Solar eclipse of February 7, 2008


An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Thursday, February 7, 2008, with a magnitude of 0.965. 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. The Moon's apparent diameter was near the average diameter because it occurred 7 days after apogee and 6.9 days before perigee.
The moon's apparent diameter was 1 arcminute, 17.8 arcseconds smaller than the August 1, 2008 total solar eclipse.

Visibility

Centrality was visible from parts of Antarctica. A significant partial eclipse was visible over New Zealand and a minor partial eclipse was seen from southeastern Australia and much of Oceania.
For most solar eclipses the path of centrality moves eastwards. In this case the path moved west round Antarctica and then north.

Observations

The best land-based visibility outside of Antarctica was from New Zealand. Professional astronomer and eclipse-chaser Jay Pasachoff observed it from Nelson, New Zealand, 60% coverage, under perfect weather.

Images

Animated path

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 Contact2008 February 07 at 01:39:34.7 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction2008 February 07 at 03:09:56.4 UTC
First Umbral External Contact2008 February 07 at 03:20:50.1 UTC
First Central Line2008 February 07 at 03:25:03.4 UTC
Greatest Duration2008 February 07 at 03:25:03.4 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact2008 February 07 at 03:29:52.5 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction2008 February 07 at 03:45:36.0 UTC
Greatest Eclipse2008 February 07 at 03:56:10.5 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact2008 February 07 at 04:23:01.0 UTC
Last Central Line2008 February 07 at 04:27:46.7 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact2008 February 07 at 04:31:56.6 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact2008 February 07 at 06:12:58.9 UTC

ParameterValue
Eclipse Magnitude0.96499
Eclipse Obscuration0.93120
Gamma−0.95701
Sun Right Ascension21h20m44.7s
Sun Declination-15°30'56.2"
Sun Semi-Diameter16'13.1"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax08.9"
Moon Right Ascension21h22m15.3s
Moon Declination-16°21'00.5"
Moon Semi-Diameter15'35.2"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax0°57'12.3"
ΔT65.4 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 7
Ascending node
February 21
Descending node
Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 121		Total lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 133

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 2008

An annular solar eclipse on February 7.

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Solar Saros 121

Inex

Triad