| Total eclipse | |
 Thediamond ring effect at the end of totality, taken nearWoomera, South Australia | |
 Map | |
| Gamma | −0.302 |
|---|---|
| Magnitude | 1.0244 |
| Maximum eclipse | |
| Duration | 124 s (2 min 4 s) |
| Coordinates | 39°30′S59°36′E / 39.5°S 59.6°E /-39.5; 59.6 |
| Max. width of band | 87 km (54 mi) |
| Times (UTC) | |
| Greatest eclipse | 7:32:16 |
| References | |
| Saros | 142 (22 of 72) |
| Catalog # (SE5000) | 9514 |
A totalsolar eclipse occurred at the Moon'sdescending node of orbit on Wednesday, December 4, 2002,[1][2][3] with amagnitude of 1.0244. Asolar eclipse occurs when theMoon passes betweenEarth and theSun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon'sapparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. 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 1.9 days afterperigee (on December 2, 2002, at 8:50 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[4]
The eclipse was visible from a narrow corridor in parts ofAngola,Botswana,Zimbabwe,South Africa,Mozambique, theIndian Ocean andSouth Australia. Apartial eclipse was seen from the much broader path of theMoon'spenumbra, including most ofAfrica andAustralia in addition to parts ofIndonesia andAntarctica. During thesunset after the eclipse many observers in Australia saw numerous and unusual forms of agreen flash.[5]
In some parts ofAngola, it was the second total eclipse of the Sun within 18 months, following thesolar eclipse of June 21, 2001.
TheChinese Academy of Sciences sent a team to Australia, to study the gravity anomalies[6] first recorded by Indian scientists during the totalsolar eclipse of October 24, 1995.[7] The Chinese Academy of Sciences also studied it during previous total solar eclipses ofMarch 9, 1997 inMohe County andJune 21, 2001 inZambia. With continuous observation for more than 10 years after that, China obtained the first observational evidence that thegravity field propagates at thespeed of light.[8]
| Country or territory | City or place | Start of partial eclipse | Start of total eclipse | Maximum eclipse | End of total eclipse | End of partial eclipse | Duration of totality (min:s) | Duration of eclipse (hr:min) | Maximum magnitude |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Angola | Huambo | 05:59:17 | 06:57:34 | 06:57:58 | 06:58:23 | 08:03:55 | 0:49 | 2:05 | 1.0047 |
 Australia | Ceduna | 18:40:12 | 19:40:08 | 19:40:24 | 19:40:41 | 20:29:20 (sunset) | 0:33 | 1:49 | 1.005 |
| References:[1] | |||||||||
| Country or territory | City or place | Start of partial eclipse | Maximum eclipse | End of partial eclipse | Duration of eclipse (hr:min) | Maximum coverage | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cameroon | Yaoundé | 06:06:40 (sunrise) | 06:43:05 | 07:39:52 | 1:33 | 54.58% | |||
 Equatorial Guinea | Malabo | 06:17:26 (sunrise) | 06:43:24 | 07:39:56 | 1:23 | 59.19% | |||
 Gabon | Libreville | 06:09:15 (sunrise) | 06:45:24 | 07:44:12 | 1:35 | 69.50% | |||
 São Tomé and Príncipe | São Tomé | 05:20:04 (sunrise) | 05:45:44 | 06:43:53 | 1:24 | 73.94% | |||
 Nigeria | Lagos | 06:43:38 (sunrise) | 06:47:49 | 07:37:02 | 0:53 | 56.60% | |||
 Benin | Porto-Novo | 06:46:35 (sunrise) | 06:48:56 | 07:37:07 | 0:51 | 56.87% | |||
 Republic of the Congo | Brazzaville | 05:52:53 | 06:49:09 | 07:52:05 | 1:59 | 75.25% | |||
 Democratic Republic of the Congo | Kinshasa | 05:52:54 | 06:49:12 | 07:52:11 | 1:59 | 75.40% | |||
| Angola | Luanda | 05:56:10 | 06:53:15 | 07:57:05 | 2:01 | 93.78% | |||
 Burundi | Gitega | 06:55:58 | 07:53:26 | 08:58:26 | 2:02 | 45.12% | |||
 Togo | Lomé | 05:51:35 (sunrise) | 05:53:56 | 06:37:43 | 0:46 | 55.70% | |||
 Ghana | Accra | 05:56:20 (sunrise) | 05:58:40 | 06:38:32 | 0:42 | 53.35% | |||
 Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha | Jamestown | 05:42:22 (sunrise) | 06:01:56 | 06:54:54 | 1:13 | 58.21% | |||
 Namibia | Rundu | 07:04:42 | 08:05:47 | 09:14:42 | 2:10 | 93.36% | |||
 Zambia | Lusaka | 07:02:37 | 08:07:08 | 09:20:49 | 2:18 | 85.36% | |||
 Malawi | Lilongwe | 07:03:43 | 08:09:32 | 09:25:02 | 2:21 | 69.29% | |||
| Namibia | Windhoek | 07:11:43 | 08:11:11 | 09:17:43 | 2:06 | 75.11% | |||
 Zimbabwe | Harare | 07:06:17 | 08:12:47 | 09:28:54 | 2:23 | 86.88% | |||
 Botswana | Gaborone | 07:14:36 | 08:19:18 | 09:32:29 | 2:18 | 86.26% | |||
 South Africa | Johannesburg | 07:17:27 | 08:23:27 | 09:38:06 | 2:21 | 86.23% | |||
 Eswatini | Mbabane | 07:18:26 | 08:26:24 | 09:43:29 | 2:25 | 92.17% | |||
 Mozambique | Maputo | 07:18:21 | 08:27:11 | 09:45:25 | 2:27 | 96.11% | |||
