South America and northern fringes of West Antarctica. Oceanically, April's partial solar eclipse restricts visibility to parts of the central and eastern South Pacific Ocean and of the Southern Ocean and to a slice of the southwestern Atlantic Ocean along southeasternmost South America's Patagonian coast.

First contact between Earth's surface and the lunar penumbra (P1) initiates April's partial solar eclipse. First contact occurs Saturday, April 30, at 18:45:13.2 Universal Time (2:45 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time), according to NASA astrophysicist, now emeritus, Fred Espenak's eclipse predictions on the NASA Eclipse Web Site.

Greatest eclipse (GE) references the instant of closest passage of the lunar shadow cone's axis to Earth's center. Greatest eclipse happens at 20:41:20.2 UT (4:41 p.m. EDT).

Greatest eclipse will occur over the Southern Ocean, southwest of Drake Passage. The treacherously high-waved passage lies between Antarctica's South Shetland Islands and South America's Chilean Tierra del Fuego ("Land of Fire; Fireland") archipelago.

Last contact between Earth and the lunar penumbra (P4) signals the April partial solar eclipse's completion. April's partial solar eclipse ends at 22:37:56.0 UT (6:37 p.m. EDT).

Chile's Easter Island (Rapa Nui: Rapa Nui; Spanish: Isla de Pascua) in the southeastern Pacific Ocean falls within the April event's all visibility region. The partial solar eclipse begins Saturday, April 30, at 2:04:03 p.m. Easter Island Standard Time (EAST), according to the Time and Date website. Greatest eclipse occurs at 3:04:12 p.m. EAST. The partial solar eclipse ends at 4:01:39 p.m. EAST with the moon's apparent departure from the sun's edge, thereby effecting Earth's exit from the lunar penumbra.

The British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands archipelago (Spanish: Islas Malvinas) in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean experiences incomplete visibility of April's partial solar eclipse. Time and Date cautions that the sun's placement close to the horizon during the eclipse necessitates observation from an unobstructed site with clear views to the west-northwest.

Time and Date places the Saturday, April 30, event's start at 5:01:26 p.m. Falkland Islands Summer Time (FKST) for Stanley, the archipelago's capital, located on the northeastern coast of the archipelago's largest island, East Falkland (Spanish: Isla Soledad). Stanley experiences greatest eclipse at 5:31:37 p.m. FKST. Sunset begins at 5:35:22 p.m. FKST. Stanley misses the partial solar eclipse's end, which occurs below the horizon, at 7:09:42 p.m. FKST.

Located off the northwestern coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, Anvers Island's Palmer Station experiences incomplete visibility of April's partial solar eclipse. The Time and Date website notes that the sun's closeness to the horizon requires unobstructed observations sites with clear views to the northwest.

The U.S. research station witnesses the eclipse's commencement Saturday, April 30, at 4:31:12 p.m. Chile Summer Time (CLST). Greatest eclipse occurs at 4:58:44 p.m. CLST. Sunset at 5:04:52 p.m. CLST augurs non-visibility of the partial solar eclipse's below-horizon end at 6:45:16 p.m. CLST.

The takeaways for the Saturday, April 30, occurrence of the first of two 2022 partial solar eclipses are that April's partial solar eclipse opens the year's lineup of two partial solar eclipses and two total lunar eclipses; that the year's second partial solar eclipse sequences between the year's two total lunar eclipses; and that April's partial solar eclipse occurs as the year's only exclusively Southern Hemisphere eclipse.

animation of partial solar eclipse Saturday, April 30, 2022: A.T. Sinclair/NASA via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

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

Dedication

This post is dedicated to the memory of our beloved blue-eyed brother, Charles, who guided the creation of the Met Opera and Astronomy posts on Earth and Space News. We memorialized our brother in "Our Beloved Blue-Eyed Brother, Charles, With Whom We Are Well Pleased," published on Earth and Space News on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, an anniversary of our beloved father's death.

