21st Century Canon of Solar Eclipses - Color Edition

Book excerpt: The 21st Century Canon of Solar Eclipses - Color Edition contains maps and data for all 224 solar eclipses occurring during the 100-year period from 2001 through 2100. The eclipse predictions are based on the Jet Propulsion Lab's DE405 - a computer ephemeris used for calculating high precision coordinates of the Sun and Moon for hundreds of years into the past and future. Section 1 of the Canon presents fundamental concepts including eclipse classification the visual appearance of each type of eclipse, safe eclipse viewing tips, and how duration changes with distance from the central line. Section 2 discusses the eclipse the predictions, the constants used, time measurement and Delta T. A statistical analysis of eclipse frequency, extremes in eclipse magnitude, greatest central duration and quincena combinations are covered in Section 3. A concise explanation of the data contained in the solar eclipse catalog (Appendix A) and detailed descriptions of the solar eclipse maps (Appendices B, C and D) appear in Sections 4 and 5. The primary content of the 21st Century Canon resides in the four appendices. Appendix A is a comprehensive catalog listing the essential characteristics of each eclipse. These include the calendar date and time of greatest eclipse, Delta T, lunation number, Saros series, gamma, eclipse magnitude, geographic coordinates of greatest eclipse, Sun's altitude and azimuth, central path width and central line duration. Appendix B is an atlas of maps depicting the geographic regions of visibility of each eclipse. The zones of partial and central eclipse are plotted using an orthographic (global) map projection. The 224 maps are arranged twelve to a page permitting the assessment of eclipse visibility from any location on Earth. Appendix C contains zeros in on every solar eclipses from 2017 through 2066 with a detailed full page map of each. Curves of Maximum Time and Curves of Eclipse Magnitude permit the estimation of time and magnitude from any geographic location. Finally, Appendix D plots the track of every central eclipse (total, annular and hybrid) on large scale maps to allow the identification of countries and major cities within each eclipse path. The 21st Century Canon is the modern successor to the NASA publication "Fifty Year Canon of Solar Eclipses". It is available in both black & white and color editions.