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Solar Eclipses Visible from Washington, DC

0001 CE to 3000 CE

Fred Espenak

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Introduction

Although there are two to five eclipses of the Sun every year, each eclipse is only visible from a limited region of the daylight side of Earth. No single place or city will see every eclipse. In fact, several years may pass between the appearance of two eclipses from any one place. Furthermore, most eclipses appear partial from a single location even if the event is classified as total or annular. This apparent contradiction can be explained because the path of a total (or annular) eclipse is quite narrow and covers less than 1% of the Earth's surface. In comparison, a partial eclipse is visible is much larger region which may include over half of the day-side hemisphere of Earth. Eclipses for Beginners examines the geometry of solar eclipses in greater detail. Please note that extreme care must be taken when viewing a solar eclipse.

To determine whether an eclipse is visible from a given city is a formidable computation. It requires the evaluation of hundreds of trigonometric equations to predict the exact positions of the Sun and Moon as a function of time. An even more arduous problem is to ascertain when either the last or next total eclipse is visible from a city. To answer this question, one must calculate the circumstances of every single solar eclipse over the time period of interest. On the average, about 375 years elapse between the appearance of two total eclipses from the same place. But the interval can sometimes be much longer!

The digital computer (with appropriate software) is perfectly suited to addressing a number of eclipse questions including:

"How often is an eclipse visible from Washington ?"
"When was the last partial (or annular, or total) eclipse visible from Washington ?"
"When is the next partial (or annular, or total) eclipse visible from Washington ?"

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Washington
Latitude: 38°53.0'N
Longitude: 077°02.0'W
Time Zone: -5.0 h


Solar Eclipses Visible from Washington, DC

The table below summarizes the types and numbers of eclipses visible each century from Washington during the period 0001 CE to 3000 CE . The last two columns list the years in which annular and total eclipses are visible from the city. During this interval, 20 annular eclipses are visible from Washington ( 0252, 0324, 0451, 0623*, 0652, 0934*, 1008, 1234*, 1301*, 1536, 1694, 1791, 1811, 1838 ). For the same period, 5 total eclipses are visible from Washington ( 0664, 1079, 1451, 1478 and 2444 ). Annular and total eclipses are extraordinarily uncommon events when viewed from a single place. On average, an annular eclipse is seen once every 224 years, while a total eclipse is seen once every 375 years. However, there can be significant variations in these averages.


BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era) are secular alternatives for the terms BC and AD, respectively. For more information, see Year Dating Conventions.

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Solar Eclipses Visible from Washington, DC
Number of EclipsesDates of Eclipses
Date IntervalAll
Eclipses
Partial
Eclipses
Annular
Eclipses
Total
Eclipses
Dates of
Annular Eclipses
Dates of
Total Eclipses
0001 CE - 0100 CE 41 41 0 0 - -
0101 CE - 0200 CE 33 33 0 0 - -
0201 CE - 0300 CE 44 43 1 0 0252 -
0301 CE - 0400 CE 44 43 1 0 0324 -
0401 CE - 0500 CE 38 37 1 0 0451 -
0501 CE - 0600 CE 35 35 0 0 - -
0601 CE - 0700 CE 41 38 2 1 0623*, 0652 0664
0701 CE - 0800 CE 43 43 0 0 - -
0801 CE - 0900 CE 38 38 0 0 - -
0901 CE - 1000 CE 37 36 1 0 0934* -
1001 CE - 1100 CE 38 36 1 1 1008 1079
1101 CE - 1200 CE 44 44 0 0 - -
1201 CE - 1300 CE 34 33 1 0 1234* -
1301 CE - 1400 CE 37 36 1 0 1301* -
1401 CE - 1500 CE 40 38 0 2 - 1451, 1478
1501 CE - 1600 CE 38 37 1 0 1536 -
1601 CE - 1700 CE 39 38 1 0 1694 -
1701 CE - 1800 CE 37 36 1 0 1791 -
1801 CE - 1900 CE 38 36 2 0 1811, 1838 -
1901 CE - 2000 CE 39 39 0 0 - -
2001 CE - 2100 CE 38 38 0 0 - -
2101 CE - 2200 CE 27 25 2 0 2111, 2154 -
2201 CE - 2300 CE 36 34 2 0 2267, 2294 -
2301 CE - 2400 CE 37 37 0 0 - -
2401 CE - 2500 CE 34 33 0 1 - 2444
2501 CE - 2600 CE 36 35 1 0 2580 -
2601 CE - 2700 CE 42 42 0 0 - -
2701 CE - 2800 CE 34 34 0 0 - -
2801 CE - 2900 CE 34 34 0 0 - -
2901 CE - 3000 CE 49 48 1 0 2904 -

Years marked by '*' indicate eclipse path passes within 15 km of central Washington

BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era) are secular alternatives for the terms BC and AD, respectively. For more information, see Year Dating Conventions.

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Catalogs of Solar Eclipses Visible from
Washington, DC

The following catalogs present circumstances for every solar eclipse visible from Washington during the period 0001 CE to 3000 CE . Each catalog is a separate web page which covers 1,000 years. For convenience, all dates and times are given in local standard time (= GMT - 5.0) . In addition to the date and the type of eclipse visible from Washington , the local times for the beginning, maximum and end of the eclipse are given. For maximum eclipse, each catalog lists the Sun's altitude and azimuth as well as the magnitude (fraction of Sun's diameter covered) and obscuration (fraction of Sun's area covered). The number of years elapsed since the previous eclipse visible from Washington is listed next. If the eclipse is annular or total from some portion of the Earth's surface, then the distance (km) from Washington to the center and edge of the eclipse path are provided.

Special notes (last column) call attention to major partial eclipses (magnitude ≥ 0.75 ), or occasions when a total or annular eclipse path passes within 500 km of Washington . Finally, if the eclipse is actually annular or total from Washington , then the duration of annularity or totality is given. For a complete description of each item in the catalogs, please see Key to Solar Eclipse Viewing Circumstances. For a basic explanation on why solar eclipses occur, see Eclipses for Beginners.


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Index to Catalogs of Solar Eclipses Visible from
Washington, DC



Introduction (Top)


0001 CE to 1000 CE
1001 CE to 2000 CE
2001 CE to 3000 CE

Two additional catalogs are available to investigate solar eclipses visible from Washington during the period 2001 CE to 3000 CE . The first catalog lists the local circumstances (times, magnitude, etc.) for major eclipses (magnitude greater than 0.75 , and nearby annular and total eclipses). The second catalog focuses exclusively on annular and total eclipses seen from within a distance of 15 km of the center of Washington . The catalogs should prove useful for historical research or for planning future observations. They can be accessed via the following links.

Major Solar Eclipses Visible from Washington

Annular and Total Solar Eclipses Visible from Washington


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These eclipse predictions are by Fred Espenak, and he assumes full responsibility for their accuracy.

Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment:

"Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC"

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Eclipse Predictions & WebMaster: Fred Espenak
e-mail: espenak@gsfc.nasa.gov

Planetary Systems Branch - Code 693
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 USA


Last revised: 2003 Mar 11 - F. Espenak