Annular Solar Eclipse of 2010 January 15

Interactive Eclipse Path Using Google Maps

Introduction

This interactive Google map shows the path of the solar eclipse across Earth's surface. You MUST be somewhere within the central path (shaded zone framed by the blue lines) to see the central phase (either annularity or totality) of the eclipse. The eclipse is longest on the central line (red).

The four-way toggle arrows (upper left corner) are for navigating around the map. The zoom bar (left edge) is used to change the magnification. The two buttons (top right) turn on either a map view, a terrain view, a satellite view or a hybrid map/satellite view.

This prediction does not take into account the mountains and valleys along the edge of the Moon. For the sake of speed and simplicity, the effects of the lunar limb profile are NOT used in the predictions and map presented on this page.


Map centered on (latitude, longitude):
Cursor position (latitude, longitude):
Distance from last: 		Show marker on click
 Large map

See Eclipse Data, including the Besselian elements, for the 2010 January 15 solar eclipse.

User Directions

The zoom bar (left edge of map) is used to change the magnification. The four-way toggle arrows (upper left corner) are for navigating around the map. If you hold your left mouse button down while the cursor is on the map, you can also drag the map around to reposition it. The two map buttons (top right) let you switch between map view and satellite view.

Click anywhere on the map to add a red marker. A popup window appears above the marker with the calculated eclipse times and duration of annularity for that location (see explanation of Eclipse Circumstances below). The 'x' in the upper right corner of the popup window closes the popup window. Additional markers can be placed anywhere on the map. Move the cursor over a marker to reveal a popup window with the eclipse times for that position. The predictions in the popup window can also be displayed in a new web page via the Eclipse Times Popup button (bottom right). You can select and copy this infomation to paste into a word processor.

All the markers can be removed by using the Clear Marker button (below the eclipse map). Choose the Large Map check box to produce a bigger map (hint: enlarge the browser window to its maximum size before selecting the Large Map check box). This option is especially useful to users with large monitors.

Below the lower left corner of the map are three readouts. The first gives the geographic coordinates (latitude & longitude) of the map center while the second gives the geographic coordinates of the cursor. The third line gives the distance of the cursor from the last marker. For more information, see Google Eclipse Map Instructions.

Eclipse Circumstances

When you click on the map a red marker is added and a popup window opens giving the Eclipse Circumstances calculated for that location. The predictions in the popup window can be divided into two sections.

In the top part of the window, the decimal Latitude and Longitude of the marker are given. The Eclipse Type (either total, annular or partial) seen from that position is given. The duration of Totality (or duration of Annularity) lists the length of the total (or annular) phase in minutes and seconds. The Eclipse Magnitude is the fraction of the Sun's diameter eclipsed. The Eclipse Obscuration is the fraction of the Sun's area eclipsed.

The bottom part of the window consists of a table listing the times for important stages of the eclipse. The Event column lists eclipse phase, followed by the date and time (both in Universal Time). Finally, the Altitude and Azimuth of the Sun is given for each event. The altitude is measured from the horizon (0°) to the zenith (90°). The azimuth is measured from due North and rotating eastward (North = 0°, East = 90°, South = 180°, and West = 270°).

Important Note: The eclipse predictions in this interactive map DO NOT include the effects of mountains and valleys along the edge of the Moon. Such corrections for the lunar limb profile may change the contact times and eclipse durations by ~1-3 seconds. The exact location of Greatest Duration may also change by ~10-20 kilometers.

Links to Additional Solar Eclipse Predictions

Predictions

The solar eclipse predictions were made using the VSOP87/ELP2000-82 solar and lunar ephemerides. The resulting Besselian elements from these ephemerides were originally generated for the NASA technical publication Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000. The value of ΔT used in these predictions is 66.7 seconds.

The accuracy of the northern and southern edges of the eclipse path are limited to approximately 1-2 kilometers due to the lunar limb profile. For eclipses five centuries or more centuries in the past or future, the largest uncertainty in the predictions is caused by fluctuations in Earth's rotation due primarily to the tidal friction of the Moon. The resultant drift in apparent clock time is expressed as ΔT and is is based on the work of Morrison and Stephenson [2004].

The Gregorian calendar is used for all dates from 1582 Oct 15 onwards. Before that date, the Julian calendar is used (see Calendar Dates).

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to National Space Club summer intern Sumit Dutta for his assistance in preparing the solar eclipse search engine (July 2007). The mySQL database software was designed by Xavier Jubier (see: Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses web tool). Xavier's help was indispensable in developing this version of Solar Eclipse Paths on Google Maps.

Some of the content on this page is based on the Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000. All eclipse calculations are by Fred Espenak, and he assumes full responsibility for their accuracy. Permission is granted to reproduce data from this page when accompanied by an acknowledgment:

"Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, www.EclipseWise.com"

The use of diagrams and maps is permitted provided that they are NOT altered (except for re-sizing) and the embedded credit line is NOT removed or covered.