An annular solar eclipse occurred at the MoonâÂÂs descending node of orbit on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, with a magnitude of 0.9326. 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 2 hours before apogee (on October 2, 2024, at 20:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
Other than Easter Island and a small portion near the southern tips of Argentina and Chile and the north of the Falkland Islands, the path of the eclipse's antumbra occurred over the Pacific Ocean. The penumbra was visible from Hawaii, eastern Oceania, southern and central South America, the southwesternmost parts of Mexico (more specifically, Baja California del Sur and Jalisco), and portions of Antarctica. The partial eclipse was observed at sunrise from Maunakea in Hawaii, where atmospheric refraction distorted the eclipsed Sun and produced a green rim. Approximately 175,000 people live in the path of annularity.
<br />Animated path
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.
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.