Solar Eclipse Prime Page

Annular Solar Eclipse of -1660 Mar 17 (1661 Mar 17 BCE)

Fred Espenak

Introduction

eclipse map


The Annular Solar Eclipse of -1660 Mar 17 (1661 Mar 17 BCE) is visible from the geographic regions shown on the map to the right. Click on the map to enlarge it. For an explanation of the features appearing in the map, see Key to Solar Eclipse Maps.

The instant of greatest eclipse takes place on -1660 Mar 17 at 02:37:16 TD (15:55:15 UT1). This is 3.1 days before the Moon reaches apogee. During the eclipse, the Sun is in the constellation Aries. The synodic month in which the eclipse takes place has a Brown Lunation Number of -44313.

The eclipse belongs to Saros 3 and is number 65 of 72 eclipses in the series. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node. The Moon moves southward with respect to the node with each succeeding eclipse in the series and gamma decreases.

This annular eclipse is very unusual in that it is NON-CENTRAL and does NOT have a central line nor a southern path limit. Instead , over half of the antumbral shadow falls off into space throughout the eclipse. Gamma has a value of -1.0035.

The annular solar eclipse of -1660 Mar 17 is followed two weeks later by a total lunar eclipse on -1660 Apr 01.

These eclipses all take place during a single eclipse season.

The eclipse predictions are given in both Terrestrial Dynamical Time (TD) and Universal Time (UT1). The parameter ΔT is used to convert between these two times (i.e., UT1 = TD - ΔT). ΔT has a value of 38521.5 seconds for this eclipse. The uncertainty in ΔT is 2426.9 seconds corresponding to a standard error in longitude of the eclipse path of ± 10.14°.

The following links provide maps and data for the eclipse.

The tables below contain detailed predictions and additional information on the Annular Solar Eclipse of -1660 Mar 17 .


Eclipse Data: Annular Solar Eclipse of -1660 Mar 17

Eclipse Characteristics
Parameter Value
Eclipse Magnitude 0.95784
Eclipse Obscuration -
Gamma-1.00353
Conjunction Times
Event Calendar Date and Time Julian Date
Greatest Eclipse -1660 Mar 17 at 02:37:16.4 TD (15:55:14.8 UT1) 1114818.163366
Ecliptic Conjunction -1660 Mar 17 at 02:25:39.5 TD (15:43:38.0 UT1) 1114818.155301
Equatorial Conjunction -1660 Mar 17 at 01:33:28.1 TD (14:51:26.6 UT1) 1114818.119058
Geocentric Coordinates of Sun and Moon
-1660 Mar 17 at 02:37:16.4 TD (15:55:14.8 UT1)
Coordinate Sun Moon
Right Ascension22h53m04.4s22h54m49.4s
Declination-07°15'58.3"-08°03'55.4"
Semi-Diameter 15'50.9" 14'51.1"
Eq. Hor. Parallax 08.7" 0°54'30.4"
Geocentric Libration of Moon
Angle Value
l 3.3°
b 1.1°
c -21.4°
Prediction Paramaters
Paramater Value
Ephemerides JPL DE406
ΔT 38521.5 s
k (penumbra) 0.2725076
k (umbra) 0.2722810
Saros Series 3 (65/72)

Explanation of Solar Eclipse Data Tables

Penumbral Shadow Contacts and Extremes: Annular Solar Eclipse of -1660 Mar 17

Contacts of Penumbral Shadow with Earth
Contact Event Contact Time
TD
Time
UT1
Latitude Longitude
First External ContactP100:16:48.313:34:46.867°23.5'S128°01.6'W
Last External ContactP404:58:12.818:16:11.211°24.1'S000°58.7'E
Extreme Northern and Southern Path Limits of Penumbra
Contact Event Contact Time
TD
Time
UT1
Latitude Longitude
North Extreme Path Limit 1N100:48:17.914:06:16.454°07.1'S128°10.6'W
South Extreme Path Limit 1S104:26:36.917:44:35.402°22.9'N007°06.7'E

Non-Central Annular Solar Eclipse

Explanation of Penumbral Shadow Contacts and Extremes Tables

Umbral Shadow Contacts and Extremes: Annular Solar Eclipse of -1660 Mar 17

Contacts of Umbral Shadow with Earth
Contact Event Contact Time
TD
Time
UT1
Latitude Longitude
First External ContactU102:18:58.815:36:57.369°14.2'S058°59.6'E
Last External ContactU402:56:14.116:14:12.651°59.3'S039°23.8'E
Extreme Northern and Southern Path Limits of Umbra
Contact Event Contact Time
TD
Time
UT1
Latitude Longitude
North Extreme Path Limit 1N102:19:07.915:37:06.469°18.7'S059°02.1'E
South Extreme Path Limit 1S102:56:05.316:14:03.751°54.3'S039°24.3'E

Non-Central Annular Solar Eclipse

Explanation of Umbral Shadow Contacts and Extremes Tables

Non-Central Annular Solar Eclipse

Explanation of Central Line Extremes Table

Non-Central Annular Solar Eclipse

Polynomial Besselian Elements: Annular Solar Eclipse of -1660 Mar 17

Polynomial Besselian Elements
-1660 Mar 17 at 03:00:00.0 TD (=t0)
n x y d l1 l2 μ
0 0.64836 -0.79005 -7.2584 0.56478 0.01853 221.8704
1 0.44950 0.24363 0.0151 0.00005 0.00005 15.0047
2 -0.00005 0.00006 0.0000 -0.00001 -0.00001 0.0000
3 -0.00001 -0.00000 - - - -
Tan ƒ1 0.0046341
Tan ƒ2 0.0046110

At time t1 (decimal hours), each besselian element is evaluated by:

x = x0 + x1*t + x2*t2 + x3*t3 (or x = Σ [xn*tn]; n = 0 to 3)

where: t = t1 - t0 (decimal hours) and t0 = 3.000

Explanation of Polynomial Besselian Elements

Links for the Annular Solar Eclipse of -1660 Mar 17 (1661 Mar 17 BCE)

Links to Additional Solar Eclipse Information

Calendar

The Gregorian calendar (also called the Western calendar) is internationally the most widely used civil calendar. It is named for Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in 1582. On this website, the Gregorian calendar is used for all calendar dates from 1582 Oct 15 onwards. Before that date, the Julian calendar is used. For more information on this topic, see Calendar Dates.

The Julian calendar does not include the year 0. Thus the year 1 BCE is followed by the year 1 CE (See: BCE/CE Dating Conventions). This is awkward for arithmetic calculations. Years in this catalog are numbered astronomically and include the year 0. Historians should note there is a difference of one year between astronomical dates and BCE dates. Thus, the astronomical year 0 corresponds to 1 BCE, and astronomical year -1 corresponds to 2 BCE, etc..

Eclipse Predictions

Predictions for the Annular Solar Eclipse of -1660 Mar 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. The predictions are given in both Terrestrial Dynamical Time (TD) and Universal Time (UT1). The parameter ΔT is used to convert between these two times (i.e., UT1 = TD - ΔT). ΔT has a value of 38521.5 seconds for this eclipse. The uncertainty in ΔT is 2426.9 seconds corresponding to a standard error in longitude of the eclipse path of ± 10.14°.

Acknowledgments

Some of the content on this website is based on the book Thousand Year Canon of Solar Eclipses 1501 to 2500. 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, www.EclipseWise.com"

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