Solar Eclipse Prime Page

Annular Solar Eclipse of -1954 Jan 28 (1955 Jan 28 BCE)

Fred Espenak

Introduction

eclipse map


The Annular Solar Eclipse of -1954 Jan 28 (1955 Jan 28 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 -1954 Jan 28 at 04:08:24 TD (15:33:10 UT1). This is 0.8 days after the Moon reaches apogee. During the eclipse, the Sun is in the constellation Aquarius. The synodic month in which the eclipse takes place has a Brown Lunation Number of -47951.

The eclipse belongs to Saros 19 and is number 22 of 73 eclipses in 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 annular eclipse is very unusual in that it is NON-CENTRAL and does NOT have a central line nor a northern path limit. Instead , over half of the antumbral shadow falls off into space throughout the eclipse. Gamma has a value of 1.0193.

The annular solar eclipse of -1954 Jan 28 is preceded two weeks earlier by a total lunar eclipse on -1954 Jan 13.

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 45313.9 seconds for this eclipse. The uncertainty in ΔT is 3540.7 seconds corresponding to a standard error in longitude of the eclipse path of ± 14.79°.

The following links provide maps and data for the eclipse.

The tables below contain detailed predictions and additional information on the Annular Solar Eclipse of -1954 Jan 28 .


Eclipse Data: Annular Solar Eclipse of -1954 Jan 28

Eclipse Characteristics
Parameter Value
Eclipse Magnitude 0.92053
Eclipse Obscuration -
Gamma 1.01932
Conjunction Times
Event Calendar Date and Time Julian Date
Greatest Eclipse -1954 Jan 28 at 04:08:23.7 TD (15:33:09.9 UT1) 1007386.148031
Ecliptic Conjunction -1954 Jan 28 at 04:20:27.6 TD (15:45:13.8 UT1) 1007386.156409
Equatorial Conjunction -1954 Jan 28 at 04:41:16.1 TD (16:06:02.2 UT1) 1007386.170859
Geocentric Coordinates of Sun and Moon
-1954 Jan 28 at 04:08:23.7 TD (15:33:09.9 UT1)
Coordinate Sun Moon
Right Ascension19h35m47.8s19h34m46.3s
Declination-22°03'55.4"-21°10'57.5"
Semi-Diameter 16'04.0" 14'42.3"
Eq. Hor. Parallax 08.8" 0°53'58.2"
Geocentric Libration of Moon
Angle Value
l -0.3°
b -1.2°
c -8.1°
Prediction Paramaters
Paramater Value
Ephemerides JPL DE406
ΔT 45313.9 s
k (penumbra) 0.2725076
k (umbra) 0.2722810
Saros Series 19 (22/73)

Explanation of Solar Eclipse Data Tables

Penumbral Shadow Contacts and Extremes: Annular Solar Eclipse of -1954 Jan 28

Contacts of Penumbral Shadow with Earth
Contact Event Contact Time
TD
Time
UT1
Latitude Longitude
First External ContactP101:46:04.913:10:51.023°27.8'N093°19.7'W
Last External ContactP406:30:28.017:55:14.150°04.3'N023°30.4'W
Extreme Northern and Southern Path Limits of Penumbra
Contact Event Contact Time
TD
Time
UT1
Latitude Longitude
North Extreme Path Limit 1N102:35:11.113:59:57.311°15.3'N111°07.0'W
South Extreme Path Limit 1S105:41:25.617:06:11.838°51.5'N001°21.3'W

Non-Central Annular Solar Eclipse

Explanation of Penumbral Shadow Contacts and Extremes Tables

Umbral Shadow Contacts and Extremes: Annular Solar Eclipse of -1954 Jan 28

Contacts of Umbral Shadow with Earth
Contact Event Contact Time
TD
Time
UT1
Latitude Longitude
First External ContactU103:58:12.115:22:58.360°39.2'N090°21.2'W
Last External ContactU404:18:14.015:43:00.265°41.5'N077°40.7'W
Extreme Northern and Southern Path Limits of Umbra
Contact Event Contact Time
TD
Time
UT1
Latitude Longitude
North Extreme Path Limit 1N103:58:23.615:23:09.760°36.9'N090°29.6'W
South Extreme Path Limit 1S104:18:02.415:42:48.565°42.8'N077°30.5'W

Non-Central Annular Solar Eclipse

Explanation of Umbral Shadow Contacts and Extremes Tables

Non-Central Annular Solar Eclipse

Explanation of Central Line Extremes Table

Non-Central Annular Solar Eclipse

Polynomial Besselian Elements: Annular Solar Eclipse of -1954 Jan 28

Polynomial Besselian Elements
-1954 Jan 28 at 04:00:00.0 TD (=t0)
n x y d l1 l2 μ
0 -0.33455 0.96544 -22.0687 0.57174 0.02546 236.2713
1 0.48642 0.13172 0.0065 -0.00002 -0.00002 14.9982
2 -0.00002 0.00010 0.0000 -0.00001 -0.00001 0.0000
3 -0.00001 -0.00000 - - - -
Tan ƒ1 0.0046982
Tan ƒ2 0.0046748

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 = 4.000

Explanation of Polynomial Besselian Elements

Links for the Annular Solar Eclipse of -1954 Jan 28 (1955 Jan 28 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 Annular Solar Eclipse of -1954 Jan 28 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 45313.9 seconds for this eclipse. The uncertainty in ΔT is 3540.7 seconds corresponding to a standard error in longitude of the eclipse path of ± 14.79°.

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.