Nature Annular Magnitude 0.9384 Max. width of band - km Start date May 31, 2003 | Gamma 0.996 Duration 217 sec (3 m 37 s) Greatest eclipse 4:09:22 | |
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An annular solar eclipse occurred on May 31, 2003. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide. Annularity was visible across central Greenland and northern Scotland. Partiality was visible throughout Europe, Asia, and far northwestern Canada.
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Solar eclipses 2000-2003
Each member 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.
Note: Partial solar eclipses on February 5, 2000 and July 31, 2000 occur in the previous lunar year set.
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).