Annular Solar Eclipse as viewed within 170 meters (560 feet) of the eclipse centerline and within 1 second of maximum eclipse (Hobbs, New Mexico, USA).
An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Saturday, October 14, 2023,[1][2][3][4][5][6] with a magnitude of 0.952. 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 4.6 days after apogee (on October 10, 2023, at 4:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.[7]
A total solar eclipse crossed the United States in April 2024 (12 states) (Saros 139, Ascending Node), and a future solar eclipse will cross in August 2045 (10 states) (Saros 136, Descending Node). An annular solar eclipse will occur in June 2048 (9 states) (Saros 128, Descending Node).
In Western Cuba, Cayman Islands, and Jamaica all saw a partial eclipse (50% and above). The greatest of the partial eclipse was seen over Western Cuba and the Cayman Islands.
During the annular and total eclipses of 2023 and 2024, the GLOBE Program (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) through the GLOBE Observer app will seek to collect information on air temperature, clouds, and wind. During the 2017 eclipse, citizen scientists contributed with over 80,000 observations of air temperature and 20,000 cloud observations.[9][10]
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.[11]
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.
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.[12]
This eclipse is a part of Saros series 134, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on June 22, 1248. It contains total eclipses from October 9, 1428 through December 24, 1554; hybrid eclipses from January 3, 1573 through June 27, 1843; and annular eclipses from July 8, 1861 through May 21, 2384. The series ends at member 72 as a partial eclipse on August 6, 2510. 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 1 minutes, 30 seconds on October 9, 1428, and the longest duration of annularity will be produced by member 52 at 10 minutes, 55 seconds on January 10, 2168. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.[13]
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 May 21, 1993 and May 20, 2069
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.
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.
NationalEclipse.com An educational site with overviews, maps, city data, events, animations, merchandise, historical information, and other resources for the 2023 eclipse and others.
Eclipse2024.org An educational site with comprehensive eclipse information, an eclipse simulator and other resources for the 2023 and 2024 solar eclipses.