Solar eclipse of October 24, 1995
# Solar eclipse of October 24, 1995

A total solar eclipse occurred on October 24, 1995. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. The path of totality went through Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, southwestern tip of Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Spratly Islands, northeastern tip of Sabah of Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia.

## Observation

### India

An aerial observation of this eclipse was done over India, when a MiG-25 reconnaissance aircraft of the Indian Air Force was used to take images of this eclipse at an altitude of 25 km.

The Indian Institute of Astrophysics established camps along the path of totality in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Iradatganj and Diamond Harbour near Kolkata. Astronomers from other institutions and abroad from the Slovakia, Brazil, Russia, Japan and Germany joined IIA at its camps. An IIA team also photographed the eclipse by chasing the Moon’s shadow in an Indian Air Force plane AN-32 from the crew escape hatch on the roof of the cockpit at an altitude of 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above the sea level, which was the first time efforts made by the institute. Doordarshan and All India Radio made live coverages of the eclipse. The eclipse happened to occur on the day of the Diwali.

### China

Within the Spratly Islands claimed by China, only Cuarteron Reef was controlled by China and lay in the path of totality. Instead of going to the faraway island, The Popular Science Committee of the Chinese Astronomical Society, Beijing Astronomical Society, Beijing Planetarium and Beijing Astronomical Observatory (now incorporated into the National Astronomical Observatories of China) jointly organized observations abroad for the first time. A team of 4 was sent to Sikhio district, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand by the Beijing Planetarium, and successfully photographed the whole process of the eclipse, the corona at the greatest eclipse, and the Baily's beads at the 2nd and 3rd contact.

In addition, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ministry of Electronics Industry, China Earthquake Administration, State Education Commission (now Ministry of Education) and departments in charge of water conservancy and meteorology conducted joint observations on changes of solar radiation, ionosphere, geomagnetic field, radio and acoustic heavy waves, mainly in the Paracel Islands, Sanya, Haikou and Zhengzhou. From all these places, only a partial solar eclipse was visible instead of a total solar eclipse.

## Related eclipses

### Eclipses of 1995

* A partial lunar eclipse on April 15.
* An annular solar eclipse on April 29.
* A penumbral lunar eclipse on October 8.
* A total solar eclipse on October 24.

### Solar eclipses 1993–1996

This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1993–1996 :

| Descending node | Descending node | Descending node | Ascending node | Ascending node | Ascending node |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma |
| 118 | 1993 May 21 Partial | 1.13720 | 123 | 1993 November 13 Partial | -1.04114 |
| 128 Partial from Bismarck, ND | 1994 May 10 Annular | 0.40771 | 133 Totality at Bolivia | 1994 November 3 Total | -0.35216 |
| 138 | 1995 April 29 Annular | -0.33821 | 143 Totality at Dundlod, India | 1995 October 24 Total | 0.35176 |
| 148 | 1996 April 17 Partial | -1.05796 | 153 | 1996 October 12 Partial | 1.12265 |

### Solar 143

It is a part of Saros cycle 143, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 72 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on March 7, 1617 and total event from June 24, 1797 through October 24, 1995. It has hybrid eclipses from November 3, 2013 through December 6, 2067, and annular eclipses from December 16, 2085 through September 16, 2536. The series ends at member 72 as a partial eclipse on April 23, 2873. The longest duration of totality was 3 minutes, 50 seconds on August 19, 1887. All eclipses in this series occurs at the Moon’s ascending node.

Series members 17–28 occur between 1741 and 2100 :

| 8 | 9 | 10 |
| - | - | - |
| May 23, 1743 | June 3, 1761 | June 14, 1779 |
| 11 | 12 | 13 |
| June 24, 1797 | July 6, 1815 | July 17, 1833 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 |
| July 28, 1851 | August 7, 1869 | August 19, 1887 |
| 17 | 18 | 19 |
| August 30, 1905 | September 10, 1923 | September 21, 1941 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 |
| October 2, 1959 | October 12, 1977 | October 24, 1995 |
| 23 | 24 | 25 |
| November 3, 2013 | November 14, 2031 | November 25, 2049 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 |
| December 6, 2067 | December 16, 2085 |

### Metonic series

The metonic series repeats eclipses every 19 years (6939.69 days), lasting about 5 cycles. Eclipses occur in nearly the same calendar date. In addition, the octon subseries repeats 1/5 of that or every 3.8 years (1387.94 days). All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's ascending node.

22 eclipse events between January 5, 1935 and August 11, 2018 :

| January 4-5 | October 23-24 | August 10-12 | May 30-31 | March 18-19 |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 111 | 113 | 115 | 117 | 119 |
| January 5, 1935 | | August 12, 1942 | May 30, 1946 | March 18, 1950 |
| 121 | 123 | 125 | 127 | 129 |
| January 5, 1954 | October 23, 1957 | August 11, 1961 | May 30, 1965 | March 18, 1969 |
| 131 | 133 | 135 | 137 | 139 |
| January 4, 1973 | October 23, 1976 | August 10, 1980 | May 30, 1984 | March 18, 1988 |
| 141 | 143 | 145 | 147 | 149 |
| January 4, 1992 | October 24, 1995 | August 11, 1999 | May 31, 2003 | March 19, 2007 |
| 151 | 153 | 155 |
| January 4, 2011 | October 23, 2014 | August 11, 2018 | | |

## In popular culture

Phil Whitaker's prize-winning debut novel Eclipse of the Sun published in 1997 and set in India has at its centre a dramatic attempt to organize a public viewing of the eclipse.

