A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Sunday, November 23 and Monday, November 24, 2003, with a magnitude of 1.0379. 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 25 minutes before perigee (on November 23, 2003, at 23:15 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was near its maximum. Perigee did occur just past the greatest point of this eclipse.

For most solar eclipses the path of totality moves eastwards. In this case the path moved south and then west round Antarctica.

Totality was visible from a corridor in eastern Antarctica. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, southern Chile, and southern Argentina.

Observations A Russian icebreaker departed from Port Elizabeth, South Africa carrying tourists to observe the eclipse near the Shackleton Ice Shelf and Novolazarevskaya Station, and then sailed to Hobart, Tasmania. About 100 people from 15 countries were on board, including Iranian amateur astronomer Babak Amin Tafreshi, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center astrophysicist Fred Espenak, and Williams College professor Jay Pasachoff. There were also about 200 scientists and tourists taking two commercial charter flights to observe it over Antarctica. This was the first time humans observed a total solar eclipse from Antarctica.

Images

Eclipse timing Places experiencing partial eclipse Solar Eclipse of November 23, 2003(Local Times)Country or territory City or placeStart of partial eclipseMaximum eclipseEnd of partial eclipseDuration of eclipse (hr:min)Maximum coverage Baucau 06:04:18 (sunrise) 06:09:36 06:19:38 0:15 0.34% Dili 06:07:39 (sunrise) 06:10:06 06:22:28 0:15 0.65% Same 06:06:41 (sunrise) 06:10:27 06:24:49 0:18 1.01% Suai 06:07:47 (sunrise) 06:10:54 06:27:06 0:19 1.47% Darwin 06:22:24 06:41:35 07:01:21 0:39 2.40% Kupang 05:13:09 (sunrise) 05:15:29 05:33:15 0:20 3.11% Tennant Creek 06:17:22 06:48:48 07:21:50 1:04 10.54% Alice Springs 06:17:07 06:54:06 07:33:18 1:16 17.97% Brisbane 07:04:13 07:31:46 08:00:38 0:56 4.34% Eucla 05:36:12 06:21:06 07:09:04 1:33 38.56% Perth 05:05:01 (sunrise) 05:39:55 06:27:57 1:23 52.53% Adelaide 07:25:03 08:10:58 09:00:12 1:35 32.88% Lord Howe Island 08:14:38 08:42:09 09:10:55 0:56 3.66% Sydney 08:02:03 08:42:18 09:25:12 1:23 15.27% Canberra 08:01:01 08:44:03 09:30:02 1:29 20.11% Melbourne 08:00:28 08:47:13 09:37:21 1:37 29.69% Hobart 08:07:31 08:57:23 09:50:49 1:43 35.02% Wellington 10:52:39 11:16:44 11:41:31 0:49 1.65% Christchurch 10:43:07 11:18:26 11:55:14 1:12 5.93% Oban 10:34:18 11:19:55 12:07:56 1:34 15.70% Dunedin 10:38:09 11:20:29 12:04:53 1:27 11.48% Chatham Islands 12:13:12 12:19:47 12:26:24 0:13 0.03% Casey Station 05:42:06 06:35:24 07:30:48 1:49 95.21% Davis Station 04:55:32 05:45:41 06:37:08 1:42 98.53% Stanley 20:25:52 20:32:34 20:36:51 (sunset) 0:11 4.46% Orcadas Base 20:05:46 20:33:40 20:41:50 (sunset) 0:36 40.80% Marambio Base 20:05:55 20:54:05 21:40:51 1:35 59.27% Carlini Base 20:09:46 20:57:06 21:42:58 1:33 54.58% Ushuaia 20:26:25 21:09:00 21:34:28 (sunset) 1:08 33.51% Punta Arenas 20:30:51 21:11:45 21:36:10 (sunset) 1:05 28.23%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.

+November 23, 2003 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 2003 November 23 at 20:47:10.0 UTC First Umbral External Contact 2003 November 23 at 22:20:25.7 UTC First Central Line 2003 November 23 at 22:23:45.1 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 2003 November 23 at 22:27:31.3 UTC Greatest Duration 2003 November 23 at 22:50:18.7 UTC Greatest Eclipse 2003 November 23 at 22:50:21.7 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 2003 November 23 at 23:00:01.3 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 2003 November 23 at 23:21:19.7 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 2003 November 23 at 23:12:52.0 UTC Last Central Line 2003 November 23 at 23:16:38.4 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 2003 November 23 at 23:19:57.9 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 2003 November 24 at 00:53:20.5 UTC

+November 23, 2003 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 1.03789 Eclipse Obscuration 1.07721 Gamma −0.96381 Sun Right Ascension 15h56m23.2s Sun Declination -20°24'22.8" Sun Semi-Diameter 16'11.8" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9" Moon Right Ascension 15h55m07.5s Moon Declination -21°20'45.7" Moon Semi-Diameter 16'44.7" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 1°01'27.3" ΔT 64.5 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 November 2003 November 9Ascending node (full moon) November 23Descending node (new moon) Total lunar eclipseLunar Saros 126 Total solar eclipseSolar Saros 152

Related eclipses Eclipses in 2003 A total lunar eclipse on May 16. An annular solar eclipse on May 31. A total lunar eclipse on November 9. A total solar eclipse on November 23.

Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 5, 2000 Followed by: Solar eclipse of September 11, 2007

Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 12, 1996 Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 4, 2011

Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of November 18, 1994 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of November 28, 2012

Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 24, 1992 Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 23, 2014

Solar Saros 152 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 12, 1985 Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 4, 2021

Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 13, 1974 Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 3, 2032

Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 23, 1917 Followed by: Solar eclipse of September 23, 2090

Solar eclipses of 2000–2003

Saros 152

Metonic series

Tritos series

Inex series

Notes

References

External links Fred Espenak and Jay Anderson. "Total Solar Eclipse of 2003 November 23". NASA, July 2003.

NASA graphics Google Map

Photos: Prof. Druckmüller's eclipse photography site. Flight over Antarctica Images from Antarctica by Crayford Manor House Astronomical Society APOD 8/5/2004, An Antarctic Total Solar Eclipse APOD 11/27/2003, The Long Shadow of the Moon, Total solar eclipse from satellite over Antarctica