Solar eclipse of September 1, 2016


An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Thursday, September 1, 2016, with a magnitude of 0.9736. 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 5.4 days before apogee, the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
Annularity was visible from parts of Gabon, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Mozambique, Madagascar, and Réunion. A partial eclipse was visible for most of Africa and parts of Antarctica.

Images

Animated Path

Eclipse timing

Places experiencing annular eclipse

Places experiencing partial eclipse

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 Contact2016 September 1 at 06:14:16.4 UTC
First Umbral External Contact2016 September 1 at 07:18:57.7 UTC
First Central Line2016 September 1 at 07:20:21.3 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact2016 September 1 at 07:21:45.1 UTC
First Penumbral Internal Contact2016 September 1 at 08:34:59.5 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction2016 September 1 at 09:04:14.2 UTC
Greatest Duration2016 September 1 at 09:06:18.1 UTC
Greatest Eclipse2016 September 1 at 09:08:02.0 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction2016 September 1 at 09:19:12.7 UTC
Last Penumbral Internal Contact2016 September 1 at 09:40:44.7 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact2016 September 1 at 10:54:08.6 UTC
Last Central Line2016 September 1 at 10:55:35.3 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact2016 September 1 at 10:57:01.8 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact2016 September 1 at 12:01:48.6 UTC

ParameterValue
Eclipse Magnitude0.97362
Eclipse Obscuration0.94794
Gamma−0.33301
Sun Right Ascension10h43m43.3s
Sun Declination+08°03'38.0"
Sun Semi-Diameter15'51.0"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax08.7"
Moon Right Ascension10h43m22.2s
Moon Declination+07°45'51.0"
Moon Semi-Diameter15'12.4"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax0°55'48.6"
ΔT68.3 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. The first and last eclipse in this sequence is separated by one synodic month.
August 18
Descending node
September 1
Ascending node
September 16
Descending node
Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 109		Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 135		Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 147

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 2016

Saros 135

Metonic series

Tritos series

Inex series