 Lesotho | Maseru | 07:22:49 | 08:28:08 | 09:41:32 | 2:19 | 76.60% | |||
 Madagascar | Antananarivo | 08:22:24 | 09:35:16 | 10:58:32 | 2:36 | 54.51% | |||
| Madagascar | Toliara | 08:22:20 | 09:36:39 | 11:01:28 | 2:39 | 76.57% | |||
 French Southern and Antarctic Lands | Port-aux-Français | 11:38:56 | 12:56:50 | 14:13:50 | 2:35 | 75.45% | |||
| French Southern and Antarctic Lands | Île Amsterdam | 11:41:25 | 13:08:19 | 14:30:59 | 2:50 | 80.40% | |||
| Australia | Sydney | 19:12:04 | 19:50:08 | 19:53:28 (sunset) | 0:41 | 56.12% | |||
| Australia | Melbourne | 19:09:07 | 20:03:30 | 20:29:04 (sunset) | 1:20 | 68.51% | |||
| Australia | Eucla | 16:53:28 | 17:55:44 | 18:52:04 | 1:59 | 93.25% | |||
| References:[1] | |||||||||
.jpg)
Shown below are two tables displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. The first table outlines times at which the Moon's penumbra or umbra attains the specific parameter, and the second table describes various other parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[9]
| Event | Time (UTC) |
|---|---|
| First Penumbral External Contact | 2002 December 4 at 04:52:27.3 UTC |
| First Umbral External Contact | 2002 December 4 at 05:51:24.0 UTC |
| First Central Line | 2002 December 4 at 05:51:38.6 UTC |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 2002 December 4 at 05:51:53.2 UTC |
| First Penumbral Internal Contact | 2002 December 4 at 06:56:18.4 UTC |
| Greatest Eclipse | 2002 December 4 at 07:32:15.7 UTC |
| Greatest Duration | 2002 December 4 at 07:33:01.0 UTC |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 2002 December 4 at 07:35:26.3 UTC |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 2002 December 4 at 07:39:48.9 UTC |
| Last Penumbral Internal Contact | 2002 December 4 at 08:08:01.3 UTC |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 2002 December 4 at 09:12:35.9 UTC |
| Last Central Line | 2002 December 4 at 09:12:48.5 UTC |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 2002 December 4 at 09:13:01.0 UTC |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 2002 December 4 at 10:12:05.5 UTC |
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Eclipse Magnitude | 1.02437 |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 1.04934 |
| Gamma | −0.30204 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 16h41m50.9s |
| Sun Declination | -22°13'29.2" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'13.6" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.9" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 16h41m32.9s |
| Moon Declination | -22°31'05.2" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'21.5" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 1°00'02.3" |
| ΔT | 64.4 s |
This eclipse is part of aneclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by afortnight.
| November 20 Ascending node (full moon) | December 4 Descending node (new moon) |
|---|---|
 | |
| Penumbral lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 116 | Total solar eclipse Solar Saros 142 |
This eclipse is a member of asemester series. An eclipse in a semester series of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternatingnodes of the Moon's orbit.[10]
The partial solar eclipses onFebruary 5, 2000 andJuly 31, 2000 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set.
| Solar eclipse series sets from 2000 to 2003 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ascending node | Descending node | |||||
| Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma | |
| 117 | July 1, 2000 Partial | −1.28214 | 122 Partial projection inMinneapolis, MN, USA | December 25, 2000 Partial | 1.13669 | |
127 Totality inLusaka, Zambia | June 21, 2001 Total | −0.57013 | 132 Partial inMinneapolis, MN, USA | December 14, 2001 Annular | 0.40885 | |
137.jpg) Partial inLos Angeles, CA, USA | June 10, 2002 Annular | 0.19933 | 142 Totality inWoomera, South Australia | December 4, 2002 Total | −0.30204 | |
147 Annularity inCulloden, Scotland | May 31, 2003 Annular | 0.99598 | 152.jpg) | November 23, 2003 Total | −0.96381 | |
This eclipse is a part ofSaros series 142, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 72 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on April 17, 1624. It contains a hybrid eclipse on July 14, 1768, and total eclipses from July 25, 1786 through October 29, 2543. There are no annular eclipses in this set. The series ends at member 72 as a partial eclipse on June 5, 2904. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is oneexeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.
