An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Wednesday, May 30, 1984,[1] with a magnitude of 0.998. 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. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring). The Moon's apparent diameter was near the average diameter because it occurred 6.6 days after apogee (on May 24, 1984, at 2:00 UTC) and 7.8 days before perigee (on June 7, 1984, at 12:20 UTC).[2]
This was the first annular solar eclipse visible in the United States in 33 years.
Annularity was visible in Mexico, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia in the United States, the Azores Islands, Morocco and Algeria. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Hawaii, North America, Central America, the Caribbean, northern South America, Western Europe, and Northwest Africa.
During this eclipse, the apex of the moon's umbral cone was very close to the Earth's surface, and the magnitude was very large. The edges of the moon and the sun were very close to each other as seen from the Earth. Images of the chromosphere and Baily's beads on the lunar limb, which are usually only visible during a total solar eclipse, could also be taken. A team of the University of Florida took images, about half of which being those of the chromosphere and the other half the photosphere, in Greenville, South Carolina.[3] [4] Jay Pasachoff led a team from Williams College, Massachusetts to Picayune, Mississippi.[5]
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.[6]
| First Penumbral External Contact | 1984 May 30 at 13:55:14.3 UTC | |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1984 May 30 at 14:57:46.9 UTC | |
| First Central Line | 1984 May 30 at 14:58:22.6 UTC | |
| Greatest Duration | 1984 May 30 at 14:58:22.6 UTC | |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 1984 May 30 at 14:58:58.3 UTC | |
| First Penumbral Internal Contact | 1984 May 30 at 16:06:12.7 UTC | |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1984 May 30 at 16:45:41.5 UTC | |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1984 May 30 at 16:48:44.8 UTC | |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1984 May 30 at 16:53:32.9 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral Internal Contact | 1984 May 30 at 17:25:00.1 UTC | |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1984 May 30 at 18:32:21.8 UTC | |
| Last Central Line | 1984 May 30 at 18:32:54.6 UTC | |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1984 May 30 at 18:33:27.3 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1984 May 30 at 19:35:58.9 UTC |
| Eclipse Magnitude | 0.99801 | |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 0.99602 | |
| Gamma | 0.27552 | |
| Sun Right Ascension | 04h31m02.1s | |
| Sun Declination | +21°52'05.5" | |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 15'46.4" | |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.7" | |
| Moon Right Ascension | 04h30m45.4s | |
| Moon Declination | +22°07'14.4" | |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 15'30.3" | |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°56'54.1" | |
| ΔT | 54.0 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. The first and last eclipse in this sequence is separated by one synodic month.