On Thursday, 1998 February 26, a total eclipse of the Sun will be visible from within a narrow corridor which traverses the Western Hemisphere. The path of the Moon's umbral shadow begins in the Pacific, continues through northern South America and the Caribbean Sea, and ends at sunset off the Atlantic coast of Africa. A partial eclipse will be seen within the much broader path of the Moon's penumbral shadow, which includes parts of the United States and eastern Canada, Mexico, Central America and the northern half of South America.

A new NASA solar eclipse bulletin covering this event is now available. "Total Solar Eclipse of 1998 February 26" (NASA RP 1383) is a 108 page publication containing detailed predictions and includes Besselian elements, geographic coordinates of the path of totality, physical ephemeris of the umbra, topocentric limb profile corrections, local circumstances for over 1000 cities, maps of the eclipse path, weather prospects, the lunar limb profile and the sky during totality. Tips and suggestions are also given on how to safely view and photograph the eclipse. NASA's eclipse bulletins are prepared in cooperation with the IAU's Working Group on Eclipses and are provided as a public service to both the professional and lay communities, including educators and the media.

Single copies of the eclipse bulletins are available at no cost, by sending a Bulletin Request Form and a 9 x 12 inch SASE (self addressed stamped envelope) with sufficient postage (11 oz. or 310 g) to either of the authors. Use stamps only; cash or checks cannot be accepted. Requests within the U. S. may use the Postal Service's Priority Mail for $3.00. Please print either the eclipse date (i.e.: "1998 February") or "NASA RP 1383" in the lower left corner of the 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 for international requests where political or economic restraints prevent the transfer of funds to other countries. Professional researchers and scientists may order the bulletins directly (no SASE is necessary). Bulletin requests may be made to either of the authors.

Other eclipse bulletins currently available are:

"Total Solar Eclipse of 1995 October 24" (NASA RP 1344)
"Total Solar Eclipse of 1997 March 9" (NASA RP 1369)
"Total Solar Eclipse of 1998 February 26" (NASA RP 1383)
"Total Solar Eclipse of 1999 August 11" (NASA RP 1398)

The NASA eclipse bulletins are also available over the Internet (1999 bulletin on web by early May 1997). Formats include a BinHex-encoded version of the original MS Word file + PICT + gif scanned GNC maps, as well as a hypertext version. They can be read or downloaded via the World-Wide Web using a Web browser (e.g.: Mosaic, Netscape, Microsoft Explorer, etc.) from the GSFC SDAC (Solar Data Analysis Center) Eclipse Information home page: http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/eclipse/. Most of the files are also available via anonymous ftp. In addition, path data for all central eclipses through the year 2005 are available via http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/eclipse/predictions/year-month-day.html, where the string year-month-day is replaced with the date of interest (e.g. - 1998-february-26). The 1999 bulletin will be available over the web in late April or early May. For more details, contact Espenak.

Fred Espenak                                    Jay Anderson
Planetary Systems Branch, Code 693              Environment Canada
Laboratory for Extraterrestrial Physics         123 Main Street, Suite 150
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center                Winnipeg, MB
Greenbelt, MD 20771   USA                       CANADA R3C 3V4
espenak@lepvax.gsfc.nasa.gov                    jander@cc.umanitoba.ca

WebMaster: Fred Espenak Planetary Systems Branch - Code 693 e-mail: espenak@lepvax.gsfc.nasa.gov NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 USA