Total Solar Eclipse of 2001 June 21

The next total eclipse of the Sun is the first one of the twenty-first century. The path of the Moon's umbral shadow begins in the South Atlantic, off the east coast of Uruguay and continues across the Atlantic where it reaches the west coast of Africa. The shadow enters Angola in the early afternoon with a center line duration of 4.5 minutes (Figure 26). Traveling eastward, the path sweeps through Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. At that point, the central duration drops to three minutes with the late afternoon Sun 23° above the horizon. Swiftly crossing the Mozambique Channel, the path intercepts southern Madagascar where the central duration lasts 2.5 minutes with a Sun altitude of 11°. The path ends two minutes later in the Indian Ocean.

Complete details will be published in the next NASA bulletin scheduled for Fall-Winter 1997.

Next section

Table of Contents