Future Eclipse Paths on the Internet
Presently, the NASA eclipse bulletins are published 18 to 36 months before each eclipse, though it takes longer
to get the Web version published.
However, there have been a growing number of requests for eclipse path data with an even greater lead time.
To accommodate the demand, predictions have been generated for all central solar eclipses from 1991
through 2030. All predictions are based on j=2 ephemerides for the Sun [Newcomb, 1895] and Moon
[Brown, 1919, and Eckert, Jones and Clark, 1954]. The value used for the Moon's secular acceleration is
n-dot = -26 arc-sec/cy2, as deduced by Morrison and Ward [1975]. A correction of -0.6" was added to the
Moon's ecliptic latitude to account for the difference between the Moon's center of mass and center of figure.
The value for T is from direct measurements
during the 20th century and extrapolation into the 21st
century. The value used for the Moon's mean radius is k = 0.272281.
The umbral path characteristics have been predicted at 2 minute intervals of time compared to the 6
minute interval used in Fifty Year Canon of Solar Eclipses: 1986-2035 [Espenak, 1987]. This should
provide enough detail for making preliminary plots of the path on larger scale maps. Global maps using an
orthographic projection also present the regions of partial and total (or annular) eclipse. The index page for
the path tables and maps is:
Central Solar Eclipses: 1991-2030.
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