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Eclipses During 2003

by Fred Espenak

Observer's Handbook 2003, Royal Astronomical Society of Canada

During the year 2003, there will be two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses:
2003 May 16: Total Lunar Eclipse

2003 May 31: Annular Solar Eclipse

2003 Nov 09: Total Lunar Eclipse

2003 Nov 23: Total Solar Eclipse

Predictions for the eclipses are summarized in figures 1 through 6. World maps show the regions of visibility for
each eclipse. The lunar eclipse diagrams also include the path of the Moon through Earth's shadows. Contact
times for each principal phase are tabulated along with the magnitudes and geocentric coordinates of the Sun and
Moon at greatest eclipse.

All times and dates used in this publication are in Universal Time or UT. This astronomically derived time
system is colloquially referred to as Greenwich Mean Time or GMT. To learn more about UT and how to convert
UT to your own local time, see Time Zones and Universal Time.

Total Lunar Eclipse of May 16

Penumbral Eclipse Begins: 01:05:16 UT
Partial Eclipse Begins: 02:02:42 UT
Total Eclipse Begins: 03:13:40 UT
Greatest Eclipse: 03:40:01 UT
Total Eclipse Ends: 04:06:22 UT
Partial Eclipse Ends: 05:17:20 UT
Penumbral Eclipse Ends: 06:14:47 UT

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The first eclipse of the year is a total lunar eclipse which is well placed for Western Hemisphere observers. The
eclipse occurs just half a day after perigee so the Moon will appear quite large (33.4 arc-minutes). During this
event, the Moon is low on the ecliptic in Libra approximately fifteen degrees west of the first magnitude star
Alpha Scorpii (Antares).

The Moon's path takes it through the northern part of Earth's umbral shadow. Although the eclipse is not central,
the total phase still lasts nearly 53 minutes. The eclipse begins at 01:05 UT with first penumbral contact. An
hour later, the partial eclipse commences with first umbral contact at 02:03 UT. The total umbral eclipse begins
at 03:14 UT and ends at 04:07 UT. The partial phase ends at 05:17 UT and the Moon leaves the penumbral
shadow at 06:15 UT. The Moon's path through Earth's shadows as well as a map illustrating worldwide visibility
of the event is shown in Figure 1.

At the instant of greatest eclipse (03:40 UT), the Moon will lie in the zenith for observers in southern Brazil near
its western border with Bolivia and Paraguay. At this time, the umbral magnitude1 peaks at 1.134 as the Moon's
southern limb passes 8.6 arc-minutes north of the shadow's axis. In contrast, the Moon's northern limb will lie
4.5 arc-minutes from the northern edge of the umbra and 25.3 arc-minutes from the shadow centre. Thus, the
northern sections of the Moon will appear much brighter than the southern part which will lie deeper in the
shadow. Since the Moon samples a large range of umbral depths during totality, its appearance will likely change
dramatically with time. However, it's impossible to predict the exact brightness distribution in the umbra so
observers are encouraged to estimate the Danjon value at different times during totality (see section: Danjon
Scale of Lunar Eclipse Brightness). Note that it may also be necessary to assign different Danjon values to
different portions of the Moon (i.e. - north vs. south).

During totality, the spring constellations will be well placed for viewing. Spica (mv = +0.98) lies 32° west of the
eclipsed Moon, while Arcturus (mv = -0.05) is 43° to the northwest. Jupiter will appear low in the west in
Cancer.

The eclipse will be widely visible from the Americas, Europe, and Africa. The eastern half of North America
will witness the entire event, while the partial phases will already be in progress at moonrise from the western
portions of the continent. Similarly, the Moon sets in Europe during various stages of the eclipse. Observers in
Ontario, Quebec, the Maritime Provinces and eastern U. S. will see all phases of the eclipse. Farther to the west,
the eclipse begins before moonrise but totality will still be visible from the region except from Yukon and
Alaska.

Table 1 lists predicted umbral immersion and emersion times for twenty well-defined lunar craters. The timing
of craters is useful in determining the atmospheric enlargement of Earth's shadow (see: Crater Timings During
Lunar Eclipses).

