A total

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...

occurred at the Moon's

descending node An orbital node is either of the two points where an orbit intersects a plane of reference to which it is inclined. A non-inclined orbit, which is contained in the reference plane, has no nodes. Planes of reference Common planes of referenc ...

of orbit on Friday, August 1, 2008, with a

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

of 1.0394. A

occurs when the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

passes between

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

and the

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's

apparent diameter The angular diameter, angular size, apparent diameter, or apparent size is an angular separation (in units of angle) describing how large a sphere or circle appears from a given point of view. In the vision sciences, it is called the '' visual ...

is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 2.4 days after

perigee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values. Apsides perta ...

(on July 30, 2008, at 0:20 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger. The eclipse was visible from a narrow corridor through northern

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

(

Nunavut Nunavut is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

, central

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, eastern

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

, western

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Visible north of the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

, it belonged to the so-called

midnight sun Midnight sun, also known as polar day, is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When midnight sun is see ...

eclipses. The largest city in its path was

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...

in Russia. A partial eclipse could be seen from the much broader path of the

penumbra The umbra, penumbra and antumbra are three distinct parts of a shadow, created by any light source after impinging on an opaque object of lesser size. In cases of equal or smaller impinging objects, only an umbra and penumba are generated. As ...

, including northern

, and most of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. The moon's apparent diameter was 1 arcminute, 17.8 arcseconds (77.8 arcseconds) larger than the annular solar eclipse of February 7, 2008. It was described by observers as "special for its colours around the horizon. There were wonderful oranges and reds all around, the clouds lit up, some dark in silhouette, some golden, glowing yellowy-orange in the distance. You could see the shadow approaching against the clouds and then rushing away as it left."

Start of eclipse: Canada and Greenland

Animated path The eclipse began in the far north of Canada in

at 09:21 UT, the zone of totality being 206 km wide, and lasting for 1 minute 30 seconds. The path of the eclipse then headed north-east, crossing over northern

and reaching the northernmost latitude of 83° 47′ at 09:38 UT before dipping down into Russia. The path of totality touched the northeast corner of

Kvitøya Kvitøya (English: "White Island") is an island in the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, with an area of . It is the easternmost part of the Kingdom of Norway. The closest Russian Arctic possession, Victoria Island, lies only to the ...

, an uninhabited Norwegian island in the

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...

archipelago, at 09:47 UT.

Greatest eclipse: Russia

The eclipse reached the Russian mainland at 10:10 UT, with a path 232 km wide and a duration of 2 minutes 26 seconds. The greatest eclipse occurred shortly after, at 10:21:07 UT at coordinates (close to

Nadym Nadym () is a town in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia, located on the river Nadym. The population has fluctuated over time: Etymology There are three several translations from the Nenets language: # ''"nyadey ya"'' – mossy place # ' ...

), when the path was 237 km wide, and the duration was 2 minutes 27 seconds. Cities in the path of the total eclipse included

Megion Megion () is a town in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug–Yugra, Russia, located at the altitude of above sea level, on the right bank of the Ob River, east of Khanty-Mansiysk and northeast of Tyumen. The area of the town is and the nearest air ...

Nizhnevartovsk Nizhnevartovsk ( rus, Нижневартовск, p=nʲɪʐnʲɪˈvartəfsk) is a city in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug–Yugra, Russia. Since the 1960s, the Western Siberian oil boom has led to Nizhnevartovsk's rapid growth from a small settlem ...

Strezhevoy Strezhevoy () is a town in Tomsk Oblast, Russia, located on the shores of the Ob River's canal. Population: History It was founded in 1966 as a settlement near the village of Strezhevoy and was granted town status in 1978. Administrative and m ...

and

Barnaul Barnaul (, ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative centre of Altai Krai, Russia, located at the confluence of the Barnaulka and Ob (river), Ob rivers in the West Siberian Plain. As of the Russian Censu ...

. Around 10,000 tourists were present in

, the largest city to experience the eclipse. For

Gorno-Altaysk Gorno-Altaysk (, ; ; historically, pre-1932: Ulala) is the capital town of the Altai Republic, Russia. The population stands at around 64,000 people as of 2020 with steady growth over the recent years. In the past, the town was known as ''Ulala' ...

the eclipse was the second consecutive total solar eclipse after the March 2006 eclipse. Image:Солнечное затменение 049.jpg, Partial from

Dmitrov Dmitrov () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Dmitrovsky District, Moscow Oblast, Dmitrovsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located to the north of Moscow on the Yakhroma River and the Mosc ...

Image:Max phase of partial eclipse 01.08.2008 in Magnitogorsk, Ural, Russia..jpg,

Magnitogorsk Magnitogorsk ( rus, Магнитого́рск, p=məɡnʲɪtɐˈɡorsk, ) is an industrial city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, on the eastern side of the extreme southern extent of the Ural Mountains by the Ural River. Its population is curre ...

at maximum phrase Image:Solar eclipse of 2008 August 1.JPG, Partial from

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Image:NovosibirskTotalEclipsePhoto-cropped.jpg, Totality from

Akademgorodok Akademgorodok ( rus, Академгородок, p=ɐkəˌdʲemɡərɐˈdok, "Academic Town") is a part of the Sovetsky City District, Novosibirsk, Sovetsky District of the city of Novosibirsk, Russia, located south of the city center and abou ...

