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Diamond Ring Effect
The diamond ring effect is seen during the Total Solar Eclipse of 1991 July 11.
(click to see more photos)
An eclipse of the Sun (or solar eclipse) can only occur at New Moon when the Moon passes between Earth and Sun. If the Moon's shadow falls upon Earth's surface, we see some portion of the Sun's disk covered or 'eclipsed' by the Moon. Since New Moon occurs every 29 1/2 days, you might think that we should have a solar eclipse about once a month. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen because the Moon's orbit around Earth is tilted 5 degrees to Earth's orbit around the Sun. As a result, the Moon's shadow usually misses Earth as it passes above or below our planet at New Moon. At lease twice each year, the geometry lines up just right so that an eclipse of the Sun is seen from some part of Earth.
The Moon's shadow has three parts two of which are nested inside the third. The faint outer shadow is the penumbra. Partial eclipses are visible inside the penumbral shadow. The dark inner shadow is the umbra. Total eclipses are seen in the umbral shadow. The umbra is cone-shaped and narrows to a point. Extending beyond the umbra is the antumbra.
There are four types of solar eclipses:
The number of solar eclipses in a single year can range from 2 to 5. Nearly 3/4 of the time there are 2 eclipses in a year. On the other hand, it is quite rare to have 5 solar eclipse in a single year. The last time it happened was in 1935 and the next time is 2206.
For a complete introduction to this subject, see: Solar Eclipses For Beginners.
2006 Total Solar Eclipse
This Baily's Beads sequence shows both 2nd and 3rd Contact.
(click to see more photos)
The table below lists every solar eclipse from 2001 through 2020. Click on the eclipse Calendar Date to see a global map showing where the eclipse is visible from. The Eclipse Type link opens a window showing the path of total and annular eclipses plotted on Google Maps. The Eclipse Magnitude is the fraction of the Sun's diameter covered by the Moon at greatest eclipse. For total and annular eclipses, this value is actually the ratio of the apparent diameters of the Moon to the Sun. The Central Duration lists the duration of totality or annularity at greatest eclipse. The link produces a table of geographic coordinates of the eclipse path. The last column is a brief description of the geographic regions of eclipse visibility. The descriptions are for the partial phases of each eclipse. Annular and total eclipses are only visible from the regions in bold.
| Eclipses of the Sun: 2001 - 2020 | |||||
| Calendar Date | Eclipse Type | Eclipse Magnitude | Central Duration | Geographic Region of Eclipse Visibility | |
| (Link to Global Map) | (Link to Google Map) | (Link to Path Table) | |||
| 2001 Jun 21 | Total | 1.050 | 04m57s | e S. America, Africa
[Total: s Atlantic, s Africa, Madagascar] |
|
| 2001 Dec 14 | Annular | 0.968 | 03m53s | N. & C. America, nw S. America
[Annular: c Pacific, Costa Rica] |
|
| 2002 Jun 10 | Annular | 0.996 | 00m23s | e Asia, Australia, w N. America
[Annular: n Pacific, w Mexico] |
|
| 2002 Dec 04 | Total | 1.024 | 02m04s | s Africa, Antarctica, Indonesia, Australia
[Total: s Africa, s Indian, s Australia] |
|
| 2003 May 31 | Annular | 0.938 | 03m37s | Europe, Asia, nw N. America
[Annular: Iceland, Greenland] |
|
| 2003 Nov 23 | Total | 1.038 | 01m57s | Australia, N. Z., Antarctica, s S. America
[Total: Antarctica] |
|
| 2004 Apr 19 | Partial | 0.737 | - | Antarctica, s Africa | |
| 2004 Oct 14 | Partial | 0.928 | - | ne Asia, Hawaii, Alaska | |
| 2005 Apr 08 | Hybrid | 1.007 | 00m42s | N. Zealand, N. & S. America
[Hybrid: s Pacific, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela] |
|
| 2005 Oct 03 | Annular | 0.958 | 04m32s | Europe, Africa, s Asia
[Annular: Portugal, Spain, Libia, Sudan, Kenya] |
|
| 2006 Mar 29 | Total | 1.052 | 04m07s | Africa, Europe, w Asia
[Total: c Africa, Turkey, Russia] |
|
| 2006 Sep 22 | Annular | 0.935 | 07m09s | S. America, w Africa, Antarctica
[Annular: Guyana, Suriname, F. Guiana, s Atlantic] |
|
| 2007 Mar 19 | Partial | 0.876 | - | Asia, Alaska | |
| 2007 Sep 11 | Partial | 0.751 | - | S. America, Antarctica | |
| 2008 Feb 07 | Annular | 0.965 | 02m12s | Antarctica, e Australia, N. Zealand
