Solar eclipse of February 4, 1981
Introduction An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of the orbit on February 4–5, 1981.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. This annular solar eclipse was large because the Moon covered 99.4% of the Sun, with a path width of only 25 km (15.534 mi, or 82,080.997 feet).It was visible in Australia, crossing over Tasmania and southern Stewart Island of New Zealand near sunrise on February 5 (Thursday), and ended at sunset over western South America on February 4 (Wednesday). Occurring only 4 days before perigee (Perigee on February 8, 1981), the moon's apparent diameter was larger.The moon's apparent diameter was 7 arcseconds smaller than the July 31, 1981 total solar eclipse.
More details about the Annular Solar Eclipse of 1981 Feb 04. Eclipse Magnitude = 0.99375 (99.375%)Eclipse Obscuration = 0.98754 (98.754%)Greatest Eclipse = 1981 Feb 04 at 22:09:23.5 TD (22:08:32.1 UTC)	Ecliptic Conjunction = 1981 Feb 04 at 22:14:36.9 TD (22:13:45.5 UTC)Equatorial Conjunction 1981 Feb 04 at 21:58:30.2 TD (21:57:38.8 UTC)Gamma = -0.48375 (48.511%)Sun's Right Ascension = 21.232Sun's Declination = -16.03ºSun's Diameter = 1946.4 arcsecondsMoon's Right Ascension = 21.239Moon's Declination = -16.49ºMoon's Diameter = 1907.2 arcsecondsMoon's Distance = 375948.60 km (233603.63 mi)
Related eclipses === Eclipses in 1981 ===* A penumbral lunar eclipse on Tuesday, 20 January 1981. * An annular solar eclipse on Wednesday, 4 February 1981. * A partial lunar eclipse on Friday, 17 July 1981. * A total solar eclipse on Friday, 31 July 1981.=== Solar eclipses of 1979–1982====== Saros 140 ===It is a part of Saros cycle 140, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 71 events. The series started with 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.The longest duration of totality was 4 minutes, 10 seconds on August 12, 1692.Series members 23–53 occur between 1901 and 2450:232425150pxDec 23, 1908150pxJan 3, 1927150pxJan 14, 1945262728150pxJan 25, 1963150pxFeb 4, 1981150pxFeb 16, 1999293031150pxFeb 26, 2017150pxMar 9, 2035150pxMar 20, 2053323334150pxMar 31, 2071150pxApr 10, 2089150pxApr 23, 2107353637150pxMay 3, 2125150pxMay 14, 2143150pxMay 25, 2161383940150pxJun 5, 2179150pxJun 15, 2197150pxJun 28, 2215414243150pxJul 8, 2233150pxJul 19, 2251150px Jul 29, 2269444546150pxAug 10, 2287150pxAug 21, 2305150pxSep 1, 2323474849150pxSep 12, 2341150pxSep 23, 2359150px Oct 3, 2377505152150pxOct 14, 2395150pxOct 25, 2413150px Nov 5, 243153150px Nov 15, 2449=== Tritos series ===Series members between 1901 and 2100150pxSeptember 9, 1904(Saros 133)150pxAugust 10, 1915(Saros 134)150pxJuly 9, 1926(Saros 135)150pxJune 8, 1937(Saros 136)150pxMay 9, 1948(Saros 137)150pxApril 8, 1959(Saros 138)150pxMarch 7, 1970(Saros 139)150pxFebruary 4, 1981(Saros 140)150pxJanuary 4, 1992(Saros 141)150pxDecember 4, 2002(Saros 142)150pxNovember 3, 2013(Saros 143)150pxOctober 2, 2024(Saros 144)150pxSeptember 2, 2035(Saros 145)150pxAugust 2, 2046(Saros 146)150pxJuly 1, 2057(Saros 147)150pxMay 31, 2068(Saros 148)150pxMay 1, 2079(Saros 149)150pxMarch 31, 2090(Saros 150)=== Metonic series ===
Notes
References *  Annular Solar Eclipse Observed for Solar Radius Determination Observed from Tasmania, by Fiala, A. D., Herald, D., & Dunham, D. W, ''Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society'', Vol. 13, p. 552*  Correcting predictions of solar eclipse contact times for the effects of lunar limb irregularities Observations from Tasmania by Herald, D. ''Journal of the British Astronomical Association'', vol.93, no.6, p. 241–246