Solar eclipse of February 26, 2017
PreviousSolar eclipse of September 1, 2016
NextSolar eclipse of August 21, 2017

An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Sunday, February 26, 2017,[1][2][3][4] with a magnitude of 0.9922. 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. Occurring about 4.9 days before perigee (on March 3, 2017, at 13:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[5]

The eclipse was visible across southern Chile and Argentina in the morning and ended in Angola and southwestern Katanga, Democratic Republic of the Congo at sunset. In Argentina, the best places to see the eclipse were located in the south of the Chubut Province, in the towns of Facundo, Sarmiento and Camarones. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of southern South America, southern and western Africa, and Antarctica.

Eclipse timing

Places experiencing annular eclipse

Solar Eclipse of February 26, 2017
(Local Times)
Country or territoryCity or placeStart of partial eclipseStart of annular eclipseMaximum eclipseEnd of annular eclipseEnd of partial eclipseDuration of annularity (min:s)Duration of eclipse (hr:min)Maximum coverage
Coyhaique09:23:1810:35:4210:36:1110:36:4111:56:230:592:3397.35%
Facundo09:24:2110:37:4810:38:2010:38:5111:59:381:032:3597.44%
Camarones09:27:0010:42:5010:43:1610:43:4212:06:450:522:4097.61%
Huambo16:19:5417:28:1817:28:2717:28:3718:21:02 (sunset)0:192:0196.51%
References: [1]

Places experiencing partial eclipse

Solar Eclipse of February 26, 2017
(Local Times)
Country or territoryCity or placeStart of partial eclipseMaximum eclipseEnd of partial eclipseDuration of eclipse (hr:min)Maximum coverage
Santiago09:19:3510:31:3111:52:392:3355.32%
Punta Arenas09:33:2110:43:2311:58:362:2572.27%
Buenos Aires09:31:1710:53:0912:23:012:5265.78%
Stanley09:41:1610:56:3712:16:192:3572.19%
Montevideo09:33:5510:57:3212:28:322:5568.57%
Asunción09:41:3110:58:0512:22:102:4134.12%
King Edward Point11:10:5412:25:1813:39:462:2950.25%
Rio de Janeiro10:10:1511:40:3813:10:483:0143.25%
Lilongwe17:27:2418:07:2618:09:41 (sunset)0:4255.31%
Maseru17:10:4418:08:4018:45:53 (sunset)1:3545.26%
Jamestown14:45:5916:10:2017:22:552:3784.39%
Mbabane17:15:2918:12:5218:28:52 (sunset)1:1350.66%
Johannesburg17:13:5918:13:0518:41:10 (sunset)1:2752.41%
Maputo17:16:2518:13:1318:22:55 (sunset)1:0750.95%
Kigali17:39:2618:13:4118:17:05 (sunset)0:3841.29%
Gaborone17:14:0818:15:0518:48:31 (sunset)1:3457.47%
Gitega17:37:4218:16:1818:18:29 (sunset)0:4149.64%
Windhoek17:09:0218:16:2019:16:132:0768.83%
Bujumbura17:37:4318:18:3118:20:42 (sunset)0:4352.91%
Harare17:23:0918:20:4918:23:07 (sunset)1:0073.54%
Opuwo17:11:1318:21:2619:23:202:1284.48%
Lusaka17:24:3018:26:0918:32:35 (sunset)1:0882.77%
Lubumbashi17:28:0518:30:0218:33:21 (sunset)1:0594.96%
Luanda16:23:2117:32:0818:28:33 (sunset)2:0582.13%
Kinshasa16:31:3317:36:4618:17:30 (sunset)1:4668.47%
Brazzaville16:31:3717:36:4918:17:34 (sunset)1:4668.25%
São Tomé15:34:0816:38:3417:35:412:0246.08%
Libreville16:35:5817:39:2718:35:522:0248.17%
Yaoundé16:43:4017:42:1518:27:46 (sunset)1:4438.43%
Bangui16:46:4117:42:5017:59:20 (sunset)1:1341.24%
References: [1]

Eclipse details

Shown below are two tables displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. The first table outlines times at which the Moon's penumbra or umbra attains the specific parameter, and the second table describes various other parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[6]

February 26, 2017 Solar Eclipse Times
EventTime (UTC)
First Penumbral External Contact2017 February 26 at 12:11:56.1 UTC
First Umbral External Contact2017 February 26 at 13:16:26.6 UTC
First Central Line2017 February 26 at 13:17:14.6 UTC
Greatest Duration2017 February 26 at 13:17:14.6 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact2017 February 26 at 13:18:02.7 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction2017 February 26 at 14:39:54.4 UTC
Greatest Eclipse2017 February 26 at 14:54:32.8 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction2017 February 26 at 14:59:31.7 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact2017 February 26 at 16:31:16.0 UTC
Last Central Line2017 February 26 at 16:32:01.1 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact2017 February 26 at 16:32:46.1 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact2017 February 26 at 17:37:10.0 UTC
February 26, 2017 Solar Eclipse Parameters
ParameterValue
Eclipse Magnitude0.99223
Eclipse Obscuration0.98451
Gamma−0.45780
Sun Right Ascension22h39m23.1s
Sun Declination-08°29'38.8"
Sun Semi-Diameter16'09.0"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax08.9"
Moon Right Ascension22h39m53.2s
Moon Declination-08°55'03.6"
Moon Semi-Diameter15'47.8"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax0°57'58.6"
ΔT68.6 s

Eclipse season

See also: Eclipse cycle

This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.

Eclipse season of February 2017
February 11
Ascending node (full moon)
February 26
Descending node (new moon)
Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 114		Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 140

Eclipses in 2017

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Solar Saros 140

Inex

Triad

Notes and references

  1. ^ "February 26, 2017 Annular Solar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  2. ^ Cofield, Calla (February 26, 2017). "Moon Blocks (Most of) the Sun in 'Ring of Fire' Solar Eclipse". Space.com
  3. ^ Dwyer, Colin (February 25, 2017). "'Ring Of Fire' Eclipse Set To Blaze In Southern Skies". NPR
  4. ^ ""Ring of fire" annular eclipse: Stunning views of first solar eclipse of 2017". www.cbsnews.com. February 27, 2017.
  5. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  6. ^ "Annular Solar Eclipse of 2017 Feb 26". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 12 August 2024.

References