Image credits:

details of partial solar eclipse Saturday, April 30, 2022: "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/SEplot/SEplot2001/SE2022Apr30P.GIF

animation of partial solar eclipse Saturday, April 30, 2022: A.T. Sinclair/NASA via Wikimedia Commons @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SE2022Apr30P.gif

For further information:

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

Espenak, Fred. “Key to Global Map of Solar Eclipses.” EclipseWise > Solar Eclipses.
Available @ https://www.eclipsewise.com/solar/SEhelp/SEsarcatkey.html

Espenak, Fred. "Key to Solar Eclipse Decade Table." NASA Eclipse Web Site > Solar Eclipses.
Available @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEdecade/SEdecadetabkey.html

Espenak, Fred. "Partial Solar Eclipse of 2022 Apr 30." EclipseWise > Solar Eclipses > Recent and Upcoming Solar Eclipses > Decade Tables of Solar Eclipses > Solar Eclipses: 2021-2030.
Available @ http://www.eclipsewise.com/solar/SEprime/2001-2100/SE2022Apr30Pprime.html

Espenak, Fred. "Partial Solar Eclipse of 2022 Apr 30." NASA Eclipse Web Site > Solar Eclipses > Solar Eclipses: Past and Future > Decade Solar Eclipse Tables > Solar Eclipses: 2021-2030.
Available @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEplot/SEplot2001/SE2022Apr30P.GIF

Jubier, Xavier M. "Solar Eclipse of April 30 2022." The SkyLive > Solar Eclipses.
Available @ https://theskylive.com/solar-eclipse?id=2022-04-30

Marriner, Derdriu. "Partial Solar Eclipse Aug. 11 Is Third of Three 2018 Solar Eclipses." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/08/partial-solar-eclipse-aug-11-is-third.html

Time and Date. "April 30, 2022 -- Partial Solar Eclipse -- Easter Island, Chile (Rapa Nui)." Time and Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses > Easter Island, Chile.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/chile/easter-island?iso=20220430

Time and Date. "April 30, 2022 -- Partial Solar Eclipse -- Palmer Station, Antarctica." Time and Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses > Palmer Station, Antarctica.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/antarctica/palmer-station?iso=20220430

Time and Date. "April 30, 2022 -- Partial Solar Eclipse -- Stanley, Falkland Islands." Time and Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses > Stanley, Falkland Islands.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/falkland/stanley?iso=20220430

Time and Date. "Time Zone Converter -- Time Difference Calculator (Classic)." Time and Date > Time Zones.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter-classic.html

Saturday, Dec. 4, Total Solar Eclipse Closes 2021 Eclipse Quartet

Summary: The Saturday, Dec. 4, total solar eclipse closes the 2021 eclipse quartet as the second of the year's two solar eclipses.

Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021, total solar eclipse details: "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 Saturday, Dec. 4, total solar eclipse closes the 2021 eclipse quartet of two lunar eclipses and two solar eclipses as the second and last of the year's two solar eclipses.

December's solar eclipse is exclusively a southernmost Southern Hemisphere event. The path of totality for December's solar eclipse focuses continentally on West Antarctica and oceanically on the Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctica Ocean or the Austral Ocean, and the southwesternmost reach of the South Atlantic Ocean.

The eclipse's path of partiality expands the event's visibility across the rest of Antarctica, known as East Antarctica or Greater Antarctica. The partial eclipse portion's northern limits visit the the south and subantarctic regions of the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean; skim southeastern Australia, southwestern Africa and southeastern South America; and sparingly touch the southwestern Pacific Ocean.

The instant of first external contact of the penumbra, the lunar shadow's outer and lighter portion, with Earth's surface initiates a solar eclipse's partial portion. According to the NASA Eclipse Web Site's eclipse predictions by NASA astrophysicist, now retired, Fred Espenak, the Saturday, Dec. 4, solar event's partial eclipse begins at 5:29:11.3 Universal Time (12:29 a.m. Eastern Standard Time; 2:29 a.m. Chile Summer Time; 4:29 a.m. Australian Eastern Daylight Time; 7:29 a.m. Central Africa Time and South Africa Standard Time).

