Path of the Total Solar Eclipse of -0855 Dec 17

Fred Espenak

Introduction

The following table delineates the path of the Moon's umbral shadow during the Total Solar Eclipse of -0855 Dec 17 . The geographic coordinates (WGS 84) of the northern and southern limits and the central line are listed at 120-second intervals. This provides adequate detail for making plots of the path on larger scale maps. Local circumstances on the central line include the ratio of the apparent diameters of the Moon to the Sun, the Sun's altitude and azimuth (degrees), the path width (kilometers) and the duration on the central line (minutes and seconds). See the Explanation of the Central Eclipse Path Table for a description of each column in the table.

The geographic visibility of the eclipse is shown on a global map on the Prime Page for the Eclipse which also includes complete details on the eclipse. The path of the eclipse is displayed in greater detail on an interactive Google Map .

Total Solar Eclipse of -0855 Dec 17
UT1 Northern Limit Southern Limit Central Line M:S Sun Sun Path Central
Latitude Longitude Latitude Longitude Latitude Longitude Ratio Alt. Azm. Width Duration
Limits66°34.1'N021°56.9'W65°08.6'N034°01.4'W65°49.8'N029°48.7'W 1.019 - 494 km 01m17.3s
12:54 - - 59°35.1'N025°49.0'W63°35.4'N027°32.2'W 1.020 167° 523 km 01m22.1s
12:56 - - 58°56.5'N023°54.9'W62°07.8'N024°56.6'W 1.020 170° 563 km 01m25.6s
12:58 - - 58°30.0'N022°09.6'W61°21.2'N022°50.8'W 1.021 172° 596 km 01m27.5s
13:00 - - 58°12.5'N020°29.8'W60°53.2'N020°57.0'W 1.021 175° 622 km 01m28.8s
13:0265°07.6'N019°45.8'W58°02.5'N018°53.3'W60°37.8'N019°09.5'W 1.021 177° 640 km 01m29.5s
13:0464°46.9'N017°38.0'W57°59.4'N017°18.5'W60°32.7'N017°24.8'W 1.021 179° 646 km 01m29.7s
13:0664°59.4'N015°33.1'W58°02.8'N015°43.9'W60°37.2'N015°40.8'W 1.021 181° 641 km 01m29.5s
13:0866°04.4'N013°18.3'W58°12.9'N014°08.4'W60°51.7'N013°55.0'W 1.021 183° 626 km 01m28.9s
13:10 - - 58°30.3'N012°30.4'W61°17.9'N012°04.9'W 1.021 185° 601 km 01m27.8s
13:12 - - 58°56.3'N010°48.1'W62°00.5'N010°06.0'W 1.020 187° 569 km 01m26.0s
13:14 - - 59°33.4'N008°58.6'W63°13.6'N007°47.7'W 1.020 190° 532 km 01m23.0s
Limits66°39.6'N012°51.3'W65°29.0'N000°34.5'W66°04.9'N004°53.0'W 1.019 - 492 km 01m16.9s

ΔT = 22736.5 seconds

Greatest Eclipse and Greatest Duration
Event Time
TD
Time
UT1
Latitude Longitude Sun
Altitude
Sun
Azimuth
Path Width Central
Duration
Greatest Eclipse19:23:14.413:04:17.960°32.8'N112°09.0'W 6.2° 179.0° 646.3 km01m29.73s
Greatest Duration19:23:04.413:04:07.960°32.7'N017°18.0'W 6.2° 178.9° 646.3 km01m29.73s

Explanation of Greatest Eclipse and Greatest Duration

Links for the Total Solar Eclipse of -0855 Dec 17

Links to Additional Solar Eclipse Predictions

  • Home - home page of EclipseWise with predictions for both solar and lunar eclipses
  • Solar Eclipses - primary page for solar eclipse predictions
  • Solar Eclipse Links - detailed directory of links

Eclipse Predictions

Predictions for the Total Solar Eclipse of -0855 Dec 17 were generated using the JPL DE406 solar and lunar ephemerides. The lunar coordinates were calculated with respect to the Moon's Center of Mass. Although the predictions are first calculated in Terrestrial Dynamical Time (TD), they are then converted to Universal Time (UT1) as presented here. The parameter ΔT is used to convert between the two times (i.e., UT1 = TD - ΔT). ΔT has a value of 22736.5 seconds for this eclipse. The uncertainty in ΔT is 566.5 seconds corresponding to a standard error in longitude of the eclipse path of ± 2.37°.

Acknowledgments

All eclipse calculations are by Fred Espenak, and he assumes full responsibility for their accuracy.

Permission is granted to reproduce eclipse data when accompanied by a link to this page and an acknowledgment:

"Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, EclipseWise.com"

The use of diagrams and maps is permitted provided that they are unaltered (except for re-sizing) and the embedded credit line is not removed or covered.