An annular
solar eclipse occurred on January 15–16, 1991. A
solar eclipse occurs when the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
passes between
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
and the
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's
apparent diameter
The angular diameter, angular size, apparent diameter, or apparent size is an angular distance describing how large a sphere or circle appears from a given point of view. In the vision sciences, it is called the visual angle, and in optics, it is ...
is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an
annulus (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide.
Annularity was visible in southwestern
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
,
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
and
French Polynesia. It was visible over
Australia as a partial solar eclipse at sunrise on January 16.
Images
Related eclipses
Eclipses of 1991
* An annular solar eclipse on January 15.
*
A penumbral lunar eclipse on January 30.
*
A penumbral lunar eclipse on June 27.
*
A total solar eclipse on July 11.
*
A penumbral lunar eclipse on July 26.
*
A partial lunar eclipse on December 21.
Solar eclipses of 1990–1992
Saros 131
Tritos series
Metonic series
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solar Eclipse Of January 15, 1991
1991 1 15
1991 in science
1991 1 15
January 1991 events