Solar eclipse of March 29, 2006

The solar eclipse that took place on March 29, 2006 was a total eclipse of the Sun that was visible from a narrow corridor which traversed half the Earth. The magnitude, that is, the ratio between the apparent sizes of the Moon and that of the Sun, was 1.052. The path of totality of the Moon's shadow began at sunrise in Brazil and extended across the Atlantic to Africa, travelling across Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Libya, and a small corner of Egypt, from there across the Mediterranean Sea to Greece (Kastellórizo) and Turkey, then across the Black Sea via Georgia, Russia, and Kazakhstan to Western Mongolia, where it ended at sunset. A partial eclipse was seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including the northern two-thirds of Africa, the whole of Europe, and Central Asia.

Observations

People gathered in large areas where solar eclipse is visible around the World to view the event. Manchester Astronomical Society, the Malaysian Space Agency, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, as well as dozens of tour groups met at the Apollo temple and the theater in Side, Turkey. The San Francisco Exploratorium featured a live webcast from the site, where thousands took their seats in the ancient, Roman-style theater. [ [http://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/2006/index.html Total Solar Eclipse: Live from Turkey in 2006 ] ]

Almost all actively visited areas in the path of totality had perfect weather. Many observers reported an unusually beautiful eclipse, with many or all effects visible, and a very nice corona despite proximity to solar minimum. The partial phase of the eclipse was also visible from the International Space Station, while the astronauts on board took spectacular pictures of the shadow on the Earth's surface. At first, it looked as though an orbit correction in the middle of March would bring the ISS in the path of totality, but this correction was postponed.

Notable times and coordinates

Gallery

atellite failure

The satellite responsible for SKY Network Television, a New Zealand pay TV company, failed the day after this eclipse at around 1900 local time. While SKY didn't directly attribute the failure to the eclipse, they said in a media release that it took longer to resolve the issue because of it, but this claim was refuted by astronomers. The main reason for the failure was because of an aging and increasingly faulty satellite. [Press release by Sky TV. [http://www.sky.co.nz/index.cfm?pageid=469&script=newsrelease&dsp=nr&newsid=197&nrcontent=0 Solar eclipse interferes with satellite restoration] Friday, 31 March 2006.]

References

* Fred Espenak and Jay Anderson. " [http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEpubs/TP212762a.pdf Total Solar Eclipse of 2006 March 29] ". NASA Technical publication (NASA/TP-2004-212762), November 2004.

External links

Photos and videos

* [http://fotogaleri.hurriyet.com.tr/GalleryMain.aspx?s=1&g=UlqrbvjdW8TGrZEiEOaW1jWg6HSLz2WUPn1u32DXw5c0b0NSfK8dsd74nngBbQdaW5WPR5oYVdTmLrkj72w4IA%3d%3d Total eclipse photographs from Turkey]
* [http://galeri.milliyet.com.tr/tamsayfa/20060329gunes/ Another set of total eclipse photographs from Turkey]
* [http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/modules/slideshow/GunesTutulmasi2006/slideshow.asp Photo gallery from Turkey]
* [http://cnnturk.com/interactive/galeri.asp?PID=15&haberID=166757 Phases of solar eclipse view from Antalya]
* [http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/sun_earthday2006.html NASA videos and photos from Libya and Turkey]
* [http://photos.smolyan.info/thumbnails.php?album=7&lang=english Pictures taken from Smolyan, Bulgaria]
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8795161973354047457&pl=true NASA video of eclipse]
* [http://www.nasamike.com/main/eclipse/ Solar eclipse images and videos from Libya by traveling NASA employees and scientists]

Other resources

* [http://solar-eclipse-2006.info/ solar-eclipse-2006.info - Information about the March 29th Solar Eclipse.]
* [http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEmono/TSE2006/TSE2006.html NASA - Total Solar Eclipse of 2006 March 29]
* [http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/libya/TSE_2006_GoogleMapFull.html Interactive 2006 March 29 Total Solar Eclipse map with local circumstances]
* [http://www.eclipse.za.net/html/2006_maps.html eclipse.za.net - Umbral Paths of March 29 Eclipse in Africa ]
* [http://solar-eclipse.uoa.gr/english/ University of Athens - Solar Eclipse 29/3/2006, Solar Party]
* [http://www.eclipse2006.boun.edu.tr/eclipse_2006eng.html Solar Total Eclipse of 2006 March 29]
* [http://www.tug.tubitak.gov.tr/tutulma/english/main.html TÜBİTAK National Observatory - 29 March 2006 Total Solar Eclipse]
* [http://www.krysstal.com/ec2006.html KryssTal - The total eclipse seen from Side in Turkey] - includes panorama with Venus visible and slide show of temple during totality.

Solar eclipse succession box
nature=total
previous=Solar eclipse of 2005 October 3
natureprevious=annular
next=Solar eclipse of 2006 September 22
naturenext=annular
previoussamenature=Solar eclipse of 2003 November 23
nextsamenature=Solar eclipse of 2008 August 1