Solar eclipse of August 11, 1999

Solar eclipse of August 11, 1999
Totality from France
Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Total
Gamma	0.5062
Magnitude	1.0286
Maximum eclipse
Duration	143 s (2 min 23 s)
Location	Ocnele Mari, Vâlcea County, Romania
Coordinates	45°06′N 24°18′E / 45.1°N 24.3°E / 45.1; 24.3
Max. width of band	112 km (70 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse	11:04:09
References
Saros	145 (21 of 77)
Catalog # (SE5000)	9506

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Wednesday, August 11, 1999,^[1] with a magnitude of 1.0286. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the sun for a viewer on earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon’s apparent diameter is larger than the Sun’s, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into night. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth’s surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 3.5 days after perigee (on August 8, 1999, at 0:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.^[2]

It was the first total eclipse visible from Europe since July 22, 1990, and the first visible in the United Kingdom since June 29, 1927.

The path of the Moon's shadow began in the Atlantic Ocean and was later traversing the southern United Kingdom, northern France, Belgium, Luxembourg, southern Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, and northern FR Yugoslavia (Vojvodina). The eclipse's maximum was at 11:03 UTC at 45°06′N 24°18′E / 45.1°N 24.3°E / 45.1; 24.3 in Romania^[3][4][5] and it continued across Bulgaria, the Black Sea, Turkey, the northeastern tip of Syria, northern Iraq, Iran, southern Pakistan and Srikakulam in India and ended in the Bay of Bengal. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of eastern Canada, Greenland, Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, and China.