Eclipse

On April 8, 2005 Oeno Island in the Pitcairn Group will experience an eclipse with the “Path of Totality” being just a few km. offshore. The trail begins south of New Zealand and ends in Central/South America. At both ends of this trail (and on Oeno itself), the eclipse is known as an annular partial eclipse. This means it is annular near the edges of the track (some sun curvature is visible) and total near the middle. The actual time of the eclipse is 19h 47m 36.5s UT and the closest location on Oeno is the SW point of the larger island and is located at Latitude 23º 55’ 54” S, Longitude 130º 45’ 19” W.

The eclipse will feature some of the classic stages of a total eclipse as the moon passes between the sun and the earth. The photosphere (sun’s central circle) will, at the point of total eclipse, have a corona completely surrounding the central black eclipse area. This corona is the “glow” seen in $1.00 stamp. Between the corona and the photosphere is a fine line of burning gases known as the chromosphere and appears as a crimson ring. Within the chromosphere are large gas eruptions or flares known as prominences. At the point of seeing the crimson chromosphere, bright points of light are also visible and look like a pearl necklace or tiara. This light comes from the photosphere shining through the mountains and valleys of the moon and are known as Baily’s Beads after the man who first discovered them. As the sun and moon part, a bright arc of the sun is visible. The eclipse is estimated to last only 35.5 seconds and cover a width of 23 kilometres.

Oeno Eclipse
Please Note: All prices are in New Zealand Dollars

	$1.00, $2.00, $3.00		Miniature Sheet		$6.00
			Mini Sheet FDC		$7.00

Technical Details

Release Date :	08 April 2005
Designer:	Denise Durkin, Wellington, New Zealand
Printer :	Southern Colour Print, Dunedin New Zealand.
Process :	Offset Lithography
Perforation Gauge :	TBA
Stamp Size :	40.00mm diameter. Circular.
Miniature Sheet size:	138mm x 46mm
Denominations :	$1.00, $2.00 and $3.00
Paper :	103gsm, litho gummed stamp paper
Period of Sale :	08 April, 2005 for a period of 2 years.

The Pitcairn Islands Philatelic Bureau would like to thank all those who offered assistance and encouragement to produce this issue, in particular two knowledgeable and extremely helpful “Eclipse chasers” - Glenn Schneider and Fred Espenak.