# Solar eclipse of February 16, 1999

An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Tuesday, February 16, 1999, with a magnitude of 0.9928. 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. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter 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. The Moon's apparent diameter was near the average diameter because it occurred 7.9 days after apogee (on February 8, 1999, at 8:50 UTC) and 4.3 days before perigee (on February 20, 1999, at 14:30 UTC).
Annularity was visible in the southern Indian Ocean including the Prince Edward Islands, South Africa (the northern part of Marion Island and the whole Prince Edward Island), and Australia. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Southern Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and western Oceania.

## Eclipse details

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.
February 16, 1999 Solar Eclipse Times :
| Event | Time (UTC) |
| First Penumbral External Contact | 1999 February 16 at 03:53:02.3 UTC |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1999 February 16 at 04:57:41.2 UTC |
| First Central Line | 1999 February 16 at 04:58:28.2 UTC |
| Greatest Duration | 1999 February 16 at 04:58:28.2 UTC |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 1999 February 16 at 04:59:15.2 UTC |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1999 February 16 at 06:21:25.3 UTC |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1999 February 16 at 06:34:38.1 UTC |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1999 February 16 at 06:39:45.2 UTC |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1999 February 16 at 08:10:12.8 UTC |
| Last Central Line | 1999 February 16 at 08:10:56.9 UTC |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1999 February 16 at 08:11:40.9 UTC |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1999 February 16 at 09:16:13.6 UTC |
February 16, 1999 Solar Eclipse Parameters :
| Parameter | Value |
| Eclipse Magnitude | 0.99276 |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 0.98557 |
| Gamma | −0.47260 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 21h57m21.0s |
| Sun Declination | -12°28'00.1" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'11.4" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.9" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 21h57m48.9s |
| Moon Declination | -12°54'33.4" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 15'50.7" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°58'09.2" |
| ΔT | 63.5 s |

## Eclipse season

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.
Eclipse season of January–February 1999 :
| January 31 Ascending node (full moon) | February 16 Descending node (new moon) |
| Penumbral lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 114 | Annular solar eclipse Solar Saros 140 |

## Related eclipses
### Eclipses in 1999

* A penumbral lunar eclipse on January 31.
* An annular solar eclipse on February 16.
* A partial lunar eclipse on July 28.
* A total solar eclipse on August 11.

### Metonic

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 29, 1995
* Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 4, 2002

### Tzolkinex

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 4, 1992
* Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 29, 2006

### Half-Saros

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of February 9, 1990
* Followed by: Lunar eclipse of February 21, 2008

### Tritos

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 18, 1988
* Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 15, 2010

### Solar Saros 140

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 4, 1981
* Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 26, 2017

### Inex

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 7, 1970
* Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 26, 2028

### Triad

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 17, 1912
* Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 16, 2085

### Solar eclipses of 1997–2000

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.
The partial solar eclipses on July 1, 2000 and December 25, 2000 occur in the next lunar year eclipse set.
Solar eclipse series sets from 1997 to 2000 :
| Descending node | Descending node | Descending node | Ascending node | Ascending node | Ascending node |
| Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma |
| 120 Totality in Chita, Russia | March 9, 1997 Total | 0.9183 | 125 | September 2, 1997 Partial | −1.0352 |
| 130 Totality near Guadeloupe | February 26, 1998 Total | 0.2391 | 135 | August 22, 1998 Annular | −0.2644 |
| 140 | February 16, 1999 Annular | −0.4726 | 145 Totality in France | August 11, 1999 Total | 0.5062 |
| 150 | February 5, 2000 Partial | −1.2233 | 155 | July 31, 2000 Partial | 1.2166 |

