Solar eclipse of February 26, 2017


An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Sunday, February 26, 2017, 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. 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, the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
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 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.
EventTime
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

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

This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months 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.
February 11
Ascending node
February 26
Descending node
Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 114		Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 140

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 2017

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Solar Saros 140

Inex

Triad