[Annular: Antarctica] |
|
| 2008 Aug 01 | Total | 1.039 | 02m27s | ne N. America, Europe, Asia
[Total: n Canada, Greenland, Siberia, Mongolia, China] |
|
| 2009 Jan 26 | Annular | 0.928 | 07m54s | s Africa, Antarctica, se Asia, Australia
[Annular: s Indian, Sumatra, Borneo] |
|
| 2009 Jul 22 | Total | 1.080 | 06m39s | e Asia, Pacific Ocean, Hawaii
[Total: India, Nepal, China, c Pacific] |
|
| 2010 Jan 15 | Annular | 0.919 | 11m08s | Africa, Asia
[Annular: c Africa, India, Malymar, China] |
|
| 2010 Jul 11 | Total | 1.058 | 05m20s | s S. America
[Total: s Pacific, Easter Is., Chile, Argentina] |
|
| 2011 Jan 04 | Partial | 0.858 | - | Europe, Africa, c Asia | |
| 2011 Jun 01 | Partial | 0.601 | - | e Asia, n N. America, Iceland | |
| 2011 Jul 01 | Partial | 0.097 | - | s Indian Ocean | |
| 2011 Nov 25 | Partial | 0.905 | - | s Africa, Antarctica, Tasmania, N.Z. | |
| 2012 May 20 | Annular | 0.944 | 05m46s | Asia, Pacific, N. America
[Annular: China, Japan, Pacific, w U.S.] |
|
| 2012 Nov 13 | Total | 1.050 | 04m02s | Australia, N.Z., s Pacific, s S. America
[Total: n Australia, s Pacific] |
|
| 2013 May 10 | Annular | 0.954 | 06m03s | Australia, N.Z., c Pacific
[Annular: n Australia, Solomon Is., c Pacific] |
|
| 2013 Nov 03 | Hybrid | 1.016 | 01m40s | e Americas, s Europe, Africa
[Hybid: Atlantic, c Africa] |
|
| 2014 Apr 29 | Annular | 0.987 | - | s Indian, Australia, Antarctica
[Annular: Antarctica] |
|
| 2014 Oct 23 | Partial | 0.811 | - | n Pacific, N. America | |
| 2015 Mar 20 | Total | 1.045 | 02m47s | Iceland, Europe, n Africa, n Asia
[Total: n Atlantic, Faeroe Is, Svalbard] |
|
| 2015 Sep 13 | Partial | 0.787 | - | s Africa, s Indian, Antarctica | |
| 2016 Mar 09 | Total | 1.045 | 04m09s | e Asia, Australia, Pacific
[Total: Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi, Pacific] |
|
| 2016 Sep 01 | Annular | 0.974 | 03m06s | Africa, Indian Ocean
[Annular: Atlantic, c Africa, Madagascar, Indian] |
|
| 2017 Feb 26 | Annular | 0.992 | 00m44s | s S. America, Atlantic, Africa, Antarctica
[Annular: Pacific, Chile, Argentina, Atlantic, Africa] |
|
| 2017 Aug 21 | Total | 1.031 | 02m40s | N. America, n S. America
[Total: n Pacific, U.S., s Atlantic] |
|
| 2018 Feb 15 | Partial | 0.599 | - | Antarctica, s S. America | |
| 2018 Jul 13 | Partial | 0.337 | - | s Australia | |
| 2018 Aug 11 | Partial | 0.737 | - | n Europe, ne Asia | |
| 2019 Jan 06 | Partial | 0.715 | - | ne Asia, n Pacific | |
| 2019 Jul 02 | Total | 1.046 | 04m33s | s Pacific, S. America
[Total: s Pacific, Chile, Argentina] |
|
| 2019 Dec 26 | Annular | 0.970 | 03m40s | Asia, Australia
[Annular: Saudi Arabia, India, Sumatra, Borneo] |
|
| 2020 Jun 21 | Annular | 0.994 | 00m38s | Africa, se Europe, Asia
[Annular: c Africa, s Asia, China, Pacific] |
|
| 2020 Dec 14 | Total | 1.025 | 02m10s | Pacific, s S. America, Antarctica
[Total: s Pacific, Chile, Argentina, s Atlantic] |
|
Geographic abbreviations (used above): n = north, s = south, e = east, w = west, c = central
The last total solar eclipse visible from the continental U.S.A. occured on Feb. 26, 1979. A total solar eclipse was visible from Hawaii and Mexico on July 11, 1991. The next two total solar eclipses visible from the U.S.A. occur on Aug. 21, 2017 and Apr. 8, 2024.
The partial and annular phases of eclipses are dangerous to look at because the un-eclipsed part of the Sun is still very bright. You must use special filters or a home-made pinhole projector to safely watch a partial or annular eclipse of the Sun (see: Observing Solar Eclipses Safely). It is only during the total phase of a total eclipse that it is completely safe the to view the Sun with the naked eye.
Total Solar Eclipse of 2006
This sequence captures the entire eclipse from start to finish.
(click to see more photos)
All photographs, text and web pages are © Copyright 2007 by Fred Espenak, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. They may not be reproduced, published, copied or transmitted in any form, including electronically on the Internet or WWW, without written permission of the author. The photos have been digitally watermarked.
The photographs may be licensed for commercial, editorial, and educational use. Contact Espenak (at MrEclipse) for photo use in print, web, video, CD and all other media.
WebMaster: MrEclipse
Last revised: 2008 Feb 11