(

) Image:Total Solar Eclipse in Novosibirsk (1-aug-2008). Ideal quality with no clouds!.webm, Video from Novosibirsk Image:Aug1Novosibirsk2008.JPG,

Diamond ring effect The Baily's beads, diamond ring or more rarely double diamond ring effects, are features of total and annular solar eclipses. Although caused by the same phenomenon, they are distinct events during these types of solar eclipses. As the Moon cover ...

in Novosibirsk Image:2008-08-01 Solar eclipse progression with timestamps.jpg, Eclipse progression in Novosibirsk. All times UTC (local time UTC+7) Image:Неполное солнечное затмение в Пскове (2008).jpg, Partial from

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...

, Russia Image:Eclipse 2008 Sar.JPG, Partial from

Saratov Saratov ( , ; , ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River. Saratov had a population of 901,361, making it the List of cities and tow ...

, Russia File:Частичное солнечное затмение (40915809292).jpg, Partial from

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg (, ; ), alternatively Romanization of Russian, romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( ; 1924–1991), is a city and the administrative centre of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Ural Federal District, Russia. The ci ...

, Russia

Conclusion: Mongolia and China

The path of the eclipse then moved south-east, crossing into

and just clipping Kazakhstan at around 10:58 UT. The path here was 252 km wide, but the duration decreased to 2 minutes 10 seconds. The path then ran down the China-Mongolia border, ending in

at 11:18 UT, with an eclipse lasting 1 minute 27 seconds at sunset. The total eclipse finished at 11:21 UT. The total eclipse passed over

Altay City Altay or Aletai is a county-level city in Altay Prefecture within Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, in far Northern Xinjiang, China. The city centre is located on the banks of Kelan River. Administrative divisions Altay City is divided into ...

Hami Hami ( zh, c=哈密) or Kumul () is a prefecture-level city in eastern Xinjiang, China. It is well known for sweet Hami melons. In early 2016, the former Hami county-level city merged with Hami Prefecture to form the Hami prefecture-level city ...

and

Jiuquan Jiuquan, formerly known as Suzhou is a prefecture-level city in the northwesternmost part of Gansu Province in the People's Republic of China. It is more than wide from east to west, occupying , although its built-up area is mostly located in it ...

. Around 10,000 people were gathered to watch the eclipse in Hami. File:Total Eclipse at Khar Nuur, Altai (2812021816).jpg, Totality in

Altai City Altai (, ) is the capital of the Govi-Altai Province, Govi-Altai Aimags of Mongolia, province in western Mongolia. As of 2008, its population is 15,800.

, Mongolia Image:Diamondring.jpg, Diamond ring effect in Kumul, Xinjiang Image:Solar Eclipse Gansu.jpg, Totality in

, China. Red prominences are visible on both sides of the sun Image:Solar Eclipse Gansu 2.JPG, Totality in Jiuquan, China Image:日全食 - panoramio.jpg, Partial from

Xi'an Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

, China

Partial eclipse

A partial eclipse was seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including the north east coast of North America and most of Europe and Asia. In London, England, the partial eclipse began at 09:33 BST, with a maximum eclipse of 12% at 10:18 BST, before concluding at 11:05 BST. At

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

the partial eclipse was 23.5%, whilst it was 36% in

Lerwick Lerwick ( or ; ; ) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010. It is the northernmost major settlement within the United Kingdom. Centred ...

in the

Shetland Isles Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

. Image:Arctic eclipse.jpg, The eclipse over

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, and the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

as seen from NASA's Terra satellite. Image:Jorg Weingrill - Partial Solar Eclipse 2008 (by).jpg, Partial from

Graz, Austria Graz () is the capital of the Austrian federal state of Styria and the second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 including secondary residence). In 2023, the population of the Gra ...

Image:Partial Solar Eclipse - Minsk 2008.jpg, Partial from

Minsk, Belarus Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administrative centre of Minsk region ...

Image:1 August 2008 partial eclipse from UK.jpg, Partial from

Jodrell Bank Observatory Jodrell Bank Observatory ( ) in Cheshire, England hosts a number of radio telescopes as part of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. The observatory was established in 1945 by Bernard Lovell, a radio as ...

, England File:2008.08.01 Auringonpimennys 2 (41840192725).jpg, Partial from

Huittinen Huittinen () is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in the Satakunta region, southeast of Pori and southwest of Tampere. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The ...

, Finland Image:Michaelll - Partial Solar Eclipse (by).jpg, Partial from

Bergen, Norway Bergen (, ) is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 2025 the population is 294 029 according to Statistics Norway. The municipali ...