Annular Solar Eclipse of May 31

The first solar eclipse of 2003 is a very unusual annular eclipse which takes place in the Northern Hemisphere
(Figure 2). The axis of the Moon's shadow passes to the far north where it barely grazes Earth's surface. In fact,
the northern edge of the antumbra2 actually misses our planet so that one path limit is defined by the day/night
terminator rather by the shadow's upper edge. As a result, the track of annularity has a peculiar "D" shape which
is nearly 1200 kilometres wide. Since the eclipse occurs just three weeks prior to the northern summer solstice,
Earth's northern axis is pointed sunwards by 21.8°. As seen from the Sun, the antumbral shadow actually passes
between the North Pole and the terminator. As a consequence of this extraordinary geometry, the path of
annularity runs from east to west instead of visa versa. As a member of Saros 1473, this is the first central
eclipse of the series.

The event transpires near the Moon's ascending node in central Taurus five degrees north of Aldebaran. Since
apogee occurs three days earlier (May 28 at 13 UT), the Moon's apparent diameter (29.6 arc-minutes) is still too
small to completely cover the Sun (31.6 arc-minutes) resulting in an annular eclipse.
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The Moon's antumbral shadow first touches down on Earth at 03:45 UT in northern Scotland about 100
kilometres north of Glasgow (Figure 3). The antumbra quickly extends northward as it travels on a northwestern
trajectory. In Scotland, the Northwest Highlands, Loch Ness, the Isle of Lewis (Outer Hebrides), Orkney Islands
and Shetland Islands all lie in the annular track where maximum eclipse occurs at or shortly after sunrise.
Several minutes later, the shadow's edge reaches the Faeroe Islands (03:51 UT) where annularity lasts 03
minutes 08 seconds with the Sun 4° above the northeastern horizon.

By 03:59 UT, the leading edge of the antumbra arrives along the southeastern coast of Iceland. Traveling with a
ground velocity between 1.9 and 1.1 kilometres per second (from southwest to northwest Iceland), the shadow
sweeps across the entire North Atlantic nation in eight minutes. The shadow is so broad, that the duration of the
three and a half minute annular phase varies by less than 5 seconds across all of Iceland.

After traversing the Denmark Strait, the highly elliptical antumbra bisects Greenland where over a third of the
enormous island lies within the track. Crossing the ill-named land mass, the path width rapidly shrinks as the
grazing antumbra begins its return to space. Just before reaching Baffin Island, the shadow leaves Earth in the
Davis Strait (04:31 UT). From start to finish, the antumbra sweeps over its entire path in a little under 47
minutes.

The central line of the eclipse forms a short C-shaped curve which begins south of Iceland and crosses the
country near Reykjavik. Greatest eclipse4 occurs at 04:08:18 UT about 200 kilometres northwest of the
Scandinavian island nation. At that point, the duration of the annular phase lasts 3 minutes 37 seconds with the
Sun 2.9° above the northeastern horizon. The central line ends near Greenland after running its complete course
in twelve minutes

Coordinates of the annular path and central line circumstances are presented in Table 2. Partial phases of the
eclipse are visible from much of Europe (except Spain and Portugal) and the Middle East where the event occurs
at sunrise, as well as from central and northern Asia (excluding most of China, South East Asia and Japan). In
the Western Hemisphere, the partial eclipse is visible from northern Canada and Alaska during the afternoon of
May 30. Local circumstances for a number of cities are listed in Table 3. All times are given in Universal Time.
The Sun's altitude and azimuth, the eclipse magnitude5 and obscuration6 are all given at the instant of maximum
eclipse.