The instant of first external contact of the umbra, the lunar shadow's innermost and darkest portion, with Earth's surface nudges the solar eclipse's total portion. The Saturday, Dec. 4, solar event's total eclipse begins at 7:00:01.0 UT (2:00 a.m. EST; 4:00 a.m. CLST; 6:00 a.m. AEDT; 9:00 a.m. CAT and SAST).

The instant of first internal contact of the umbra with Earth's surface occasion's the total eclipse's second significant umbral contact. This first internal umbral contact takes place at 7:05:48.9 UT (2:05 a.m. EST; 4:05 a.m. CLST; 6:05 a.m. AEDT; 9:05 a.m. CAT and SAST).

Greatest eclipse concerns the instant of closest passage of the lunar shadow cone's axis to Earth's center. The Saturday, Dec. 4, solar event's greatest eclipse takes place at 7:33:22.5 UT (2:33 a.m. EST; 4:33 a.m. CLST; 6:33 a.m. AEDT; 9:33 a.m. CAT and SAST).

The geographic coordinates at greatest eclipse are 76 degrees 46.7 minutes south latitude, 46 degrees 11.9 degrees west longitude. The coordinates place the Saturday, Dec. 4, greatest eclipse in the Weddell Sea, north of Berkner Island, also known as Berkner Ice Rise or Hubley Island.

At greatest eclipse, the moon's geocentric coordinates are right ascension of 16 hours 42 minutes 34.9 seconds and declination of minus 23 degrees 13 arcminutes 22.1 arcseconds. The sun's greatest eclipse geocentric coordinates are right ascension of 16 hours 43 minutes 32.3 seconds and declination of minus 22 degrees 16 arcminutes 29.3 arcseconds.

This greatest eclipse has a duration of 1 minute 54.4 seconds. At greatest eclipse, the path width measures 418.6 kilometers.

At greatest eclipse, the moon is in the constellation of Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer, according to Fred Espenak's EclipseWise web site. Greatest eclipse precedes the lunar reach of perigee (Ancient Greek: περί, perí, “near” + γῆ, gê, “Earth”) by 0.1 days. According to Espenak's AstroPixels web site, perigee takes place Saturday, Dec. 4, 10:01 Greenwich Mean Time. The center-to-center distance of 356,794 kilometers between Earth and the moon qualifies as the year's minimum value, or closest distance, for perigee.

The instant of last internal contact of the umbra with Earth's surface marks the total eclipse's third significant umbral contact. This last internal umbral contact occurs at 8:00:40.9 UT (3:00 a.m. EST; 5:00 a.m. CLST; 7:00 a.m. AEDT; 10:00 a.m. CAT and SAST).

The instant of last external contact of the umbra with Earth's surface, which numbers as the total eclpse's fourth significant umbral contact, closes a solar eclipse's total portion. The Saturday, Dec. 4, solar event's total eclipse finishes at 08:06:29.2 UT (3:06 a.m. EST; 5:06 a.m. CLST; 7:06 a.m. AEDT; 10:06 a.m. CAT and SAST).

The instant of last external contact of the penumbra with Earth's surface terminates the partial solar eclipse. The Saturday, Dec. 4, solar event's partial eclipse ends at 9:37:23.9 UT (4:37 a.m. EST; 6:37 a.m. CLST; 8:37 a.m. AEDT; 11:37 a.m. CAT and SAST).

The end of the Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021, total solar eclipse marks the end of the year's eclipses. December's solar eclipse numbers as the fourth of the year's four eclipses and as the second of the year's two solar eclipses. The year's first solar eclipse took place Thursday, June 10, as an annular solar eclipse. The year's two lunar eclipses occurred Wednesday, May 26, and Friday, Nov. 19, as total and partial lunar eclipses, respectively.

