Chapter 5. The Sun

Topics covered

The view of our Sun is discussed, including the following highlights:

Current solar image from

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Chapter 5 updates

Table 5.1. Upcoming Total and Annular Solar Eclipses: 2000 - 2010

*Date* *(U.T.)*	*Type of eclipse*	*Zone of maximum eclipse*
2001 Jun 21	Total	Central Africa (Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Madagascar)
2001 Dec 14	Annular	Pacific Ocean, Costa Rica
2002 Jun 10-11	Annular	Pacific Ocean, North Mariana Islands
2002 Dec 4	Total	Central Africa (Angola, Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique)
2003 May 31	Annular	Greenland, Iceland, northernmost Scotland
2003 Nov 23	Total	Antarctica and adjacent Indian Ocean
2005 Apr 8	Annular/Total	Pacific Ocean, Panama, Columbia, Venezuela
2005 Oct 3	Annular	Portugal, Spain, Mediterranean Sea, Algeria, Libya, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia
2006 Mar 29	Total	Brazil, South Atlantic, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Libya, Mediterranean Sea, Turkey
2006 Sep 22	Annular	Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, South Atlantic
2008 Feb 7	Annular	Antarctica and adjacent Indian Ocean
2008 August 1	Total	Northernmost Canada, Greenland, Franz Joseph Land, Novaya Zemlya, Russia, Mongolia, China
2009 Jan 26	Annular	Indian Ocean, Indonesia
2009 Jul 22	Total	India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Pacific Ocean
2010 Jan 15	Annular	Zaire, Kenya, Indian Ocean, India, Myanmar, China
2010 Jul 11	Total	Pacific Ocean, Easter Island, southernmost Chile and Argentina

Recommended reading

Books

Eclipse!; Harrington, P.; John Wiley & Sons, 1997; ISBN 0471127957.
Here Comes the Sun (test report on solar filters); Astronomy magazine, April 2001.
The Sunny Side of Stargazing; Astronomy magazine, January 2000.

Web sites

NASA Eclipse Home Page
- Words of wisdom from NASA's chief eclipsophile, Fred Espenak.
U.S. Naval Observatory Data Services
- Customizable web site that will calculate times of sunrise and sunset, as well as positional data for other solar system members and bright stars.

Touring the Universe Through Binoculars