A detailed report on this eclipse is available from NASA's Technical Publication series (see: NASA Solar
Eclipse Bulletins). Additional information is also available at the 2003 annular solar eclipse web site:

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEmono/ASE2003/ASE2003.html

Total Lunar Eclipse of November 09

Penumbral Eclipse Begins: 22:15:00 UT
Partial Eclipse Begins: 23:32:21 UT
Total Eclipse Begins: 01:06:07 UT
Greatest Eclipse: 01:18:23 UT
Total Eclipse Ends: 01:30:38 UT
Partial Eclipse Ends: 03:04:24 UT
Penumbral Eclipse Ends: 04:21:48 UT

The second lunar eclipse of the year occurs six lunations after the first. It takes place at the ascending node of
Luna's orbit in Aries. This time, the Moon is 1.4 days shy of apogee and appears 12% smaller (= 29.4 arc-
minutes) than it was during May's eclipse. The Moon's trajectory takes it well to the south of the umbral
shadow's central axis resulting in a total eclipse which lasts just 25 minutes. At mid-totality, the Moon's southern
limb is a scant 0.6 arc-minutes from the umbra's edge. Even the northern limb is 23.4 arc-minutes from the
centre of the shadow. Assuming that the transparency of Earth's atmosphere remains relatively unchanged, the

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November eclipse will be dramatically brighter than the May event because of the shallow umbral depth. Since
different parts of the Moon will probe radically different portions of Earth's umbral shadow, a large variation in
shadow brightness can be expected. The totally eclipsed Moon will appear to have a bright rim along its
southern edge. Observers are encouraged to estimate the Danjon value at mid-totality (see section: Danjon Scale
of Lunar Eclipse Brightness).

The near grazing geometry of this event suggests that it is a transition eclipse in its Saros series. Indeed, it is the
very last total eclipse of Saros 126. This series produced thirteen total lunar eclipses during the past 234 years.
The next nineteen eclipses in the family will all be partial eclipses of decreasing duration and magnitude.

The penumbral phase of November's eclipse begins at 22:15 UT (on Nov 08), but most observers will not be
able to visually detect the shadow until about 23:00 UT. The partial eclipse commences with first umbral contact
at 23:33 UT. Totality begins at 01:06 UT and lasts until 01:31 UT. The partial and penumbral phases end at
03:05 UT and 04:22 UT, respectively.

At the instant of mid-totality (01:19 UT), the Moon will stand at the zenith for observers near the Cape Verde
Islands in the Atlantic. At that time, the umbral eclipse magnitude will be 1.022. The entire eclipse will be
visible from Europe and most of Africa as well as the eastern Americas. Various stages of the eclipse are in
progress at moonset for observers throughout Asia. In the Western Hemisphere, the ingressing partial phases will
already be in progress at moonrise for observers in western Canada and the U. S.. The Moon's path through
Earth's shadows as well as a map illustrating worldwide visibility of the event is shown in Figure 4. Note that no
eclipse is visible from easternmost Asia, Japan, Indonesia or Australia. Table 4 lists predicted umbral immersion
and emersion times for twenty well-defined lunar craters. The timing of craters is useful in determining the
atmospheric enlargement of Earth's shadow (see: Crater Timings During Lunar Eclipses).

Total Solar Eclipse of November 23

The final event of 2003 is a total solar eclipse visible from the Southern Hemisphere Figure 5. The path of the
Moon's umbral shadow begins at 22:19 UT in the southern Indian Ocean about 1100 kilometres southeast of
Kerguelen Island (Figure 6). Curving south, the 500 kilometre wide umbral path reaches the coast of Antarctica
at 22:35 UT. The Shackleton Ice Shelf and Russia's Mirnyy research station lie in the path where the central line
duration is 1 minute 55 seconds and the Sun stands 13° above the frozen landscape. Quickly moving inland, the
elongated shadow sweeps over the desolate interior of the continent encountering no permanently staffed
research stations for the next half hour.

Greatest eclipse occurs in Wilkes Land at 22:49:17 UT. At this point, the duration of totality reaches its
maximum of 1 minute 55 seconds at solar altitude of 15°. The duration and altitude slowly drop as the umbra's
path curves from southwest to northwest. Just like May's annular eclipse, the November event features a lunar
shadow moving in the "wrong" direction. Once again, the explanation lies in the deep southern track of the
umbra coupled with the close proximity of the eclipse with winter solstice. As viewed from the Sun's direction,
the shadow passes around the "back" side of the pole between Earth's axis of rotation and the terminator.