The takeaways for the Saturday, Dec. 4, total solar eclipse are that it closes the 2021 eclipse quartet of two lunar and two solar eclipses; that the event's path of totality exclusively favors West Antarctica and the Antarctic Ocean; and that the event's path of partiality skims southernmost Africa, Australia and South America.

animation of total solar eclipse Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021: 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:

Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021, total solar eclipse details; credit: "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/SEplot/SEplot2001/SE2021Dec04T.GIF

animation of total solar eclipse Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021: A.T. Sinclair/NASA, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SE2021Dec04T.gif

For further information:

Beatty, J. Kelly. "Solar and Lunar Eclipses in 2021." Sky & Telescope > Observing > Celestial News & Events. Jan. 26, 2021.
Available @ https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/solar-and-lunar-eclipses-in-2021/

Celestial Chart. "Moon Phases." Celestial Chart > Ephemeris.
Available @ http://celestialchart.com/moon-phases/

Espenak, Fred. "Glossary of Solar Eclipse Terms." NASA Eclipse Web Site > Solar Eclipses.
Available @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/SEglossary.html

Espenak, Fred. "Key to Solar Eclipse Global Maps." NASA Eclipse Web Site > Solar Eclipses.
Available @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEplot/SEplotkey.html

Espenak, Fred. “Moon at Perigee and Apogee: 2001 to 2020 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).” AstroPixels > Planetary Ephemeris Data > Moon > Perigee and Apogee: 2001-2100.
Available @ http://astropixels.com/ephemeris/moon/moonperap2001.html

Espenak, Fred. “Total Solar Eclipse of 2021 Dec 4.” EclipseWise > Solar Eclipses > Recent and Upcoming Solar Eclipses > Eclipses During 2021.
Available @ http://www.eclipsewise.com/solar/SEprime/2001-2100/SE2021Dec04Tprime.html

Espenak, Fred. “Total Solar Eclipse of 2021 Dec 4.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Solar Eclipses > Solar Eclipses: Past and Future > Decade Solar Eclipse Tables > Solar Eclipses: 2021-2030.
Available @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEplot/SEplot2001/SE2021Dec04T.GIF

Marriner, Derdriu. "Friday, Nov. 19, Partial Lunar Eclipse Belongs to Saros Cycle 126." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/11/friday-nov-19-partial-lunar-eclipse.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Friday, Nov. 19, Partial Lunar Eclipse Is Second 2021 Lunar Eclipse." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/11/friday-nov-19-partial-lunar-eclipse-is.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "May 26, 2021, Total Lunar Eclipse Belongs to Saros Cycle 121." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 26, 2021.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/05/may-26-2021-total-lunar-eclipse-belongs.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "May 26 Total Lunar Eclipse Is First of Two 2021 Lunar Eclipses." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 19, 2021.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/05/may-26-total-lunar-eclipse-is-first-of.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Thursday, June 10, Annular Solar Eclipse Belongs to Saros Series 147." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, June 9, 2021.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/06/thursday-june-10-annular-solar-eclipse_01795210254.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Thursday, June 10, Annular Solar Eclipse Is First 2021 Solar Eclipse." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, June 2, 2021.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/06/thursday-june-10-annular-solar-eclipse.html

Time and Date. "December 4, 2021 Total Solar Eclipse." Time and Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/2021-december-4

Time and Date. "December 4, 2021 — Total Solar Eclipse — Cape Town, South Africa." Time and Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/south-africa/cape-town?iso=20211204

Time and Date. "December 4, 2021 — Total Solar Eclipse — Mafeteng, Lesotho." Time and Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/lesotho/mafeteng?iso=20211204

Time and Date. "December 4, 2021 — Total Solar Eclipse — Marion Island (Prince Edward Islands), South Africa." Time and Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/south-africa/marion-island-prince-edward-islands?iso=20211204

Time and Date. "December 4, 2021 — Total Solar Eclipse — Melbourne, Vic, Australia." Time and Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/australia/melbourne?iso=20211204

Time and Date. "December 4, 2021 — Total Solar Eclipse — Puerto Williams, Chile." Time and Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/chile/puerto-williams?iso=20211204

Time and Date. "December 4, 2021 — Total Solar Eclipse — Stanley, Falkland Islands." Time and Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/falkland/stanley?iso=20211204

Time and Date. "December 4, 2021 — Total Solar Eclipse — Walvis Bay, Namibia." Time and Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/namibia/walvis-bay?iso=20211204

Time and Date. "Time Zone Converter – Time Difference Calculator (Classic)." Time and Date > Time Zones.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter-classic.html