### Saros 140

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 140, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on April 16, 1512. It contains total eclipses from July 21, 1656 through November 9, 1836; hybrid eclipses from November 20, 1854 through December 23, 1908; and annular eclipses from January 3, 1927 through December 7, 2485. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on June 1, 2774. 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 totality was produced by member 11 at 4 minutes, 10 seconds on August 12, 1692, and the longest duration of annularity will be produced by member 53 at 7 minutes, 35 seconds on November 15, 2449. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.
Series members 18–39 occur between 1801 and 2200: :
| 18 | 19 | 20 |
| October 29, 1818 | November 9, 1836 | November 20, 1854 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 |
| November 30, 1872 | December 12, 1890 | December 23, 1908 |
| 24 | 25 | 26 |
| January 3, 1927 | January 14, 1945 | January 25, 1963 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 |
| February 4, 1981 | February 16, 1999 | February 26, 2017 |
| 30 | 31 | 32 |
| March 9, 2035 | March 20, 2053 | March 31, 2071 |
| 33 | 34 | 35 |
| April 10, 2089 | April 23, 2107 | May 3, 2125 |
| 36 | 37 | 38 |
| May 14, 2143 | May 25, 2161 | June 5, 2179 |
| 39 |
| June 15, 2197 |

### 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 descending node.
21 eclipse events between July 11, 1953 and July 11, 2029 :
| July 10–11 | April 29–30 | February 15–16 | December 4 | September 21–23 |
| 116 | 118 | 120 | 122 | 124 |
| July 11, 1953 | April 30, 1957 | February 15, 1961 | December 4, 1964 | September 22, 1968 |
| 126 | 128 | 130 | 132 | 134 |
| July 10, 1972 | April 29, 1976 | February 16, 1980 | December 4, 1983 | September 23, 1987 |
| 136 | 138 | 140 | 142 | 144 |
| July 11, 1991 | April 29, 1995 | February 16, 1999 | December 4, 2002 | September 22, 2006 |
| 146 | 148 | 150 | 152 | 154 |
| July 11, 2010 | April 29, 2014 | February 15, 2018 | December 4, 2021 | September 21, 2025 |
| 156 |
| July 11, 2029 |

### 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.
Series members between 1801 and 2200 :
| August 28, 1802 (Saros 122) | July 27, 1813 (Saros 123) | June 26, 1824 (Saros 124) | May 27, 1835 (Saros 125) | April 25, 1846 (Saros 126) |
| March 25, 1857 (Saros 127) | February 23, 1868 (Saros 128) | January 22, 1879 (Saros 129) | December 22, 1889 (Saros 130) | November 22, 1900 (Saros 131) |
| October 22, 1911 (Saros 132) | September 21, 1922 (Saros 133) | August 21, 1933 (Saros 134) | July 20, 1944 (Saros 135) | June 20, 1955 (Saros 136) |
| May 20, 1966 (Saros 137) | April 18, 1977 (Saros 138) | March 18, 1988 (Saros 139) | February 16, 1999 (Saros 140) | January 15, 2010 (Saros 141) |
| December 14, 2020 (Saros 142) | November 14, 2031 (Saros 143) | October 14, 2042 (Saros 144) | September 12, 2053 (Saros 145) | August 12, 2064 (Saros 146) |
| July 13, 2075 (Saros 147) | June 11, 2086 (Saros 148) | May 11, 2097 (Saros 149) | April 11, 2108 (Saros 150) | March 11, 2119 (Saros 151) |
| February 8, 2130 (Saros 152) | January 8, 2141 (Saros 153) | December 8, 2151 (Saros 154) | November 7, 2162 (Saros 155) | October 7, 2173 (Saros 156) |
| September 4, 2184 (Saros 157) | August 5, 2195 (Saros 158) |

### 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 :
| June 16, 1825 (Saros 134) | May 26, 1854 (Saros 135) | May 6, 1883 (Saros 136) |
| April 17, 1912 (Saros 137) | March 27, 1941 (Saros 138) | March 7, 1970 (Saros 139) |
| February 16, 1999 (Saros 140) | January 26, 2028 (Saros 141) | January 5, 2057 (Saros 142) |
| December 16, 2085 (Saros 143) | November 27, 2114 (Saros 144) | November 7, 2143 (Saros 145) |
| October 17, 2172 (Saros 146) | | |