Image:Zacmienie slonca 2008 08 01 Warszawa.jpg,

Warsaw, Poland Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at 1.86 million residents within a grea ...

at maximum phrase File:Solar Eclipse 080801 (2722291466).jpg, Partial from

Kumla Kumla is a locality and the seat of Kumla Municipality, Örebro County, Sweden with a population of 21,640 as of 2018. Geography Kumla is situated roughly 15 kilometres south of neighbouring city Örebro, and is connected to its much larger nei ...

, Sweden Image:Solar eclipse in Makiivka.jpg, Partial from

Makiivka Makiivka (, ), formerly Dmytriivsk () until 1931, is an industrial city in Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine, located east from Donetsk. The two cities are practically a conurbation. It has a population of It hosts the administration of Makiivka ...

, Ukraine Image:Partial Eclipse Chennai Aug2008.jpg, Partial from

Chennai, India Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian censu ...

LTU 1111

German charter airline LTU, now trading as

Air Berlin Air Berlin plc & Co. Luftverkehrs KG (), branded as airberlin or airberlin.com, was a major German airline. At its peak, it was Germany's second-largest airline after Lufthansa, as well as Europe's tenth-largest airline in terms of passengers c ...

, operated a special flight from

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

to the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

to observe the eclipse. Flight number LT 1111 spent over 11 hours in the air, returning to base at 6pm after flying a planeload of eclipse chasers, scientists, journalists and TV crews to watch the celestial event. The route also included a low-level sightseeing tour of

before the eclipse and the magnetic pole afterwards.

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.

Eclipse season

This eclipse is part of an

eclipse season An eclipse season is a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Eclipse seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of the Orbit of the Moon, Moon's orbital plane (orbital inclination, tilted five degrees to the ecliptic, Earth ...

, 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 A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term , meaning "" (or "fourteen days", since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights). Astronomy and tides In astronomy, a ''lunar fortnight'' is hal ...

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 2008

* An annular solar eclipse on February 7. * A total lunar eclipse on February 21. * A total solar eclipse on August 1. * A partial lunar eclipse on August 16.

Metonic

* Preceded by:

Solar eclipse of October 14, 2004 A partial solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Wednesday, October 13 and Thursday, October 14, 2004, with a magnitude of 0.9282. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby tot ...

* Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 20, 2012

Tzolkinex

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 21, 2001 * Followed by:

Solar eclipse of September 13, 2015 A partial solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's Lunar node, ascending node of orbit on Sunday, September 13, 2015, with a Magnitude of eclipse, magnitude of 0.7875. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby tota ...

Half-Saros

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of July 28, 1999 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of August 7, 2017

Tritos

* Preceded by:

Solar eclipse of September 2, 1997 A partial solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit between Monday, September 1 and Tuesday, September 2, 1997, with a magnitude of 0.8988. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally o ...

* Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 2, 2019

Solar Saros 126

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 22, 1990 * Followed by:

Solar eclipse of August 12, 2026 A total solar eclipse will occur at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Wednesday, 12 August 2026, with a magnitude of 1.0386. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image ...

Inex

* Preceded by:

Solar eclipse of August 22, 1979 An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Wednesday, August 22, 1979, with a magnitude of 0.9329. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image ...

* Followed by:

Solar eclipse of July 13, 2037 A total solar eclipse will occur at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Monday, July 13, 2037, with a magnitude of 1.0413. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of th ...

Triad

* Preceded by:

Solar eclipse of October 1, 1921 A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Saturday, October 1, 1921, with a magnitude of 1.0293. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of ...

* Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 2, 2095

Solar eclipses of 2008–2011

Saros 126

Metonic series

Tritos series

Inex series

Notes

References

Google Map
Photos:
Russian solar eclipse

from Russia by

Jay Pasachoff Jay Myron Pasachoff (July 1, 1943 – November 20, 2022) was an American astronomer. Pasachoff was Field Memorial Professor of Astronomy at Williams College and the author of textbooks and tradebooks in astronomy, physics, mathematics, and other ...

Prof. Druckmüller's eclipse photography site. Mongolia

''Astronomy.com'' Eclipse trip images from Russia

Memories, video and images of the eclipse by Crayford Manor House Astronomical Society

APOD 8/5/2008, A Total Solar Eclipse Over China, wide sky from near Barkol in Xinjiang, China

APOD 8/7/2008, At the Sun's Edge, Totality from Novosibirsk, Russia

APOD 8/8/2008, The Crown of the Sun, totality with corona from Kochenevo, Russia

APOD 9/20/2008,A Darkened Sky, totality with wide corona from Mongolia
Webcast of the eclipse from northwest China

University of North Dakota's Live Webcast from China
Video
Video from Altai, featured on CNN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solar Eclipse Of August 1, 2008 Total solar eclipses, 2008 08 01 2008 in science 2008 08 01 Novaya Zemlya August 2008 2008 in Russia 2008 in Mongolia 2008 in China 2008 in Kazakhstan