A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Saturday, March 8 and Sunday, March 9, 1997,[1] with a magnitude of 1.042. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring only about 18.5 hours after perigee (on March 8, 1997, at 9:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[2]
Totality was visible in eastern Russia, Northern Mongolia, northern tip of Xinjiang and Northeastern China and eastern tip of Kazakhstan. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Southeast Asia, East Asia, Alaska, and western Canada.
This solar eclipse is somewhat special in the sense that some unexplained gravity anomalies of about 7
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Russian Academy of Sciences sent an observation team near Lake Baikal to study multiple aspects of the solar corona, providing complement to the imperfections of the corona observation of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory spacecraft.[4]
In China, only a partial eclipse was visible from most areas. The path of totality covered only two narrow areas not adjacent to each other. In Northwestern China, it covered the northern part of Altay Prefecture, Xinjiang. In Northeast China, it covered the northern part of Hulunbuir League (now the city of Hulumbuir), Inner Mongolia and the northern part of neighbouring Daxing'anling Prefecture, Heilongjiang. Therefore, observations of the total eclipse in China are concentrated in these two areas.
In Altay Prefecture, Xinjiang, the total phase occurred right after sunrise. By observing the change in the brightness in Altay, the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project concluded that the phrase of "day dawned twice in Zheng" in the ancient chronicle Bamboo Annals referred to a solar eclipse on April 21, 899 BC which also occurred right after sunrise, thus determining the year of the Battle of Muye and the starting year of the Zhou Dynasty.[5] However, doubts also exist on this conclusion. For example, Douglas J. Keenan published on the journal East Asian History, stating that calculations show that the eclipse in 899 BC reduced the brightness perceived subjectively by a human observer by less than 25%, and clouds can even cause the same effect very often, thus questioning the conclusion.
Mohe County (now Mohe City), Heilongjiang, the northernmost county in China, was considered the best observation site in China due to the high solar zenith angle and the long duration of totality. Within the county, the longest duration occurred in Mohe Township (now Beiji Township), the northernmost township in China. Comet Hale–Bopp also appeared during totality, which also attracted many Chinese to travel to this northernmost town.[6] In addition, the first amateur radio communication experiment during a total solar eclipse in mainland China,[7] and China Central Television's first live broadcast of a solar eclipse[8] were also completed there.
Shown below are two tables displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. The first table outlines times at which the moon's penumbra or umbra attains the specific parameter, and the second table describes various other parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[9]
| First Penumbral External Contact | 1997 March 08 at 23:17:38.3 UTC | |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1997 March 09 at 00:42:04.9 UTC | |
| First Central Line | 1997 March 09 at 00:44:28.2 UTC | |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 1997 March 09 at 00:46:59.1 UTC | |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1997 March 09 at 01:15:36.8 UTC | |
| Greatest Duration | 1997 March 09 at 01:24:17.2 UTC | |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1997 March 09 at 01:24:50.6 UTC | |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1997 March 09 at 01:54:40.0 UTC | |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1997 March 09 at 02:02:20.9 UTC | |
| Last Central Line | 1997 March 09 at 02:04:51.3 UTC | |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1997 March 09 at 02:07:14.0 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1997 March 09 at 03:31:50.3 UTC |
| Eclipse Magnitude | 1.04202 | |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 1.08580 | |
| Gamma | 0.91830 | |
| Sun Right Ascension | 23h17m46.1s | |
| Sun Declination | -04°32'29.2" | |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'06.5" | |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.9" | |
| Moon Right Ascension | 23h16m38.7s | |
| Moon Declination | -03°38'59.4" | |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'40.8" | |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 1°01'12.9" | |
| ΔT | 62.4 s |
See also: Eclipse cycle. This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.
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