Solar Eclipse Prime Page

Partial Solar Eclipse of -1603 Feb 16 (1604 Feb 16 BCE)

Fred Espenak

Introduction

eclipse map

The Partial Solar Eclipse of -1603 Feb 16 (1604 Feb 16 BCE) is visible from the geographic regions shown on the map to the right. Click on the map to enlarge it. For an explanation of the features appearing in the map, see Key to Solar Eclipse Maps.

The instant of greatest eclipse takes place on -1603 Feb 16 at 03:08:12 TD (16:47:02 UT1). This is 1.4 days before the Moon reaches perigee. During the eclipse, the Sun is in the constellation Pisces. The synodic month in which the eclipse takes place has a Brown Lunation Number of -43609.

The eclipse belongs to Saros -5 and is number 86 of 86 eclipses in the series. Thus, the -1603 Feb 16 event is the last eclipse of the series . All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node. The Moon moves southward with respect to the node with each succeeding eclipse in the series and gamma decreases.

This is a very deep partial eclipse. It has an eclipse magnitude of 0.0678, while Gamma has a value of -1.4991.

The partial solar eclipse of -1603 Feb 16 is followed two weeks later by a total lunar eclipse on -1603 Mar 02.

Another solar eclipse occurs one synodic month after the -1603 Feb 16 eclipse. It is the partial solar eclipse of -1603 Mar 17.

These eclipses all take place during a single eclipse season.

The eclipse predictions are given in both Terrestrial Dynamical Time (TD) and Universal Time (UT1). The parameter ΔT is used to convert between these two times (i.e., UT1 = TD - ΔT). ΔT has a value of 37270.8 seconds for this eclipse. The uncertainty in ΔT is 2232.9 seconds corresponding to a standard error in longitude of the eclipse path of ± 9.33°.

The following links provide maps and data for the eclipse.

The tables below contain detailed predictions and additional information on the Partial Solar Eclipse of -1603 Feb 16 .

Eclipse Data: Partial Solar Eclipse of -1603 Feb 16

Eclipse Characteristics
Parameter Value
Eclipse Magnitude 0.06781
Eclipse Obscuration 0.02115
Gamma-1.49911
Conjunction Times
Event Calendar Date and Time Julian Date
Greatest Eclipse -1603 Feb 16 at 03:08:12.3 TD (16:47:01.5 UT1) 1135608.199323
Ecliptic Conjunction -1603 Feb 16 at 02:53:17.8 TD (16:32:07.0 UT1) 1135608.188970
Equatorial Conjunction -1603 Feb 16 at 02:03:36.9 TD (15:42:26.2 UT1) 1135608.154469
Geocentric Coordinates of Sun and Moon
-1603 Feb 16 at 03:08:12.3 TD (16:47:01.5 UT1)
Coordinate Sun Moon
Right Ascension21h05m03.3s21h07m29.2s
Declination-17°01'13.8"-18°24'55.0"
Semi-Diameter 15'59.3" 16'30.5"
Eq. Hor. Parallax 08.8" 1°00'35.2"
Geocentric Libration of Moon
Angle Value
l -2.2°
b 1.9°
c -15.9°
Prediction Paramaters
Paramater Value
Ephemerides JPL DE406
ΔT 37270.8 s
k (penumbra) 0.2725076
k (umbra) 0.2722810
Saros Series -5 (86/86)

Explanation of Solar Eclipse Data Tables

Penumbral Shadow Contacts and Extremes: Partial Solar Eclipse of -1603 Feb 16

Contacts of Penumbral Shadow with Earth
Contact Event Contact Time
TD		 Time
UT1		 Latitude Longitude
First External ContactP102:33:55.616:12:44.970°19.2'S090°37.5'E
Last External ContactP403:42:52.817:21:42.051°44.4'S037°20.2'E
Extreme Northern and Southern Path Limits of Penumbra
Contact Event Contact Time
TD		 Time
UT1		 Latitude Longitude
North Extreme Path Limit 1N102:39:02.516:17:51.871°35.3'S097°21.8'E
South Extreme Path Limit 1S103:37:51.017:16:40.249°05.2'S036°26.4'E

Explanation of Penumbral Shadow Contacts and Extremes Tables

Polynomial Besselian Elements: Partial Solar Eclipse of -1603 Feb 16

Polynomial Besselian Elements
-1603 Feb 16 at 03:00:00.0 TD (=t0)
n x y d l1 l2 μ
0 0.49991 -1.41549 -17.0187 0.53763 -0.00849 220.4889
1 0.53191 0.21979 0.0115 -0.00007 -0.00007 15.0014
2 -0.00006 0.00019 0.0000 -0.00001 -0.00001 0.0000
3 -0.00001 -0.00000 - - - -
Tan ƒ1 0.0046736
Tan ƒ2 0.0046503

At time t1 (decimal hours), each besselian element is evaluated by:

x = x0 + x1*t + x2*t2 + x3*t3 (or x = Σ [xn*tn]; n = 0 to 3)

where: t = t1 - t0 (decimal hours) and t0 = 3.000

Explanation of Polynomial Besselian Elements

Links for the Partial Solar Eclipse of -1603 Feb 16 (1604 Feb 16 BCE)

Links to Additional Solar Eclipse Information

Calendar

The Gregorian calendar (also called the Western calendar) is internationally the most widely used civil calendar. It is named for Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in 1582. On this website, the Gregorian calendar is used for all calendar dates from 1582 Oct 15 onwards. Before that date, the Julian calendar is used. For more information on this topic, see Calendar Dates.

The Julian calendar does not include the year 0. Thus the year 1 BCE is followed by the year 1 CE (See: BCE/CE Dating Conventions). This is awkward for arithmetic calculations. Years in this catalog are numbered astronomically and include the year 0. Historians should note there is a difference of one year between astronomical dates and BCE dates. Thus, the astronomical year 0 corresponds to 1 BCE, and astronomical year -1 corresponds to 2 BCE, etc..

Eclipse Predictions

Predictions for the Partial Solar Eclipse of -1603 Feb 16 were generated using the JPL DE406 solar and lunar ephemerides. The lunar coordinates were calculated with respect to the Moon's Center of Mass. The predictions are given in both Terrestrial Dynamical Time (TD) and Universal Time (UT1). The parameter ΔT is used to convert between these two times (i.e., UT1 = TD - ΔT). ΔT has a value of 37270.8 seconds for this eclipse. The uncertainty in ΔT is 2232.9 seconds corresponding to a standard error in longitude of the eclipse path of ± 9.33°.

Acknowledgments

Some of the content on this website is based on the book Thousand Year Canon of Solar Eclipses 1501 to 2500. All eclipse calculations are by Fred Espenak, and he assumes full responsibility for their accuracy.

Permission is granted to reproduce eclipse data when accompanied by a link to this page and 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.