The longest duration of totality will be produced by member 38 at 6 minutes, 34 seconds on May 28, 2291. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’sdescending node of orbit.[11]
| Series members 11–32 occur between 1801 and 2200: | ||
|---|---|---|
| 11 | 12 | 13 |
 August 5, 1804 |  August 16, 1822 |  August 27, 1840 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 |
 September 7, 1858 |  September 17, 1876 |  September 29, 1894 |
| 17 | 18 | 19 |
 October 10, 1912 |  October 21, 1930 |  November 1, 1948 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 |
 November 12, 1966 |  November 22, 1984 | December 4, 2002 |
| 23 | 24 | 25 |
 December 14, 2020 |  December 26, 2038 |  January 5, 2057 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 |
 January 16, 2075 |  January 27, 2093 |  February 8, 2111 |
| 29 | 30 | 31 |
 February 18, 2129 |  March 2, 2147 |  March 12, 2165 |
| 32 | ||
 March 23, 2183 | ||
Themetonic series repeats eclipses every 19 years (6939.69 days), lasting about 5 cycles. Eclipses occur in nearly the same calendar date. In addition, the octon subseries repeats 1/5 of that or every 3.8 years (1387.94 days). All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's descending node.
| 21 eclipse events between July 11, 1953 and July 11, 2029 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 10–11 | April 29–30 | February 15–16 | December 4 | September 21–23 |
| 116 | 118 | 120 | 122 | 124 |
 July 11, 1953 |  April 30, 1957 |  February 15, 1961 |  December 4, 1964 |  September 22, 1968 |
| 126 | 128 | 130 | 132 | 134 |
 July 10, 1972 |  April 29, 1976 |  February 16, 1980 |  December 4, 1983 |  September 23, 1987 |
| 136 | 138 | 140 | 142 | 144 |
 July 11, 1991 |  April 29, 1995 |  February 16, 1999 | December 4, 2002 |  September 22, 2006 |
| 146 | 148 | 150 | 152 | 154 |
 July 11, 2010 |  April 29, 2014 |  February 15, 2018 |  December 4, 2021 |  September 21, 2025 |
| 156 | ||||
 July 11, 2029 | ||||
This eclipse is a part of atritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with theanomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
| Series members between 1801 and 2200 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 June 16, 1806 (Saros 124) |  May 16, 1817 (Saros 125) |  April 14, 1828 (Saros 126) |  March 15, 1839 (Saros 127) |  February 12, 1850 (Saros 128) |
 January 11, 1861 (Saros 129) |  December 12, 1871 (Saros 130) |  November 10, 1882 (Saros 131) |  October 9, 1893 (Saros 132) |  September 9, 1904 (Saros 133) |
 August 10, 1915 (Saros 134) |  July 9, 1926 (Saros 135) |  June 8, 1937 (Saros 136) |  May 9, 1948 (Saros 137) |  April 8, 1959 (Saros 138) |
 March 7, 1970 (Saros 139) |  February 4, 1981 (Saros 140) |  January 4, 1992 (Saros 141) | December 4, 2002 (Saros 142) |  November 3, 2013 (Saros 143) |
 October 2, 2024 (Saros 144) |  September 2, 2035 (Saros 145) |  August 2, 2046 (Saros 146) |  July 1, 2057 (Saros 147) |  May 31, 2068 (Saros 148) |
 May 1, 2079 (Saros 149) |  March 31, 2090 (Saros 150) |  February 28, 2101 (Saros 151) |  January 29, 2112 (Saros 152) |  December 28, 2122 (Saros 153) |
 November 26, 2133 (Saros 154) |  October 26, 2144 (Saros 155) |  September 26, 2155 (Saros 156) |  August 25, 2166 (Saros 157) |  July 25, 2177 (Saros 158) |
 June 24, 2188 (Saros 159) |  May 24, 2199 (Saros 160) | |||
This eclipse is a part of the long periodinex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with theanomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
| Series members between 1801 and 2200 | ||
|---|---|---|
 April 3, 1829 (Saros 136) |  March 15, 1858 (Saros 137) |  February 22, 1887 (Saros 138) |
 February 3, 1916 (Saros 139) |  January 14, 1945 (Saros 140) |  December 24, 1973 (Saros 141) |
December 4, 2002 (Saros 142) |  November 14, 2031 (Saros 143) |  October 24, 2060 (Saros 144) |
 October 4, 2089 (Saros 145) |  September 15, 2118 (Saros 146) |  August 26, 2147 (Saros 147) |
 August 4, 2176 (Saros 148) | ||
Photos:
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