2009 January 26 partial solar eclipse

A partial solar eclipse took place on the morning of January 26, 2009. This was the most prominent eclipse visible from southern Africa during 2009.

We were in Sutherland around the time of the eclipse – prime deep sky observing time, eh? – and made use of the opportunity to do a bit of outreach. (My photos of the event are in the Picasa gallery.)

Shortly before 07:00 in the morning, scholars from the Sutherland High School and Roggeveld Intermediary, gathered on the sports grounds of the high school to observe the eclipse. Each scholar received a pair of eclipse glasses, sponsored by the SAAO.

Two telescopes were set up. Ed, Lynnette and myself manned one (a 5-inch Newtonian, sponsored by SAASTA and DST), while Marilize du Plessis (SAAO education officer) and her team manned the second 'scope. Around 700 pairs of eyes got a chance to watch the Moon and Sun dance.

In Cape Town and Bloemfontein, the clouds made life a little difficult for eclipse watchers, but good views were nevertheless had from time to time. See, for example, the photo gallery compiled from events at the SAAO in Cape Town, where an esteemed group of eclipse watchers gathered. Elsewhere, the clouds were more troublesome – Johannesburg had almost total cloud cover.

A wide range of eclipse images can be viewed on the ASSA Imaging Section's website. Special thanks to the following who sent me their images:

Original article

From Cape Town, the Sun rises shortly after 06:00, whilst from Johannesburg sunrise is at 05:40.

At sunrise, the Moon is about half a degree above the Sun's upper limb (and Jupiter is about 1 degree above the Sun).

The first indication of an eclipse should be visible around 07:00 at the "top" of the Sun.

By 08:00 the solar disk will appear as a prominent horned crescent. This horned appearance should continue until around 08:45 as the Moon passes over the solar disk.

The eclipse ends at around 09:40. Note that exact times for various centres in southern Africa are given in the table below.

The next partial solar eclipse visible in Cape Town will be on 25 November 2011, and the next total solar eclipse for Cape Town will only happen on April 15 of the year 2238!

Eclipse predictions for anywhere else in the world are listed on the NASA Eclipse Website (link below).

If you (carefully!) take photos of the eclipse, I'd be keen to see your images.

Progress of the eclipse

The following diagram shows the progress of the eclipse for (l.t.r.) Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Gabarone, and Windhoek. The topmost image is for shortly after the start of the eclipse, followed by the appearance at 08:00, 08:45 and 09:30, except for the last Windhoek image, which is for 09:05. All times are in SAST (UT+2).

Detailed times of events for centres in southern Africa

City	Start	alt	Maximum	alt	End	alt	%
Bloemfontein	07:03:03	17	08:18:00	33	09:46:39	52	44%
Cape Town	06:58:47	10	08:12:00	25	09:37:23	43	63%
Durban	07:06:26	21	08:25:42	38	09:59:17	59	45%
East London	07:03:14	19	08:22:12	35	09:55:02	54	56%
Harare	07:25:58	23	08:24:34	37	09:32:24	53	11%
Hartebeeshoek	07:06:21	18	08:18:46	34	09:44:36	53	33%
Joburg	07:06:18	18	08:19:24	34	09:46:03	54	34%
Louis Trichardt	07:12:14	20	08:22:10	36	09:44:50	55	25%
Port Elizabeth	07:01:51	17	08:19:39	33	09:50:53	51	60%
Pretoria	07:06:56	18	08:19:32	34	09:45:34	54	33%
Soweto	07:06:13	18	08:19:14	34	09:45:46	53	34%
Sutherland	06:59:17	12	08:13:05	27	09:39:37	45	57%
Vereeniging	07:05:55	18	08:19:27	34	09:46:36	54	36%
Windhoek	07:01:43	07	08:04:03	20	09:16:44	37	29

Times are given in SAST (=UT+2). Columns headed alt give the Sun's altitude above the horizon, in degrees. The last column gives the percentage of the Sun's surface obscured at the time of maximum eclipse.

/ph

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the interwebs:

SFC/NASA Eclipse Website

Calculate local circumstances of solar eclipses

Astronomical Almanac Online

The official source of annual astronomical data

Reader's comments

Posted by Megan on Saturday, 17 January 2009 01:33.

So its not in London Ontario?

Posted by Auke on Saturday, 17 January 2009 09:13.

London, Ontario

Megan,
I'm afraid not. The next eclipse visible from London, Ontario will be on 2012 May 20. (The previous one was on 2002 June 10).

Posted by Phatz on Saturday, 24 January 2009 18:28.

OMG

This does not happen every day you know, so we must make the most of it, like they say the next solar eclipse will only be visible from South Africa is in 2232. That means our Great, Great Children will not have been lukky enough to see it in SA, So remember it, so you can pass it on to your children and then they will past it on.
MAKE A MARK!

Posted by Cynthia on Sunday, 25 January 2009 15:02.

Eclypse 26 January

What can you use to view the eclypse, I seem to remember the last eclypse we were able to buy special glasses for viewing.

Posted by Auke on Sunday, 25 January 2009 15:09.

Subject: Viewing the eclipse

Special eclipse glasses are the best. Try the planetarium in Johannesburg. Or, look at the shadows on the ground beneath a tree: they will become crescent shaped!

What's your opinion?

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2009 January 26 partial solar eclipse

Original article

Progress of the eclipse

Detailed times of events for centres in southern Africa

What's your opinion?

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