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A partial solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Saturday, October 12, 1996,[1] with a magnitude of 0.7575. 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 partial solar eclipse occurs in the polar regions of the Earth when the center of the Moon's shadow misses the Earth.
A partial eclipse was visible for parts of eastern Canada, Greenland, Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
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A child viewing solar eclipse with smoked glass in western Poland
Animation
Shown below are two tables displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. The first table outlines times at which the moon's penumbra or umbra attains the specific parameter, and the second table describes various other parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[2]
| Event | Time (UTC) |
|---|---|
| First Penumbral External Contact | 1996 October 12 at 12:00:31.3 UTC |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1996 October 12 at 13:24:53.1 UTC |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1996 October 12 at 14:03:04.1 UTC |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1996 October 12 at 14:15:28.3 UTC |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1996 October 12 at 16:05:49.4 UTC |
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Eclipse Magnitude | 0.75753 |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 0.68285 |
| Gamma | 1.12265 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 13h12m04.5s |
| Sun Declination | -07°38'15.5" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'01.7" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.8" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 13h13m17.1s |
| Moon Declination | -06°38'00.7" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 15'18.1" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°56'09.5" |
| ΔT | 62.1 s |
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This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.
| September 27 Descending node (full moon) | October 12 Ascending node (new moon) |
|---|---|
 |  |
| Total lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 127 | Partial solar eclipse Solar Saros 153 |
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Eclipses in 1996
- A total lunar eclipse on April 4.
- A partial solar eclipse on April 17.
- A total lunar eclipse on September 27.
- A partial solar eclipse on October 12.
Metonic
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 24, 1992
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 31, 2000
Tzolkinex
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 31, 1989
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 23, 2003
Half-Saros
- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of October 7, 1987
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of October 17, 2005
Tritos
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 12, 1985
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of September 11, 2007
Solar Saros 153
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 2, 1978
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 23, 2014
Inex
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 2, 1967
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of September 21, 2025
Triad
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 12, 1909
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 13, 2083
Solar eclipses of 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.[3]
| Solar eclipse series sets from 1993 to 1996 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Descending node | Ascending node | |||||
| Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma | |
| 118 | May 21, 1993 Partial |
1.1372 | 123 | November 13, 1993 Partial |
−1.0411 | |
128.jpg) Partial in Bismarck, ND, USA |
May 10, 1994 Annular |
0.4077 | 133.jpg) Totality in Bolivia |
November 3, 1994 Total |
−0.3522 | |
| 138 | April 29, 1995 Annular |
−0.3382 | 143 Totality in Dundlod, India |
October 24, 1995 Total |
0.3518 | |
| 148 | April 17, 1996 Partial |
−1.058 | 153 | October 12, 1996 Partial |
1.1227 | |
Saros 153
This eclipse is a part of Saros series 153, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 70 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on July 28, 1870. It contains annular eclipses from December 17, 2104 through May 26, 2970. There are no hybrid or total eclipses in this set. The series ends at member 70 as a partial eclipse on August 22, 3114. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.
The longest duration of annularity will be produced by member 38 at 7 minutes, 1 seconds on September 5, 2537. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.[4]
| Series members 1–19 occur between 1870 and 2200: | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
 July 28, 1870 |
 August 7, 1888 |
 August 20, 1906 |
| 4 | 5 | 6 |
 August 30, 1924 |
 September 10, 1942 |
 September 20, 1960 |
| 7 | 8 | 9 |
 October 2, 1978 |
October 12, 1996 |
 October 23, 2014 |
| 10 | 11 | 12 |
 November 3, 2032 |
 November 14, 2050 |
 November 24, 2068 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 |
 December 6, 2086 |
 December 17, 2104 |
 December 28, 2122 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 |
 January 8, 2141 |
 January 19, 2159 |
 January 29, 2177 |
| 19 | ||
 February 10, 2195 | ||
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 December 24, 1916 and July 31, 2000 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 24–25 | October 12 | July 31–August 1 | May 19–20 | March 7 |
| 111 | 113 | 115 | 117 | 119 |
 December 24, 1916 |
 July 31, 1924 |
 May 19, 1928 |
 March 7, 1932 | |
| 121 | 123 | 125 | 127 | 129 |
 December 25, 1935 |
 October 12, 1939 |
 August 1, 1943 |
 May 20, 1947 |
 March 7, 1951 |
| 131 | 133 | 135 | 137 | 139 |
 December 25, 1954 |
 October 12, 1958 |
 July 31, 1962 |
 May 20, 1966 |
 March 7, 1970 |
| 141 | 143 | 145 | 147 | 149 |
 December 24, 1973 |
 October 12, 1977 |
 July 31, 1981 |
 May 19, 1985 |
 March 7, 1989 |
| 151 | 153 | 155 | ||
 December 24, 1992 |
October 12, 1996 |
 July 31, 2000 | ||
Tritos series
This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
The partial solar eclipse on November 4, 2116 (part of Saros 164) is also a part of this series but is not included in the table below.
| Series members between 1801 and 2029 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 March 24, 1811 (Saros 136) |
 February 21, 1822 (Saros 137) |
 January 20, 1833 (Saros 138) |
 December 21, 1843 (Saros 139) |
 November 20, 1854 (Saros 140) |
 October 19, 1865 (Saros 141) |
 September 17, 1876 (Saros 142) |
 August 19, 1887 (Saros 143) |
 July 18, 1898 (Saros 144) |
 June 17, 1909 (Saros 145) |
 May 18, 1920 (Saros 146) |
 April 18, 1931 (Saros 147) |
 March 16, 1942 (Saros 148) |
 February 14, 1953 (Saros 149) |
 January 14, 1964 (Saros 150) |
 December 13, 1974 (Saros 151) |
 November 12, 1985 (Saros 152) |
October 12, 1996 (Saros 153) |
 September 11, 2007 (Saros 154) |
 August 11, 2018 (Saros 155) |
 July 11, 2029 (Saros 156) | ||||
Inex series
This eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
| Series members between 1801 and 2200 | ||
|---|---|---|
 February 11, 1823 (Saros 147) |
 January 21, 1852 (Saros 148) |
 December 31, 1880 (Saros 149) |
 December 12, 1909 (Saros 150) |
 November 21, 1938 (Saros 151) |
 November 2, 1967 (Saros 152) |
October 12, 1996 (Saros 153) |
 September 21, 2025 (Saros 154) |
 September 2, 2054 (Saros 155) |
 August 13, 2083 (Saros 156) |
 July 23, 2112 (Saros 157) |
 July 3, 2141 (Saros 158) |
 June 14, 2170 (Saros 159) |
 May 24, 2199 (Saros 160) |
|
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