On
April 8 (friday), 2005, a
hybrid Solar eclipse
(annular-total-annular) will occur and part of its trajectory will pass
through the
Republic of Panama. The eclipse is hybrid (Fig.1):
it will start as an annular eclipse at the beginning of its trajectory
in the Pacific Ocean, then it will become a total eclipse for a while
and after that it will return to the annular phase
again, passing through Costa Rica-Panama-Colombia-Venezuela. In New
Zealand,
in several islands of the Pacific, in North America and in the rest of
the
countries of Central and South America through where the central path
does
not pass, the eclipse will be observed as a partial eclipse (the
central path
never touches land during the totality); it will be seen as an annular
one
only in Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Venezuela.
This page
contains only relevant data for the Republic of Panama. The reader
interested on information concerning other places can look at the
references mentioned in the sources and credits of the figures
presented/displayed here.
Most of the
hybrid eclipses are of the type annular-total-annular.
Nevertheless, a hybrid eclipse can be given to be of the type
annular-total as will occur on Nov. 03, 2013 or can be of the type
total-annular, as will happen on Abr. 29, 2386. It is a rare event: the
previous hybrid event annular-total-annular happened in Sept. 29, 1987
(18 years from 2005) and the 2 previous to this were in 1986 and 1930,
and the next one of the same type will happen on Abr. 20, 2023 (18
years ahead from 2005) and the 2 following ones will be on 2031 and
2049.
It is very likely that during the annular phases near the totality
(before and later) the effect of the
Bailey's beads (which will
give the luminous ring the resemblance of one carrying a shining
diamond) could be observed. Unfortunately, this effect could only be
observed by sailing on boats cruises (tourist) that cross through the
central trajectory before or after the totality.
Fig.2 shows also an animation of the path traced by our eclipse.
Fig.2
Source and credits:
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEanimate/SE2001/SE2005Apr08H.GIF
(A.T. Sinclair)
First annular phase
It will begin at 18:54 UT (1:54 p.m. Panama local time-
www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=192),
in the South Pacific, near the southeastern coast of New Zealand, at
dawn. The width of the shadow (umbra) will be of 23Km aproximately (the
width of the penumbra is obviously larger), and this annular phase will
last approx. about
24 seconds. The eclipse will move towards
the northeast, meanwhile the apparent angular diameter of the Moon will
grow until it reaches the same apparent diameter of the solar disc.
Totality phase
Approx. at 19:07 UT (2:07 p.m. Panama local time), the
eclipse will pass to the phase of totality, still in the ocean at about
2,200 km of
Tahiti. The duration of this phase is about
42-45 seconds
approx. The
apparent diameter of the Moon continues growing and the maximum happens
at
20:36 UT (3:36 p.m. Panama local time), about 10 degrees south of the
ecuator
line, and the width of the umbra will be of 27Km aprox. Meanwhile, the
eclipse
continue moving in northeast direction, crossing the ecuator line. The
apparent
diameter of the Moon begins to decrease.
Second annular phase
The eclipse ends being total and pass to the annular phase at
22:02 UT (5:02 p.m. Panama local time) approx., aprox. 800Km southwest
of the coast of Costa Rica. The central trajectory will touch land
(American continent) at 22:10 UT (5:10 p.m. Panama local time) approx
(however, the penumbra will touch land much before, as Fig.2 shows),
and the width of the shadow will be of 11Km aprox. The duration of this
phase is approx. of
33 seconds, but before touching land 12
seconds of this phase will have passed already. After passing through
Panama and Colombia, the central path will end in Venezuela, at 22:18
UT (5:18 p.m. Panama local time), at dusk.
The central trajectory through Panama (approx. begins at 5:10 p.m.
Panama local time) and it will cross through the provinces:
Chiriquí, Veraguas, Coclé, Panamá, Darién
and San Blas (Fig.3). According to this figure, the central
trajectory through the isthmus will last about 5 minutes.
Nevertheless,
as the animation (Fig.2) shows us, we will be able to observe from
Panama that the eclipse begins (in its partial phase, that is, the
first contact) at 4:05 p.m. approx, so the observation of the eclipse
from our isthmus will last from 4 pm approx. till dusk (depending on
the location from where the observation is made); around 5:10
p.m. the annular phase will be observed, and after a while the 3rd
contact will begin, that is to say, the eclipse will be partial again,
until a little before the dusk. If you observe the eclipse from any
other region of
Panama that is not those through which the central trajectory will
pass, you
will observe a partial eclipse, and you will not be able to observe the
annular
phase of it. (For
general information on eclipses (in
spanish) and the
precautions
that one must have to protect the eyes, click
here)
Fig.4 and Fig.5 show the most detailed (modified) maps that
we could found of the eclipse path through the Republic of Panama.
(Fred Espenak)
In
technical
data there is a table with the cities and towns of each
province through which the central path will cross through, along with
their geographical coordinates, the hours (UT) of
the 4 contacts and the probabilities of a good observation of the
eclipse (given in percentage values).
APAA wants to invite everyone (
foreigner or national) who
wishes to witness this important event to join our observation group,
which will travel to the interior of the Republic around this date.
With the proximity of the event this webpage will be updated with
relevant information on the activities of our observation group and its
guests. In order to contact us use the contact link in the menu.
You can find information on airlines, visas, transport (public and car
rental), hotels, maps, etc. in the website of the
Panamanian
Institute of Tourism -
IPAT
[
http://www.ipat.gob.pa/index.html,
http://www.visitpanama.com/engl/index.asp].
Everyone is warmly invited! We'll
be waiting for you!
