An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of the orbit on Sunday, August 10, 1980, centred over the Pacific Ocean. 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. Annularity was visible in Tabuaeran of Kiribati, Peru, Bolivia, northern Paraguay and Brazil. Occurring 5 days before apogee (Apogee on Friday, August 15, 1980), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller. At greatest eclipse, the Sun was 79 degrees (4,470 arc-minutes, or 284,400 arc-seconds) above horizon.
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.[1] There were 8 solar eclipses between February 26, 1979 and July 20, 1982. Were there: February 26, 1979 (total solar eclipse, 0.8 days after perigee, 103.9%, 0.89811 gamma, saros 120), August 22, 1979 (small annular solar eclipse, 0.6 days before apogee, 93.3%, −0.96319 gamma, saros 125), February 16, 1980 (total solar eclipse, 1 day before perigee, 104.3%, 0.22244 gamma, saros 130), August 10, 1980 (large annular solar eclipse, 5 days before apogee, 97.3%, −0.19154 gamma, saros 135), February 4, 1981 (large annular solar eclipse, 4 days before perigee, 99.4%, −0.48375 gamma, saros 140), July 31, 1981 (total solar eclipse, 3.8 days after perigee, 102.6%, 0.57917 gamma, saros 145), January 25, 1982 (moderate partial solar eclipse, 4.7 days after apogee, 56.6%, −1.23110 gamma, saros 150) and July 20, 1982 (small partial solar eclipse, 0.9 days after perigee, 46.4%, 1.28859 gamma, saros 155).
It is a part of Saros cycle 135, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 71 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on July 5, 1331. It contains annular eclipses from October 21, 1511, through February 24, 2305, hybrid eclipses on March 8, 2323, and March 18, 2341, and total eclipses from March 29, 2359, through May 22, 2449. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on August 17, 2593. The longest duration of totality will be 2 minutes, 27 seconds on May 12, 2431.
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.
Solar saros 147: annular solar eclipse of August 4, 2111
Solar saros 148: total solar eclipse of July 4, 2122
Solar saros 149: total solar eclipse of June 3, 2133
Solar saros 150: annular solar eclipse of May 3, 2144
Solar saros 151: annular solar eclipse of April 2, 2155
Solar saros 152: total solar eclipse of March 2, 2166
Solar saros 153: annular solar eclipse of January 29, 2177
Solar saros 154: annular solar eclipse of December 29, 2187
Solar saros 155: total solar eclipse of November 28, 2198
In the 23rd century:
Solar saros 156: annular solar eclipse of October 29, 2209
Solar saros 157: annular solar eclipse of September 27, 2220
Solar saros 158: total solar eclipse of August 28, 2231
Solar saros 159: partial solar eclipse of July 28, 2242
Solar saros 160: partial solar eclipse of June 26, 2253
Solar saros 161: partial solar eclipse of May 26, 2264
Solar saros 162: partial solar eclipse of April 26, 2275
Solar saros 163: partial solar eclipse of March 25, 2286
Solar saros 164: partial solar eclipse of February 22, 2297
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