The umbra reaches the Antarctic coast in Queen Maud Land and several more research stations (Asuka,
Novolazarevskaya, Maitri) before the path ends and the shadow leaves Earth's surface (23:19 UT) one hour after
it began.

The rest of Antarctica will see a partial eclipse as well as New Zealand, most of Australia, and southern
Argentina and Chile (Figure 5). Coordinates for the path of totality and central line circumstances are presented
in Table 5. Local circumstances for a selection of cities throughout the path are given in Table 6 . All times are
given in Universal Time. The Sun's altitude and azimuth, the eclipse magnitude and obscuration are all given at
the instant of maximum eclipse.

A detailed report on this eclipse is available from NASA's Technical Publication series (see: NASA Solar
Eclipse Bulletins). Additional information is also available at the 2003 total solar eclipse web site:

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http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEmono/TSE2003/TSE2003.html

Footnotes

1 Umbral magnitude of a lunar eclipse is defined as the fraction of the Moon's diameter covered by
the umbral shadow. The magnitude is less than 1.0 for partial eclipses, and ³1.0 for total eclipses.
2 The antumbra begins at the vertex of the umbral shadow and extends out into space away from the
Sun. During a solar eclipse, an observer within the antumbra will see an annular eclipse.
3 Saros - a period of 223 lunations or synodic months (6585.3216 days or 18.03 years). Eclipses
separated by one saros share nearly identical characteristics. This occurs because 223 synodic
months is almost equal to 242 draconic months (6585.3572 days) and 239 anomalistic months
(6585.5375 days). Since the periods are not perfect, the eclipses in a Saros series slowly evolve.
Each Saros series lasts about 12 centuries.
4 The instant of greatest eclipse occurs when the distance between the Moon's shadow axis and
Earth's geocentre reaches a minimum. Although greatest eclipse differs slightly from the instants of
greatest magnitude and greatest duration (for total eclipses), the differences are quite small.
5 Eclipse magnitude is defined as the fraction of the Sun's diameter occulted by the Moon
6 Eclipse obscuration is defined as the fraction of the Sun's surface area occulted by the Moon.

Key to Solar Eclipse Maps

Key to Lunar Eclipse Maps

Danjon Scale of Lunar Eclipse Brightness

Crater Timings During Lunar Eclipses

Eclipse Altitudes and Azimuths

The altitude a and azimuth A of the Sun or Moon during an eclipse depends on the time and the observer's
geographic coordinates. They are calculated as follows:
h = 15 (GST + UT - ra ) + l
a = ArcSin [ Sin d Sin f + Cos d Cos h Cos f ]
A = ArcTan [ - (Cos d Sin h) / (Sin d Cos f - Cos d Cos h Sin f) ]

where:
h = Hour Angle of Sun or Moon
a = Altitude
A = Azimuth
GST = Greenwich Sidereal Time at 0:00 UT
UT = Universal Time
ra = Right Ascension of Sun or Moon
d = Declination of Sun or Moon
l = Observer's Longitude (East +, West -)
f = Observer's Latitude (North +, South -)

During the eclipses of 2003, the values for GST and the geocentric Right Ascension and Declination of the Sun
or the Moon (at greatest eclipse) are as follows:
Eclipse Date GST ra d

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Total Lunar 2003 May 16 15.563 15.512 -18.592
Annular Solar 2003 May 31 16.550 4.509 21.849
Total Lunar 2003 Nov 09 3.188 2.927 16.330
Total Solar 2003 Nov 23 4.166 15.940 -20.406

Eclipses During 2004

In 2004, there will be two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses:

2004 Apr 19: Partial Solar Eclipse

2004 May 04: Total Lunar Eclipse

2004 Oct 14: Partial Solar Eclipse

2004 Oct 28: Total Lunar Eclipse

A full report Eclipses During 2004 will be published in the Observer's Handbook 2004.

