Single copies of the bulletins are available at no cost and may be ordered by sending a 9 x 12 inch self addressed stamped envelope (SASE) with sufficient postage (12 oz. or 340 g.). Use stamps only; cash or checks cannot be accepted. Requests within the U. S. may use the Postal Service's Priority Mail for $3.20. Please print the eclipse date (year & month) or the NASA RP number in the lower left corner of the return SASE. Requests from outside the U. S. and Canada may send nine international postal coupons to cover postage. Exceptions to the postage requirements will be made to professional researchers and scientists, or for international requests where political or economic restraints prevent the transfer of funds to other countries. All requests should be accompanied by a copy of the request form on the last page.
The 1999 bulletin uses two detailed mapping data bases for the path figures. World Vector Shoreline (WVS) and World Data Bank II (WDBII), were developed by the Defense Mapping Agency (U. S. Department of Defense) and the U. S. Central Intelligence Agency, respectively. The WDBII outline files were digitized from navigational charts to a working scale of approximately 1:3,000,000, and represent the "state of the art" in the mid 1970s. The WVS data sets are given at several resolutions, including 1:1,000,000, 1:250,000 and 1:100,000. For maximum efficiency and speed, these data have been compressed and reformatted into direct access files by Jan C. Depner (U. S. Naval Oceanographic Office) and James A. Hammak (NORDA). WDBII and WVS are available through the Global Relief Data CD-ROM from the National Geophysical Data Center. These vector data have made it possible to generate eclipse path figures at resolutions greater than 1:10,000,000. The more detailed path figures include curves of constant duration of totality within the umbral path. This permits the user to quickly estimate the duration of totality at various locations shown in the figures.
The geographic coordinates data base includes over 90,000 cities and locations. This permits the identification of many more cities within the umbral path and their subsequent inclusion in the local circumstances tables. These same coordinates are plotted in the path figures and are labeled when the scale allows. The source of these coordinates is Rand McNally's The New International Atlas. A subset of these coordinates is available in a digital form which we've augmented with population data. The bulletins have undergone a great deal of change since their inception in 1993. The expansion of the mapping and geographic coordinates data bases have significantly improved the coverage and level of detail demanded by eclipse planning. Some of these changes are the direct result of suggestions from our readers. We strongly encourage you to share your comments, suggestions and criticisms on how to improve the content and layout in subsequent editions. Although every effort is made to ensure that the bulletins are as accurate as possible, an error occasionally slips by. We would appreciate your assistance in reporting all errors, regardless of their magnitude.
A special thanks goes to Dr. B. Ralph Chou for a new and expanded discussion on solar eclipse eye safety. Dr. Chou is Professor of Optometry at the University of Waterloo and he has over twenty-five years of eclipse observing experience. With so much fear and misinformation about watching eclipses, we thought it appropriate to invite a leading authority on the subject to provide some definitive answers.
Dr. Joe Gurman (GSFC/Solar Physics Branch) has made this and previous eclipse bulletins available over the Internet. They can be read or downloaded via the World-Wide Web using a browser from Goddard's Solar Data Analysis Center eclipse information page. Most of the files are also available via anonymous ftp. Umbral path data for all central eclipses through the year 2005 are also available. Complete details may be found elsewhere in this publication.
During 1996, Espenak developed a new web site which provides general information on both solar and lunar eclipses occurring during the next two decades. Hints on eclipse photography and eye safety may be found there as well as links to other eclipse related web sites. In addition to the general information web site above, a special web site devoted to the 1999 total solar eclipse has been set up. It includes supplemental predictions, figures and maps which could not be included in the present publication. NASA RP1398 is the already the largest eclipse bulletin yet published and represents an upper limit on the size of all future eclipse bulletins. For specialized or more detailed eclipse predictions useful to a smaller audience, this information will be served via the Web. Since the eclipse bulletins are of a limited and finite size, they cannot include everything needed by every scientific investigation. Some investigators may require exact contact times which include lunar limb effects or for a specific observing site not listed in the bulletin. Other investigations may need customized predictions for an aerial rendezvous or from the path limits for grazing eclipse experiments. We would like to assist such investigations by offering to calculate additional predictions for any professionals or large groups of amateurs. Please contact Espenak with complete details and eclipse prediction requirements.
We would like to acknowledge the valued contributions of a number of individuals who were essential to the success of this publication. The format and content of the NASA eclipse bulletins has drawn heavily upon over 40 years of eclipse Circulars published by the U. S. Naval Observatory. We owe a debt of gratitude to past and present staff of that institution who have performed this service for so many years. The many publications and algorithms of Dr. Jean Meeus have served to inspire a life-long interest in eclipse prediction. We thank Francis Reddy, who helped develop the original data base of geographic coordinates and to Rique Pottenger (Astro Communications Service) for his assistance in expanding the data base to over 90,000 cities. Dr. Wayne Warren provided a draft copy of the IOTA Observer's Manual for use in describing contact timings near the path limits. Prof. Jay M. Pasachoff reviewed the manuscript and offered many helpful suggestions. The availability of the eclipse bulletins via the Internet is due to the efforts of Dr. Joseph B. Gurman. The support of Environment Canada is acknowledged in the acquisition and arrangement of the weather data. Permission is freely granted to reproduce any portion of this Reference Publication, including data, figures, maps, tables and text. All uses and/or publication of this material should be accompanied by an appropriate acknowledgment (e.g. - "Reprinted from Total Solar Eclipse of 1999 August 11, Espenak and Anderson, 1997"). We would appreciate receiving a copy of any publications where this material appears.
The names and spellings of countries, cities and other geopolitical regions are not authoritative, nor do they imply any official recognition in status. Corrections to names, geographic coordinates and elevations are actively solicited in order to update the data base for future eclipses. All calculations, diagrams and opinions are those of the authors and they assume full responsibility for their accuracy.
Fred Espenak Jay Anderson NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Environment Canada Planetary Systems Branch, Code 693 123 Main Street, Suite 150 Greenbelt, MD 20771 Winnipeg, MB, USA CANADA R3C 4W2 Fax: (301) 286-0212 Fax: (204) 983-0109 E-mail: espenak@lepvax.gsfc.nasa.gov E-mail: jander@cc.umanitoba.ca
NASA Eclipse Bulletin RP # Publication Date Annular Solar Eclipse of 1994 May 10 1301 April 1993 Total Solar Eclipse of 1994 November 3 1318 October 1993 Total Solar Eclipse of 1995 October 24 1344 July 1994 Total Solar Eclipse of 1997 March 9 1369 July 1995 Total Solar Eclipse of 1998 February 26 1383 April 1996 Total Solar Eclipse of 1999 August 11 1398 March 1997 - - - - - - - - - - - - - future - - - - - - - - - - - - - Total Solar Eclipse of 2001 June 21 ---- Spring 1998 Total Solar Eclipse of 2002 December 4 ---- Spring 1999 Annular and Total Solar Eclipses of 2003 --- Spring 2000