A partial solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Monday, April 19, 2004, with a magnitude of 0.7367. 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 partial solar eclipse occurs in the polar regions of the Earth when the center of the Moon's shadow misses the Earth.
The eclipse was largely visible over the south Atlantic Ocean and north shores of Antarctica, most prominently the Antarctic Peninsula. The eclipse could also be seen in southern Africa at sunset. Considering the magnitude and the solar altitude, South Africa was the best place to observe this eclipse. In Cape Town, the Sun was about 40% obscured, while in Pretoria the Sun was 29% obscured. Further north, the eclipse remained visible up to Angola, the southern Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania.
Images Animated eclipse path
Eclipse timing Places experiencing partial eclipse Solar Eclipse of April 19, 2004(Local Times)Country or territory City or placeStart of partial eclipseMaximum eclipseEnd of partial eclipseDuration of eclipse (hr:min)Maximum coverage Orcadas Base 08:34:21 09:21:09 10:09:32 1:35 10.74% King Edward Point 09:42:42 10:28:02 11:14:51 1:32 7.80% Troll 11:44:14 12:54:08 14:03:30 2:19 50.79% Bouvet Island 13:55:49 15:14:25 16:30:52 2:35 46.75% Edinburgh of the Seven Seas 12:18:49 13:20:06 14:21:02 2:02 12.16% Île de la Possession 17:59:01 18:43:40 18:48:03 (sunset) 0:49 40.02% Marion Island 15:45:54 17:01:10 17:42:47 (sunset) 1:57 58.91% Cape Town 14:51:36 16:10:46 17:22:13 2:31 39.54% Gqeberha 15:01:15 16:17:59 17:26:41 2:25 42.19% Mafeteng 15:14:30 16:27:18 17:32:18 2:18 36.01% Maseru 15:16:14 16:28:26 17:32:53 2:17 35.19% Teyateyaneng 15:17:01 16:28:57 17:33:08 2:16 34.94% Durban 15:19:10 16:29:59 17:32:12 (sunset) 2:13 36.23% Windhoek 14:23:38 15:31:17 16:32:18 2:09 21.38% Antananarivo 17:08:20 17:34:18 17:36:37 (sunset) 0:28 8.56% Johannesburg 15:25:54 16:34:29 17:35:46 2:10 29.88% Pretoria 15:27:27 16:35:24 17:36:07 2:09 29.07% Gaborone 15:27:54 16:35:37 17:36:12 2:08 27.02% Mbabane 15:29:22 16:36:20 17:35:14 (sunset) 2:06 30.04% Maputo 15:32:06 16:37:46 17:29:54 (sunset) 1:58 29.26% Menongue 14:55:09 15:45:31 16:31:47 1:37 8.73% Toliara 16:51:08 17:45:37 17:48:01 (sunset) 0:57 21.42% Mamoudzou 17:30:57 17:48:23 17:51:04 (sunset) 0:20 2.33% Harare 15:56:36 16:49:50 17:38:13 1:42 14.55% Luanda 15:27:38 15:50:30 16:12:31 0:45 0.75% Lusaka 16:02:45 16:51:54 17:36:54 1:34 10.65% Moroni 17:34:35 17:54:43 17:59:50 (sunset) 0:25 2.03% Lilongwe 16:14:17 16:56:11 17:34:58 1:22 7.58% Lubumbashi 16:18:33 16:56:38 17:32:08 1:14 4.87%References:
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.
+April 19, 2004 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 2004 April 19 at 11:30:59.6 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 2004 April 19 at 12:30:29.4 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 2004 April 19 at 13:22:15.9 UTC Greatest Eclipse 2004 April 19 at 13:35:05.3 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 2004 April 19 at 15:39:41.1 UTC
+April 19, 2004 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 0.73674 Eclipse Obscuration 0.65501 Gamma −1.13345 Sun Right Ascension 01h50m58.6s Sun Declination +11°24'41.2" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'55.2" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.8" Moon Right Ascension 01h52m50.5s Moon Declination +10°28'42.9" Moon Semi-Diameter 15'01.7" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°55'09.3" ΔT 64.6 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 April–May 2004 April 19Ascending node (new moon) May 4Descending node (full moon) Partial solar eclipseSolar Saros 119 Total lunar eclipseLunar Saros 131
Related eclipses Eclipses in 2004 A partial solar eclipse on April 19. A total lunar eclipse on May 4. A partial solar eclipse on October 14. A total lunar eclipse on October 28.
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 1, 2000 Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 7, 2008
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 9, 1997 Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 1, 2011
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 15, 1995 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 25, 2013
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 21, 1993 Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 20, 2015
Solar Saros 119 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 9, 1986 Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 30, 2022
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 11, 1975 Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 30, 2033
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 19, 1917 Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 18, 2091
Solar eclipses of 2004–2007
Saros 119
Metonic series
Tritos series
Inex series
References
External links NASA Chart of the April 19 Solar Eclipse Partial Eclipse of the Sun - April 19 2004 Hybrid Eclipse of May 31: Future Eclipses, retrieved 2008-7-28