A partial

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 Thursday, February 15, 2018, 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 0.5991. 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 partial solar eclipse occurs in the polar regions of the Earth when the center of the Moon's

shadow A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensio ...

misses the Earth. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

and southern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Images

Gallery

File:Eclipse Solar Parcial - 15.02.2018 - Secuencia - Olivos, GBA (Argentina).png, Time lapse images as viewed from

Olivos, Buenos Aires Olivos is a neighborhood in Vicente López Partido, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is bordered to the south by Vicente López neighborhood and Florida; to the east by the River Plate; to the north by La Lucila and Martínez, and to the w ...

, Argentina File:Eclipse en Ramos Mejía, 15-02-2018.jpg, From

Ramos Mejía Ramos Mejía is a city in La Matanza Partido, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The town has an area of and a population of 98,547. The city is one of the largest commercial districts in the Western area of Greater Buenos Aires. History The la ...

, Argentina, 22:13 UTC

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 2018

* A total lunar eclipse on January 31. * A partial solar eclipse on February 15. * A partial solar eclipse on July 13. * A total lunar eclipse on July 27. * A partial solar eclipse on August 11.

Metonic

* Preceded by:

Solar eclipse of April 29, 2014 An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Tuesday, April 29, 2014, with a magnitude of 0.9868. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image o ...

* Followed by:

Solar eclipse of December 4, 2021 A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Saturday, December 4, 2021, with a magnitude of 1.0367. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's and the apparent path of the ...

Tzolkinex

* Preceded by:

Solar eclipse of January 4, 2011 A partial solar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Tuesday, January 4, 2011, with a magnitude of 0.8576. 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 March 29, 2025

Half-Saros

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of February 9, 2009 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of February 20, 2027

Tritos

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 19, 2007 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 14, 2029

Solar Saros 150

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 5, 2000 * Followed by:

Solar eclipse of February 27, 2036 A partial solar eclipse will occur at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Wednesday, February 27, 2036, with a magnitude of 0.6286. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the i ...

Inex

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 7, 1989 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 26, 2047

Triad

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 18, 1931 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 17, 2104

Solar eclipses of 2015–2018

Saros 150

Metonic series

Tritos series

Inex series

References

External links

NASA
chart
NASA
animation
Partial Solar Eclipse of 2018 February 15

{{Solar eclipses 2018 2 18 2018 in science 2018 2 18 February 2018