The Total Solar Eclipse of 24 October 1995. The dark blue region is the path of totality (also known as the umbra).
The umbra shadow travels from west to east (left to right on the map). At the point of greatest eclipse, totality is at local midday. The duration of totality at greatest eclipse is 2 minutes 10 seconds. This occurs in the South China Sea. On either side of that point, the duration is less. To the West of greatest eclipse the eclipse will be total before local noon; to the East, the eclipse will be total after local noon. The umbra is widest around the time of greatest eclipse as the surface of the Earth is bulging out towards the Moon in that region.
The area on either side of the path of totality (in pale blue) provides a partial eclipse, the magnitude decreasing with distance from the path of totality. Outside the blue region no eclipse is visible. The sub-solar point is the location where the Sun is overhead at the time of greatest eclipse. The overhead Sun is South of the equator during October. The red regions are the areas where the eclipse occurs during sunrise (left) or sunset (right).
The path of totality begins in Asia (central Iran), crosses South Asia (including the Bay of Bengal), South East Asia, the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The umbra takes 3 hours 20 minutes to traverse its entire path.
The Moon is further from the Earth than average making the path of totality narrower than average and the duration of totality very short.
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The path of totality is the pair of dark lines in the centre, moving across Asia from left to right.
In this part of the path the eclipse occurs before local noon. The path travels across Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, northern India, the extreme south of Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It takes about 1 hour 30 minutes for the umbra to cross this land area.
The circlular regions are the positions of the umbra at ten minute intervals.
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The two black lines shaded in gray are the path of totality.
The circlular regions are the positions of the umbra at five minute intervals. Under each one is the duration of totality at the point. The umbra becomes less circular from left to right as the meeting between the Earth and the umbra becomes less perpendicular.
The eclipse site was along the centre of the path of totality approximately 35km south of the city of Agra.
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This is the sky during totality close to our observation location.
The Sun is very low as the eclipse was early in the morning. Venus was the only planet visible.
| Location | Khanua, northern India |
| Distance from Centre Line | 0 km |
| 1st Contact (UT + 5.5) | 07:25 |
| 2nd Contact | 08:34 |
| 3rd Contact | 08:35 |
| 4th Contact | |
| Duration | 0m 55s |
| Path Width | 43 km |
| Umbral Velocity | 1.7 km/s |
| Saros Details | 143 (23 / 73) |
| Gamma | 0.3517 |
| Diameter Ratio | 1.012 |
The Distance from Centre Line was zero. This was a deliberate choice because of the properties of this eclipse.
First Contact is the beginning of the eclipse when the first "bite" appears on the Sun's disk; it is the beginning of the partial phase. Second Contact is the beginning of totality. Third Contact is the end of totality. Fourth Contact is the end of the partial eclipse - at this time we had left the observation site and were talking to the villagers. The times are in local time which, for this eclipse, is UT + 5.5 (GMT plus five and a half hours).
The Duration of the eclipse at the observation site was 0 minutes 55 seconds.
The Path Width is the width of the path of totality. This was quite narrow for this eclipse, at 43km. The small size of the umbra produced a fairly bright totality and a short duration.
The Umbral Velocity is the speed of the Moon's shadow which was 1.7 kilometres per second at the observation site. This high speed and the small width of the umbra produced a total eclipse of short duration.
The Saros is a collection of eclipses belonging to a series. Each member of the series is followed by a similar eclipse approximately 18 years, 11 days and 8 hours later. This eclipse is a member of Saros number 143. It is the 23rd eclipse out a series of 73.
Gamma determines how the Moon's shadow, if extended, would pass through the Earth. A Gamma of zero implies that the shadow would pass through the exact centre of the Earth. A Gamma of greater than 1 misses the Earth and no total eclipse would occur. A positive Gamma passes North of the Earth's centre; a negative Gamma passes South of the Earth's centre. The value of Gamma for this eclipse is 0.3517. This means that the shadow passes North of the Earth's centre, about a third of the way to the edge of the Earth. This, combined with the fact that in October, the Southern Hemisphere is tilted slightly towards the Sun, produces an eclipse in the Northern Tropical Zone.
The Diameter Ratio determines how much bigger the Moon's apparent radius is than the Sun's. In this case, the Moon's radius is 1.012 that of the Sun's. A total eclipse can only occur if this figure is greater than 1. The Moon would then appear larger than the Sun and could cover it completely. If this figure was less than one a total eclipse could not occur because the Moon would appear smaller than the Sun. According to this figure, the Moon is a mere 1.2% larger than the Sun. This produced an eclipse where the inner levels of the Sun's atmosphere could be seen.
