• Source: Solar eclipse of August 11, 1999

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Wednesday, August 11, 1999, with a magnitude of 1.0286. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the sun for a viewer on earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon’s apparent diameter is larger than the Sun’s, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into night. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth’s surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 3.5 days after perigee (on August 8, 1999, at 0:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
It was the first total eclipse visible from Europe since July 22, 1990, and the first visible in the United Kingdom since June 29, 1927.
The path of the Moon's shadow began in the Atlantic Ocean and was later traversing the southern United Kingdom, northern France, Belgium, Luxembourg, southern Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, and northern FR Yugoslavia (Vojvodina). The eclipse's maximum was at 11:03 UTC at 45.1°N 24.3°E / 45.1; 24.3 in Romania and it continued across Bulgaria, the Black Sea, Turkey, the northeastern tip of Syria, northern Iraq, Iran, southern Pakistan and Srikakulam in India and ended in the Bay of Bengal. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of eastern Canada, Greenland, Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, and China.




Observations



Because of the high population densities in areas of the path, this was one of the most-viewed total solar eclipses in human history; although some areas in the path of totality (mainly in Western Europe) offered impaired visibility due to adverse weather conditions.
Some of the organized eclipse-watching parties along the path of totality set up video projectors on which people could watch the moon's shadow as it raced towards them. There was substantial coverage on international TV stations of the progress of the eclipse shadow. The moon's shadow was also observed from the Russian Mir space station; during the eclipse, video from Mir was broadcast live on television.

The BBC concentrated its coverage efforts on the first landfall of the shadow across the western end of Cornwall (from St Ives to Lizard), which was packed with an extraordinary number of visitors, although Cornwall did not have nearly as many spectators as expected leading many organised events to host smaller audiences than anticipated. The veteran amateur astronomer, broadcaster and eclipse-watcher Patrick Moore was brought in to head a live programme, but the eclipse was clouded out. BBC One also produced a special version of their Balloon Idents for the event. The BBC did not have a presence at Goonhilly on the Lizard Peninsula, one of the few places in Cornwall where the clouds parted just in time for the total eclipse to be visible. There was extensive cloud in Perranporth which parted just in time, allowing the very large crowd that had filled the beach and hillsides to witness the event.
Some of the best viewing conditions were to be had mid-Channel, where ferries were halted in calm conditions to obtain an excellent view. Hundreds of people who gathered on the island of Alderney also experienced the event.
Also at sea, many of the Fastnet fleet contestants encountered totality crossing the Celtic Sea on their way to the Fastnet Rock.
A gathering of several thousand people at the airport in Soissons, France, which was on the path of totality, were denied all but a few fleeting glimpses of the eclipse through the overcast sky. The clouds cleared completely just a few minutes after the eclipse.
In contrast, the overcast sky in Amiens, France, where thousands had gathered, cleared only minutes before the eclipse began.
Further inland, viewing conditions were also perfect at Vouziers, a French country town gridlocked by Belgian cars from day-visitors. The patchy cloud covering cleared a short time before the shadow arrived. Some photos from Vouziers were used on the subsequent BBC Sky at Night programme.
The San Francisco Exploratorium featured a live webcast from a crowded town square in Amasya, Turkey.
Doordarshan, the national TV channel in India, broadcast live coverage from Srikakulam, hosted by TV personality Mona Bhattacharya.
A Bulgarian Air Force MiG-21 two-seater was used by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences to study the solar corona. The MiG-21, flying at 1600–1700 km/h (1000 to 1100 mph) (Mach 1.4-1.5) at an altitude of 13,000 metres (43,000 feet), was able to stay in the moon's umbra for 6 minutes. The photographer, an air force pilot, used two film cameras, both fitted with 200 mm lenses and infrared filters, and one Digital8 video camera.
Hungary's most popular tourist destination, Lake Balaton and its surrounding area, fell into the path of the eclipse entirely, which made the area even more popular for the day. The motorway leading to the city was so crowded that many people had to watch the eclipse while caught in a traffic jam.
One French and two British Concordes briefly followed the eclipse with tourists on board.
The BBC was filming one of its episodes for the TV series Airport that day and, during the show, resident press officers Russell Clisby and Steve Meller took photographs of the eclipse at Heathrow Airport, as well as Aeroflot supervisor Jeremy Spake witnessing the eclipse on a special charter flight.
RTS, the national public broadcaster of Serbia, urged people to remain inside, citing dangers to public health. This caused the streets of all Serbian cities, towns and villages to be entirely deserted during the eclipse (97% of Serbs stayed inside), with many opting to watch it on TV instead.
The BMJ, a month after the eclipse, reported only 14 cases of eye damage from improper viewing of the eclipse - a number lower than initially feared. In one of the most serious cases the patient had looked at the sun without eye protection for twenty minutes, but overall the public health campaign had succeeded.




