Gamma (eclipse)

Solar eclipse gamma depictions for different instances - with the red line indicating instant of least distance to axis of moon's shadow cone from Earth's center - which is positive for solar eclipses if passes north of Earth's center and negative if passes south of Earth's center

Gamma (denoted as γ) of an eclipse describes how centrally the shadow of the Moon or Earth strikes the other body. This distance, measured at the moment when the axis of the shadow cone passes closest to the center of the Earth or Moon, is stated as a fraction of the equatorial radius of the Earth (6378.137 km).

This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.