Eclipse

Eclipse:

It occurs when Earth‟s equatorial plane coincides with the plane f he Earth‟s orbit around the sun.

Near the time of spring and autumnal equinoxes, when the sun is crossing the equator, the satellite passes into sun‟s shadow. This happens for some duration of time every day.

These eclipses begin 23 days before the equinox and end 23 days after the equinox. They last for almost 10 minutes at the beginning and end of equinox and increase for a maximum period of 72 minutes at a full eclipse.

The solar cells of the satellite become non-functional during the eclipse period and the satellite is made to operate with the help of power supplied from the batteries.

A satellite will have the eclipse duration symmetric around the time t=Satellite Longitude/15 + 12 hours. A satellite at Greenwich longitude 0 will have the eclipse duration symmetric around 0/15

UTC +12hours = 00:00 UTC.

The eclipse will happen at night but for satellites in the east it will happen late evening local time.

For satellites in the west eclipse will happen in the early morning hour’s local time.

An earth caused eclipse will normally not happen during peak viewing hours if the satellite is located near the longitude of the coverage area. Modern satellites are well equipped with batteries for operation during eclipse.