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Total Solar Eclipse of 2002 December 04

Table 1 - Elements of the Eclipse

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Geocentric Conjunction      07:39:48.73 TDT     J.D. = 2452612.819314
 of Sun & Moon in R.A.:   (=07:38:44.03 UT)

      Instant of            07:32:15.65 TDT     J.D. = 2452612.814070
   Greatest Eclipse:      (=07:31:10.95 UT)


Geocentric Coordinates of Sun & Moon at Greatest Eclipse (DE200/LE200):

Sun:       R.A. = 16h41m50.939s       Moon:      R.A. = 16h41m32.881s
           Dec. =-22°13´29.20"                   Dec. =-22°31´05.17"
  Semi-Diameter =    16´13.60"          Semi-Diameter =    16´21.60"
    Eq.Hor.Par. =       08.92"            Eq.Hor.Par. =  1°00´02.27"
         Æ R.A. =       10.867s/h              Æ R.A. =      154.401s/h
         Æ Dec. =      -20.23"/h               Æ Dec. =     -487.39"/h


Lunar Radius   k1 = 0.2725076 (Penumbra)        Shift in      delta b =  0.00"
 Constants:    k2 = 0.2722810 (Umbra)       Lunar Position:   delta l =  0.00"

Geocentric Libration:   l =   3.8°       Brown Lun. No. =  989
(Optical + Physical)    b =   0.5°         Saros Series =  142 (22/72)
                        c =   5.7°            Ephemeris = (DE200/LE200)

Eclipse Magnitude = 1.02437        Gamma =-0.30204        delta T =    64.7 s


Polynomial Besselian Elements for:   2002 Dec 04   08:00:00.0 TDT  (=t0)

  n        x          y         d          l1         l2          µ

  0   0.1861473 -0.3544635 -22.2264977  0.5441862 -0.0019615 302.485046
  1   0.5532511 -0.1309133  -0.0052963  0.0000834  0.0000830  14.997272
  2   0.0000155  0.0001807   0.0000058 -0.0000125 -0.0000124  -0.000002
  3  -0.0000087  0.0000022   0.0000000  0.0000000  0.0000000   0.000000

                 Tan f1 = 0.0047437    Tan f2 = 0.0047201

At time t1 (decimal hours), each Besselian element is evaluated by:

            a = a0 + a1*t + a2*t2 + a3*t3    (or a = · [an*tn]; n = 0 to 3)

    where:  a = x, y, d, l1, l2, or µ
            t = t1 - t0  (decimal hours) and t0 = 8.000 TDT


The Besselian elements were derived from a least-squares fit to elements 
calculated at five uniformly spaced times over a six hour period 
centered at t0. Thus the elements are valid over the period 
5.00 < t0 < 11.00 TDT.

Note that all times are expressed in Terrestrial Dynamical Time (TDT).

       Saros Series 142:  Member 22 of 72 eclipses in series.


Table adapted from NASA TP 1999-209484 "Total Solar Eclipse of 2002 December 04".

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WebMaster: Fred Espenak
Planetary Systems Branch - Code 693
e-mail: espenak@gsfc.nasa.gov

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 USA


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Last revised: 2001 Sep 04 - F. Espenak