TIMES OF THE ECLIPSE FOR EUROPE

by Knut Jørgen Røed Ødegaard and Unni Fuskeland

Here are data for some places in Europe (and Russia), calculated by Oddleiv Skilbrei, Norwegian Astronomical Society.

The table contains the times for the start, maximum and end; diameter, area and solar elevation at maximum phase. The places which are underlined contains a link to a picture of how the eclipse will appear.

Place	First contact	Max phase	Last contact	Diameter at max	Area at max	Solar elevation at max
Torshavn	(2 56,5)	3 52,7	4 50,9	93,8	88,1	3,5
Akureyri	3 07,2	4 03,7	5 01,6	93,9	88,1	3,6
Reykjavik	3 08,5	4 04,1	5 01,1	93,8	88,0	1,4
Vestmannaeyjar	3 06,8	4 02,4	5 59,3	93,8	88,0	1,1
Akranes	3 08,7	4 04,4	5 01,4	93,8	88,0	1,5
Egilsstadir	3 04,4	4 01,0	5 59,2	93,9	88,1	4,1
Thule	0 37,2	1 36,6	2 35,8	90,2	85,0	8,4
Copenhagen	4 36,7	5 33,4	6 33,0	88,9	83,4	5,7
Malmø	4 36,3	5 33,0	6 32,8	88,7	83,2	5,8
Gothenburg	4 39,6	5 36,8	6 36,9	89,9	84,6	6,8
Stockholm	4 38,3	5 36,8	6 38,5	88,3	82,9	10,4
Helsinki	5 36,2	6 36,0	7 39,2	85,8	80,0	13,8
St. Petersburg	6 33,6	7 34,2	8 38,4	83,3	77,0	16,1
Moscow	6 24,3	7 24,8	8 29,6	77,4	69,9	17,6
Warszaw	4 27,1	5 24,0	6 24,3	83,7	77,4	7,1
Amsterdam	(4 38,3)	5 33,0	6 30,3	89,5	84,0	0,0
Brussels	(4 37,2)	(5 31,4)	6 28,1	88,7	83,1	-1,4
London	(3 41,4)	(4 35,2)	5 31,5	90,2	84,8	-2,7
Newcastle	(3 45,9)	4 40,6	5 37,5	92,4	87,0	-0,4
Belfast	(3 48,9)	(4 43,0)	5 39,2	93,1	87,5	-2,3

The eclipse is annular in Torshavn (3 min 9 sec), Akureyri (3 min 37 sec), Reykjavik, Vestmannaeyjar, Akranes (3 min 36 sec) and Egilsstadir (3 min 35 sek). All times are local times (summertime taken into account). If the time is in parenthesis, the Sun is more than 0,8 degrees below the horizon (the upper edge will be visible because of the refraction). If the Sun has not risen at the time of maximum phase, the solar elevation is given with a negative sign (here, the refraction is not taken into account). Because of the refraction (bending of light in the atmosphere), the Sun will be about one Sun diameter higher than stated in this table.

The size of the eclipse over Europe and adjoining areas. Norway has the best combination of good weather conditions and a large area covered by the Moon. Illustration: NASA 2003 Eclipse Bulletin (F. Espenak & J. Anderson)

Details for the area with annular eclipse. Illustration: NASA 2003 Eclipse Bulletin (F. Espenak & J. Anderson)

Fred Espanak,NASA, explains the special character of this eclipse:
The trajectory of the Moon's shadow is quite unusual during this event. The shadow axis passes to the far north where it barely grazes Earth's surface. In fact, the northern edge of the antumbra actually misses Earth so that one path limit is defined by the day/night terminator rather than by the shadow's upper edge. As a result the track of annularity has a peculiar "D" shape that is nearly 1200 kilometers wide.

Since the eclipse occurs just three weeks prior to the northern summer solstice, Earth's northern axis is pointed sunwards by 21.8 degrees. As seen from the Sun, the antumbral shadow actually passes between the North Pole and the terminator. As aa consequence of this extraordinary geometry, the path of annularity runs from east to west rather than the more typical west to east.

The event transpires near the Moon's ascending node in Taurus five degrees north of Aldebaran. Since apogee occurs three days earlier, the Moon's apparent diameter (29.6 arc-minutes) is still too small to completely cover the Sun (31.6 arc-minutes) resulting in an annular eclipse.

In Reykjavik the eclipse wil be annular, early in the morning May 31. 2003. Illustration: Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics

Knut Jørgen Røed Ødegaard
Project leader

Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics
P.O.Box 1029 Blindern
N-0315 Oslo
Norway

Phone: +47 22 85 75 22 (Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics)
+47 992 77 172 (mobile phone)
+47 613 11 359 (private, weekend)

Email: knutjo@astro.uio.no