Total Solar eclipse (March 29, 2006)

Visibility and path

On Wednesday, March 29 of this year, a total eclipse will be visible from within a narrow corridor, which traverses half the Earth. The path of the Moon's umbral shadow begins in Brazil and extends across the Atlantic, northern Africa, and central Asia, where it ends at sunset in western Mongolia. A partial eclipse will be seen within the much broader path of the Moon's penumbral shadow, which includes the northern two thirds of Africa, Europe, and central Asia

The central eclipse track begins in eastern Brazil, where the Moon's umbral shadow first touches down on Earth at 08:36 UT. Along the sunrise terminator, the duration is 1 minute 53 seconds from the center of the 129-kilometre wide path. Traveling over 9 km/s, the umbra quickly leaves Brazil and races across the Atlantic Ocean (with no landfall) for the next half hour. After crossing the equator, the Moon's shadow enters the Gulf of Guinea and encounters the coast of Ghana at 09:08 UT. The Sun stands 44° above the eastern horizon during the 3 minute 24 second total phase. The path width has expanded to 184 kilometres while the shadow's ground speed has decreased to 0.958 km/s. 

Totality reaches its maximum duration of 4 minutes 7 seconds, the Sun's altitude is 67°, the path width is 184 kilometres and the umbra's velocity is 0.697 km/s. Continuing on a northeastern course, the umbra crosses central Libya and reaches the Mediterranean coast at 10:40 UT. Northwestern Egypt also lies within the umbral path where the central duration is 3 minutes 58 seconds.

Local Circumstances

• Obscuration: Percentage of the Sun's surface area occulted by the Moon
• Magnitude: Fraction of the Sun's diamter occulted by the Moon
• First contact I: Comienzo del eclipse. El disco de la Luna es tangente exteriormente al disco del Sol
• Maximum: Instante en el que el centro de la Luna pasa más cerca del centro del Sol
• Fourth contact IV: Fin del eclipse. El disco de la Luna es tangente exteriormente al disco del Sol