NASA Solar Eclipse Bulletins

Special bulletins containing detailed predictions and meteorological data for future solar eclipses of interest are
prepared by F. Espenak and J. Anderson, and are published through NASA's Publication series. The bulletins are
provided as a public service to both the professional and lay communities, including educators and the media. A
list of currently available bulletins and an order form can be found at:

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEpubs/RPrequest.html

Single copies of the eclipse bulletins are available at no cost by sending a 9 by 12 inch self-addressed envelope
stamped with postage for 11 ounces (310 grams). Please print the eclipse year on the envelope's lower left
corner. Use stamps only, since cash or checks cannot be accepted. Requests from outside the U. S. and Canada
may send ten international postal coupons. Mail requests to: Fred Espenak, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center,
Code 693, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA. The NASA eclipse bulletins are also available over the Internet,
including out-of-print bulletins. Using a Web browser, they can be read or downloaded via the World-Wide Web
from the GSFC/SDAC (Solar Data Analysis Center) eclipse page:

SEpubs/index.html

The original Microsoft Word text files and PICT figures (Macintosh format) are also available via anonymous
ftp. They are stored as BinHex-encoded, StuffIt-compressed Mac folders with .hqx suffixes. For PC's, the text is
available in a zip-compressed format in files with the .zip suffix. There are three sub directories for figures (GIF
format), maps (JPEG format), and tables.

Eclipse Web Site

A special solar and lunar eclipse web site is available via the Internet at:

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse.html

The site features predictions and maps for all solar and lunar eclipses well into the 21st century. Special
emphasis is placed on eclipses occurring during the next two years with detailed path maps, tables, graphs and
meteorological data. Additional catalogs list every solar and lunar eclipse over a 5000 year period.

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Detailed information on solar and lunar eclipse photography, tips on eclipse observing and eye safety may be
found at:

http://www.MrEclipse.com

Acknowledgments
All eclipse predictions were generated on an Apple iMac G4 using algorithms developed from the Explanatory
Supplement [1974] with additional algorithms from Meeus, Grosjean, and Vanderleen [1966]. The solar and
lunar ephemerides were generated from Newcomb and the Improved Lunar Ephemeris. For lunar eclipses, the
diameter of the umbral shadow was enlarged by 2% to compensate for Earth's atmosphere and the effects of
oblateness have been included. Text and table composition was done on a Macintosh using Microsoft Word.
Additional figure annotation was performed with Claris MacDraw Pro.

All calculations, diagrams, tables and opinions presented in this paper are those of the author and he assumes
full responsibility for their accuracy.

A special thanks goes to summer intern Holly Schurter (National Space Club) for transferring this document to
the web.

References

Eckert, Jones and Clark, Improved Lunar Ephemeris 1952-1959, 1954, U. S. Naval Observatory,
Washington, DC.
Espenak, F., 1988, Fifty Year Canon of Solar Eclipses: 1986-2035, Sky Publishing Corp., Cambridge,
MA.
Espenak, F., 1989, Fifty Year Canon of Lunar Eclipses: 1986-2035, Sky Publishing Corp., Cambridge,
MA.
Espenak, F. and J. Anderson, 2002, Central Solar Eclipses of 2003, NASA, Washington DC.
Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Ephemeris and the American Ephemeris and Nautical
Almanac, 1974, Her Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office, London.
Improved Lunar Ephemeris 1952-1959, 1954, U.S. Naval Observatory, Washington, DC. Totality -
Eclipses of the Sun, Oxford University Press, New York.
Meeus, J., C. C. Grosjean, and W. Vanderleen, 1966, Canon of Solar Eclipses, Pergamon Press, New York.
Meeus, J. and H. Mucke, 1979, Canon of Lunar Eclipses: -2002 to +2526, Astronomisches Buro, Wien.
Newcomb, S., 1895, "Tables of the Motion of the Earth on its Axis Around the Sun", Astron. Papers Amer.
Eph., Vol. 6, Part I.

Return to Eclipse Web Site

Eclipse Predictions & Webmaster: Fred Espenak

Planteary Systems Laboratory - Code 693
Email: fred.espenak@nasa.gov

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA

Last revised: 2007 Jun 18 - F. Espenak

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