Solar eclipse of May 20, 2050

Solar eclipse of May 20, 2050
Map
Type of eclipse
NatureHybrid
Gamma−0.8688
Magnitude1.0038
Maximum eclipse
Duration21 s (0 min 21 s)
Coordinates40°06′S 123°42′W / 40.1°S 123.7°W / -40.1; -123.7
Max. width of band27 km (17 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse20:42:50
References
Saros148 (23 of 75)
Catalog # (SE5000)9619

A total solar eclipse will occur at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Friday, May 20, 2050,[1] with a magnitude of 1.0038. It is a hybrid event, with only a fraction of its path as total, and longer sections at the start and end as an annular eclipse. 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. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. 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 5.2 days after perigee (on May 15, 2050, at 16:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter will be larger.[2]

This hybrid eclipse is notable in that it does not hit land anywhere on Earth. However, a partial solar eclipse will be visible for parts of New Zealand, eastern Oceania, and western South America.

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.[3]

May 20, 2050 Solar Eclipse Times
Event Time (UTC)
First Penumbral External Contact 2050 May 20 at 18:22:31.0 UTC
First Umbral External Contact 2050 May 20 at 19:48:47.9 UTC
First Central Line 2050 May 20 at 19:49:02.9 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact 2050 May 20 at 19:49:18.0 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction 2050 May 20 at 20:31:51.3 UTC
Greatest Duration 2050 May 20 at 20:40:50.3 UTC
Greatest Eclipse 2050 May 20 at 20:42:50.2 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction 2050 May 20 at 20:52:15.7 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact 2050 May 20 at 21:36:27.6 UTC
Last Central Line 2050 May 20 at 21:36:45.5 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact 2050 May 20 at 21:37:03.3 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact 2050 May 20 at 23:03:20.1 UTC
May 20, 2050 Solar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter Value
Eclipse Magnitude 1.00379
Eclipse Obscuration 1.00760
Gamma −0.86877
Sun Right Ascension 03h51m25.4s
Sun Declination +20°09'01.9"
Sun Semi-Diameter 15'48.3"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.7"
Moon Right Ascension 03h51m49.6s
Moon Declination +19°19'17.1"
Moon Semi-Diameter 15'44.7"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°57'47.0"
ΔT 84.3 s

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.

Eclipse season of May 2050
May 6
Ascending node (full moon)
May 20
Descending node (new moon)
Total lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 122
Hybrid solar eclipse
Solar Saros 148

Eclipses in 2050

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Solar Saros 148

Inex

Triad

Solar eclipses of 2047–2050

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.[4]

The partial solar eclipses on January 26, 2047 and July 22, 2047 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 2047 to 2050
Descending node   Ascending node
Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma
118 June 23, 2047

Partial
1.3766 123 December 16, 2047

Partial
−1.0661
128 June 11, 2048

Annular
0.6468 133 December 5, 2048

Total
−0.3973
138 May 31, 2049

Annular
−0.1187 143 November 25, 2049

Hybrid
0.2943
148 May 20, 2050

Hybrid
−0.8688 153 November 14, 2050

Partial
1.0447

Saros 148

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 148, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 75 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on September 21, 1653. It contains annular eclipses on April 29, 2014 and May 9, 2032; a hybrid eclipse on May 20, 2050; and total eclipses from May 31, 2068 through August 3, 2771. The series ends at member 75 as a partial eclipse on December 12, 2987. 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 will be produced by member 22 at 22 seconds (by default) on May 9, 2032, and the longest duration of totality will be produced by member 54 at 5 minutes, 23 seconds on April 26, 2609. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.[5]

Series members 10–31 occur between 1801 and 2200:
10 11 12

December 30, 1815

January 9, 1834

January 21, 1852
13 14 15

January 31, 1870

February 11, 1888

February 23, 1906
16 17 18

March 5, 1924

March 16, 1942

March 27, 1960
19 20 21

April 7, 1978

April 17, 1996

April 29, 2014
22 23 24

May 9, 2032

May 20, 2050

May 31, 2068
25 26 27

June 11, 2086

June 22, 2104

July 4, 2122
28 29 30

July 14, 2140

July 25, 2158

August 4, 2176
31

August 16, 2194

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 descending node.

21 eclipse events between May 21, 1993 and May 20, 2069
May 20–21 March 9 December 25–26 October 13–14 August 1–2
118 120 122 124 126

May 21, 1993

March 9, 1997

December 25, 2000

October 14, 2004

August 1, 2008
128 130 132 134 136

May 20, 2012

March 9, 2016

December 26, 2019

October 14, 2023

August 2, 2027
138 140 142 144 146

May 21, 2031

March 9, 2035

December 26, 2038

October 14, 2042

August 2, 2046
148 150 152 154 156

May 20, 2050

March 9, 2054

December 26, 2057

October 13, 2061

August 2, 2065
158

May 20, 2069

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.

Series members between 1801 and 2200

April 4, 1810
(Saros 126)

March 4, 1821
(Saros 127)

February 1, 1832
(Saros 128)

December 31, 1842
(Saros 129)

November 30, 1853
(Saros 130)

October 30, 1864
(Saros 131)

September 29, 1875
(Saros 132)

August 29, 1886
(Saros 133)

July 29, 1897
(Saros 134)

June 28, 1908
(Saros 135)

May 29, 1919
(Saros 136)

April 28, 1930
(Saros 137)

March 27, 1941
(Saros 138)

February 25, 1952
(Saros 139)

January 25, 1963
(Saros 140)

December 24, 1973
(Saros 141)

November 22, 1984
(Saros 142)

October 24, 1995
(Saros 143)

September 22, 2006
(Saros 144)

August 21, 2017
(Saros 145)

July 22, 2028
(Saros 146)

June 21, 2039
(Saros 147)

May 20, 2050
(Saros 148)

April 20, 2061
(Saros 149)

March 19, 2072
(Saros 150)

February 16, 2083
(Saros 151)

January 16, 2094
(Saros 152)

December 17, 2104
(Saros 153)

November 16, 2115
(Saros 154)

October 16, 2126
(Saros 155)

September 15, 2137
(Saros 156)

August 14, 2148
(Saros 157)

July 15, 2159
(Saros 158)

June 14, 2170
(Saros 159)

May 13, 2181
(Saros 160)

April 12, 2192
(Saros 161)

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.

Series members between 1801 and 2200

October 29, 1818
(Saros 140)

October 9, 1847
(Saros 141)

September 17, 1876
(Saros 142)

August 30, 1905
(Saros 143)

August 10, 1934
(Saros 144)

July 20, 1963
(Saros 145)

June 30, 1992
(Saros 146)

June 10, 2021
(Saros 147)

May 20, 2050
(Saros 148)

May 1, 2079
(Saros 149)

April 11, 2108
(Saros 150)

March 21, 2137
(Saros 151)

March 2, 2166
(Saros 152)

February 10, 2195
(Saros 153)

Notes

  1. ^ "May 20, 2050 Total Solar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  2. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  3. ^ "Hybrid Solar Eclipse of 2050 May 20". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  4. ^ van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  5. ^ "NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 148". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.

References