Gallery



































Notable times and coordinates






Eclipse details


Shown below are two tables displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. The first table outlines times at which the moon's penumbra or umbra attains the specific parameter, and the second table describes various other parameters pertaining to this eclipse.




Eclipse season



This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.




Related eclipses






= Eclipses in 1999

=
A penumbral lunar eclipse on January 31.
An annular solar eclipse on February 16.
A partial lunar eclipse on July 28.
A total solar eclipse on August 11.




= Metonic

=
Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 24, 1995
Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 31, 2003




= Tzolkinex

=
Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 30, 1992
Followed by: Solar eclipse of September 22, 2006




= Half-Saros

=
Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of August 6, 1990
Followed by: Lunar eclipse of August 16, 2008




= Tritos

=
Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 11, 1988
Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 11, 2010




= Solar Saros 145

=
Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 31, 1981
Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017




= Inex

=
Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 31, 1970
Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 22, 2028




= Triad

=
Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 10, 1912
Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 11, 2086




= Solar eclipses of 1997–2000

=
This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.
The partial solar eclipses on July 1, 2000 and December 25, 2000 occur in the next lunar year eclipse set.




= Saros 145

=
This eclipse is a part of Saros series 145, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 77 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on January 4, 1639. It contains an annular eclipse on June 6, 1891; a hybrid eclipse on June 17, 1909; and total eclipses from June 29, 1927 through September 9, 2648. The series ends at member 77 as a partial eclipse on April 17, 3009. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.
The longest duration of annularity was produced by member 15 at 6 seconds (by default) on June 6, 1891, and the longest duration of totality will be produced by member 50 at 7 minutes, 12 seconds on June 25, 2522. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.




= Metonic series

=
The metonic series repeats eclipses every 19 years (6939.69 days), lasting about 5 cycles. Eclipses occur in nearly the same calendar date. In addition, the octon subseries repeats 1/5 of that or every 3.8 years (1387.94 days). All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's ascending node.




= Tritos series

=
This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.




= Inex series

=
This eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.




Popular culture


Sleeping Sun (1999), by the Finnish band Nightwish
Les Terriens (2000), French documentary directed by Ariane Doublet
Les Ensoleillés (2002), compilation of around twenty short stories based on the 1999 eclipse, written by Joël Egloff




See also


List of solar eclipses visible from the United Kingdom




Notes






References


Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
Google interactive map
Besselian elements

Eclipse at hermit.org
"Club Krile Magazine", Vol. 11, 1999, "Air Group 2000" Publishing, Sofia, Bulgaria
The Total Solar Eclipse of 1999 August 11
Russia expedition
Photos
Turkey. Prof. Druckmüller's eclipse photography site
Hungary. Prof. Druckmüller's eclipse photography site
France. Prof. Druckmüller's eclipse photography site
Bulgaria
Solar Corona Shape
Exploratorium Webcast: Solar Eclipse August 11, 1999
KryssTal - Eclipse in Cornwall (UK)—totality not seen but scene photographed
Solar eclipse of August 11, 1999 Romania, shown in Romanian Maximum Card Archived August 21, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
Solar eclipse of August 11, 1999 Romania, shown in Romanian Maximum Card Archived August 21, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
Images from Turkey by Crayford Manor House Astronomical Society Archived 2013-02-09 at archive.today
A Crescent Sunrise, APOD 8/17/1999, partial eclipse from Quebec, Canada
Sun Block, APOD 8/18/1999, totality from Hungary
Light From The Dark Sun, APOD 8/19/1999, totality from Siofok, Hungary
At The Sun's Edge, APOD 8/20/1999, totality near Bagdere, Turkey
The Big Corona, APOD 4/8/2001, totality by Fred Espenak
Total Eclipse of the Active Sun, APOD 6/20/2001, from Kecel, Hungary
Diamond Ring in the Sun, APOD 6/21/2001, totality from eastern Turkey
Looking Back at an Eclipsed Earth, APOD 9/26/2004, total eclipse shadow seen from Mir spacestation, chosen as APOD again on 6/10/2007
Russian scientist observed eclipse

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