Eclipses in 2000 (Only eclipses visible in Algeria, and thus in Northern Africa and Southern Europe  will be elaborated upon)

 The year 2000 won't be as glorious as 1999, yet it will see six eclipses, four of the Sun (None remarkable or easily observable), and two of the Moon. With two total Moon's eclipse, it could be called a good Lunar eclipse Moon's year, but this has to be tempered by the fact that only one could be observed at our latitude (Who would travel for a lunar eclipse?). We may usefully recall here that no more than three lunar eclipses can take place in any given year.

As for the solar eclipses, all the four are partial, and three of them occur in Polar Regions. We also recall that four the solar eclipses, four total ones are possible in any given year, and at most five exceptionally. So this year is indeed a poor one. Well, the year 1999 was so glorious in that regard that we shouldn't complain too much. In addition, the July month of July will be quite exceptional with three eclipses (two solar and one lunar), none to be seen from the our region.

The Total Eclipse of the Moon of January 21/ 2000

The first eclipse of year 2000 is here. It will be seen fully from European-African latitudes to the Americas latitudes where the eclipsed Moon will be the highest in the sky. At European-African latitudes, observers will witness most of the eclipse phases save for the late stages of the emerging disk from the umbra (and even more so for the penumbra!) since this will take place with the daybreak.

The Eclipse's Observation

Sirius members were mobilized for this "easy" campaign of observation. The skies were clear, the night cold, and not a single trace of a wandering cloud. Could it be a more ideal situation?

The verdict came. The predictions about the degree of darkness of the eclipse were wrong. Pinatubo's 'pollution" did perhaps clear, but the atmosphere was not completely clean. Is that special weather on the sunset/sunset circumference of the Earth or some unexplained source? The average estimates of the darkness from 10 observers falls on the next Thursday evaluation meeting: 2.5! So the final estimate stands at :

Moon's Phases in 2000

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