Solar eclipse of February 26, 2017

Solar eclipse of February 26, 2017
Partial from Buenos Aires, Argentina
Map
Type of eclipse
NatureAnnular
Gamma−0.4578
Magnitude0.9922
Maximum eclipse
Duration44 s (0 min 44 s)
Coordinates34°42′S 31°12′W / 34.7°S 31.2°W / -34.7; -31.2
Max. width of band31 km (19 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse14:54:33
References
Saros140 (29 of 71)
Catalog # (SE5000)9545

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.

Images

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Animation assembled from 3 images acquired by NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera.
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Eclipse details

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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
Event Time (UTC)
First Penumbral External Contact 2017 February 26 at 12:11:56.1 UTC
First Umbral External Contact 2017 February 26 at 13:16:26.6 UTC
First Central Line 2017 February 26 at 13:17:14.6 UTC
Greatest Duration 2017 February 26 at 13:17:14.6 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact 2017 February 26 at 13:18:02.7 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction 2017 February 26 at 14:39:54.4 UTC
Greatest Eclipse 2017 February 26 at 14:54:32.8 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction 2017 February 26 at 14:59:31.7 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact 2017 February 26 at 16:31:16.0 UTC
Last Central Line 2017 February 26 at 16:32:01.1 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact 2017 February 26 at 16:32:46.1 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact 2017 February 26 at 17:37:10.0 UTC
February 26, 2017 Solar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter Value
Eclipse Magnitude 0.99223
Eclipse Obscuration 0.98451
Gamma −0.45780
Sun Right Ascension 22h39m23.1s
Sun Declination -08°29'38.8"
Sun Semi-Diameter 16'09.0"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9"
Moon Right Ascension 22h39m53.2s
Moon Declination -08°55'03.6"
Moon Semi-Diameter 15'47.8"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°57'58.6"
ΔT 68.6 s

Eclipse season

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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
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Eclipses in 2017

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Metonic

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Tzolkinex

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Half-Saros

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Tritos

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Solar Saros 140

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Inex

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Triad

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Solar eclipses of 2015–2018

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This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.[7]

The partial solar eclipse on July 13, 2018 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 2015 to 2018
Descending node   Ascending node
Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma
120

Totality in Longyearbyen, Svalbard 		March 20, 2015

Total 		0.94536 125

Solar Dynamics Observatory
September 13, 2015

Partial 		−1.10039
130

Balikpapan, Indonesia 		March 9, 2016

Total 		0.26092 135

Annularity in L'Étang-Salé, Réunion 		September 1, 2016

Annular 		−0.33301
140

Partial from Buenos Aires, Argentina 		February 26, 2017

Annular 		−0.45780 145

Totality in Madras, OR, USA 		August 21, 2017

Total 		0.43671
150

Partial in Olivos, Buenos Aires, Argentina 		February 15, 2018

Partial 		−1.21163 155

Partial in Huittinen, Finland 		August 11, 2018

Partial 		1.14758

Saros 140

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This eclipse is a part of Saros series 140, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on April 16, 1512. It contains total eclipses from July 21, 1656 through November 9, 1836; hybrid eclipses from November 20, 1854 through December 23, 1908; and annular eclipses from January 3, 1927 through December 7, 2485. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on June 1, 2774. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.

The longest duration of totality was produced by member 11 at 4 minutes, 10 seconds on August 12, 1692, and the longest duration of annularity will be produced by member 53 at 7 minutes, 35 seconds on November 15, 2449. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.[8]

Series members 18–39 occur between 1801 and 2200:
18 19 20

October 29, 1818
November 9, 1836
November 20, 1854
21 22 23

November 30, 1872
December 12, 1890
December 23, 1908
24 25 26

January 3, 1927
January 14, 1945
January 25, 1963
27 28 29

February 4, 1981
February 16, 1999
February 26, 2017
30 31 32

March 9, 2035
March 20, 2053
March 31, 2071
33 34 35

April 10, 2089
April 23, 2107
May 3, 2125
36 37 38

May 14, 2143
May 25, 2161
June 5, 2179
39

June 15, 2197

Metonic series

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The metonic series repeats eclipses every 19 years (6939.69 days), lasting about 5 cycles. Eclipses occur in nearly the same calendar date. In addition, the octon subseries repeats 1/5 of that or every 3.8 years (1387.94 days). All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's descending node.

21 eclipse events between July 22, 1971 and July 22, 2047
July 22 May 9–11 February 26–27 December 14–15 October 2–3
116 118 120 122 124

July 22, 1971
May 11, 1975
February 26, 1979
December 15, 1982
October 3, 1986
126 128 130 132 134

July 22, 1990
May 10, 1994
February 26, 1998
December 14, 2001
October 3, 2005
136 138 140 142 144

July 22, 2009
May 10, 2013
February 26, 2017
December 14, 2020
October 2, 2024
146 148 150 152 154

July 22, 2028
May 9, 2032
February 27, 2036
December 15, 2039
October 3, 2043
156

July 22, 2047

Tritos series

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This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

Series members between 1801 and 2200

October 9, 1809
(Saros 121)
September 7, 1820
(Saros 122)
August 7, 1831
(Saros 123)
July 8, 1842
(Saros 124)
June 6, 1853
(Saros 125)

May 6, 1864
(Saros 126)
April 6, 1875
(Saros 127)
March 5, 1886
(Saros 128)
February 1, 1897
(Saros 129)
January 3, 1908
(Saros 130)

December 3, 1918
(Saros 131)
November 1, 1929
(Saros 132)
October 1, 1940
(Saros 133)
September 1, 1951
(Saros 134)
July 31, 1962
(Saros 135)

June 30, 1973
(Saros 136)
May 30, 1984
(Saros 137)
April 29, 1995
(Saros 138)
March 29, 2006
(Saros 139)
February 26, 2017
(Saros 140)

January 26, 2028
(Saros 141)
December 26, 2038
(Saros 142)
November 25, 2049
(Saros 143)
October 24, 2060
(Saros 144)
September 23, 2071
(Saros 145)

August 24, 2082
(Saros 146)
July 23, 2093
(Saros 147)
June 22, 2104
(Saros 148)
May 24, 2115
(Saros 149)
April 22, 2126
(Saros 150)

March 21, 2137
(Saros 151)
February 19, 2148
(Saros 152)
January 19, 2159
(Saros 153)
December 18, 2169
(Saros 154)
November 17, 2180
(Saros 155)

October 18, 2191
(Saros 156)

Inex series

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This eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

Series members between 1801 and 2200

July 17, 1814
(Saros 133)
June 27, 1843
(Saros 134)
June 6, 1872
(Saros 135)

May 18, 1901
(Saros 136)
April 28, 1930
(Saros 137)
April 8, 1959
(Saros 138)

March 18, 1988
(Saros 139)
February 26, 2017
(Saros 140)
February 5, 2046
(Saros 141)

January 16, 2075
(Saros 142)
December 29, 2103
(Saros 143)
December 7, 2132
(Saros 144)

November 17, 2161
(Saros 145)
October 29, 2190
(Saros 146)

Notes and references

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  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.
  7. ^ van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  8. ^ "NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 140". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.

References

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