A total

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six month ...

occurred at the Moon’s descending node of the orbit on Thursday, July 11, 1991. A

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. A total 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 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. Totality began over the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

moving across

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, down through

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

and across

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

ending over

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. It lasted for 6 minutes and 53.08 seconds at the point of maximum eclipse. There will not be a longer total eclipse until June 13, 2132. This was the largest total solar eclipse of Solar Saros series 136, because eclipse magnitude was 1.07997. This eclipse was the most central total eclipse in 800 years, with a

gamma Gamma (uppercase , lowercase ; ''gámma'') is the third letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 3. In Ancient Greek, the letter gamma represented a voiced velar stop . In Modern Greek, this letter re ...

of -.0041. There will not be a more central eclipse for another 800 years. Its

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

was also greater than any eclipse since the 6th century.

Observations

File:SE1991Jul11T.gif, Animation of eclipse path File:Eclipse CR 1991 b zoom.jpg, View near the end of totality,

Playas del Coco Playas del Coco is one of the oldest beach communities in Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica. This region is also one of the fastest-growing tourism areas in Costa Rica. A popular destination for both local Costa Ricans and visitors from other ...

, Guanacaste,

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

File:Eclipse CR 1991 c zoom.jpg, Partial phase before totality as seen through the cloud cover, Playas del Coco, Guanacaste, Costa Rica

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 1990–1992

This eclipse is the center of seven central solar eclipses.

Saros 136

Inex series

Tritos series

Metonic series

Notes

References

NASA graphics
*
Google interactive map of the eclipse from NASA
*
NASA Besselian Elements - Total Solar Eclipse of July 11, 1991
* Observer's handbook 1991, Editor Roy L. Bishop, The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (p. 101) Photos:

Russia expedition

* ttp://www.zam.fme.vutbr.cz/~druck/Eclipse/Ecl1991m1/0-info.htm Baja California, Todos Santos. Prof. Druckmüller's eclipse photography site
Reyna from La Paz, Baja California, Mexico

APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) is a website provided by NASA and Michigan Technological University (MTU). According to the website, "Each day a different image or photograph of our universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written ...

7/16/1999, Solar Surfin', total eclipse corona, from Mauna Kea, Hawaii

10/24/1995, A Total Solar Eclipse, total eclipse corona
The 1991 Eclipse in Mexico
Videos:
Total Solar Eclipse -- July 11, 1991
(9:39 uncut, eclipse full frame, location insert)
Total Solar Eclipse
(8:23 edited, includes pre-planning and post-press, music only)
Total Solar Eclipse, Cabo Mexico
(9:12 edited, includes some TV news coverage) Total solar eclipses, 1991 07 11 1991 07 11 1991 in science July 1991 events 1991 in Mexico 1991 in Guatemala 1991 in El Salvador 1991 in Honduras 1991 in Nicaragua 1991 in Costa Rica 1991 in Panama 1991 in Colombia 1991 in Brazil {{Solar-eclipse-stub