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 between Tuesday, March 8 and Wednesday, March 9, 2016, 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 1.045. 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 and the apparent path of the Sun and Moon intersect, blocking all direct sunlight and turning daylight into darkness; the Sun appears to be black with a halo around it. 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 1.25 days before

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 March 10, 2016, at 7:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger. Totality was visible from parts of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of approximately 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Poly ...

, and the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...

. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, northwestern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. If viewed from east of the

International Date Line The International Date Line (IDL) is the line extending between the South and North Poles that is the boundary between one calendar day and the next. It passes through the Pacific Ocean, roughly following the 180.0° line of longitude and de ...

(for instance from

), the eclipse took place on March 8 (Tuesday) (local time) and elsewhere on March 9 (Wednesday). The eclipse was clearly visible in many parts of Indonesia, including

Central Sulawesi Central Sulawesi (Indonesian language, Indonesian: ''Sulawesi Tengah'') is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located at the centre of the island of Sulawesi. The administrative capital and largest city is located in Palu. The provin ...

and

Ternate Ternate (), also known as the City of Ternate (; ), is the List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city with the largest population in the province of North Maluku and an island in the Maluku Islands, Indonesia. It was the ''de facto'' provi ...

, but obscured by clouds and smokes in

Palembang Palembang (, Palembang: ''Pelémbang'', Mandarin: 巨港 (Jùgǎng), Hokkien: 舊港 (Kū-káng), Jawi: ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River in the ea ...

, the largest city on the path of totality. The eclipse coincided with

Nyepi Nyepi, also known as Day of Silence, is a Balinese people, Balinese holiday held every ''Isakawarsa'' ("new year") according to the Balinese saka calendar, Balinese calendar, and it can be traced as far back as 78 A.D.public holiday A public holiday, national holiday, federal holiday, statutory holiday, bank holiday or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Types Civic holiday A ''civic holiday'', also k ...

in Indonesia and the end of the Balinese saka calendar. Because Nyepi is normally a day of silence, Muslims in Bali had to be given special dispensation to attend special prayer services during the eclipse.

Path of the eclipse

On March 9, 2016, a large area of the Pacific, covering Indonesia,

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

, but also large parts of Southeast Asia and Australia, witnessed a partial solar eclipse. It was total in multiple islands of Indonesia, three atolls of the

Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (, abbreviated FSM), or simply Micronesia, is an island country in Micronesia, a region of Oceania. The federation encompasses the majority of the Caroline Islands (excluding Palau) and consists of four Admin ...

( Eauripik, Woleai and Ifalik) and the central Pacific, starting at sunrise over Sumatra and ending at sunset north of Hawaii. In the Eastern Pacific Ocean, the totality exceeded a duration of more than 4 minutes. ed, and much of East Asia witnessed more than 50% partial eclipse. The largest city along the path of totality was

in southern Sumatra ( from

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

and from

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

). In order to watch the total solar eclipse,

Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines is a major American airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is the fifth-largest airline in North America when measured by scheduled passengers carried, as of 2024. Alaska, togethe ...

adjusted the flight plan for Flight 870. The flight passed through the umbral shadow about north of

Maps

Gallery

File:Partial solar eclipse at Jakarta, Indonesia - March 9 2016.JPG, Partial in

Jakarta, Indonesia Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

, 0:23 UTC File:Partial Solar Eclipse, 9 March 2016, from Singapore (editted and cropped).jpg, Partial in Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 0:23 UTC File:SolarEclipse.jpg, Partial in

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

, 0:26 UTC Eclipse IMG 6820 (25340012520).jpg, Partial in

Marina Bay, Singapore Marina Bay is a bay located in the Central Area, Singapore, Central Area of Singapore, surrounded by the perimeter of four other planning areas, the Downtown Core, Marina East, Marina South and Straits View. The area surrounding the bay itsel ...

, 0:26 UTC File:Solar Eclipse (25333178700).jpg, Partial in Dompu, Indonesia, 0:38 UTC File:Diamond Ring, Tanjung Pandan, Indonesia. (33311539925).jpg, Diamond ring effect in Tanjung Pandan, Indonesia. 0:42 UTC File:Solar Eclipse KKU (25261758439).jpg, Partial in

Khon Kaen University Khon Kaen University (; KKU) is a public research university. The university was the first institution of higher education in the northeastern Thailand and remains the oldest and the most competitive university in the region. The university is a ...

, Thailand, 0:46 UTC File:Partial Solar Eclipse 9 March 2016 from Nonthaburi, Thailand.JPG, Partial in

Nonthaburi Nonthaburi (, ) is the principal city of the district and province of the same name in Thailand. On 15 February 1936, Nonthaburi town municipality ('' thesaban mueang'') was established, which only covered Suan Yai subdistrict (''tambon''), j ...

, Thailand, 0:52 UTC File:Solar Eclipse 09-03-16 Brunei (25005063854).jpg, Partial in Jerudong, Brunei, 1:01 UTC File:XOKA1563-1024ss (25536509211).jpg, Partial in

Langkawi Langkawi, officially known as Langkawi, the Jewel of Kedah (), is a duty-free island and an archipelago of 99 islands (plus five small islands visible only at low tide in the Strait of Malacca) located some 30 km off the coast of northwe ...

, Malaysia, 1:16 UTC File:Partial Solar Eclipse in Hefei, Anhui, China.JPG, Partial in Hefei, China, 1:40 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 2016

* A total solar eclipse on March 9. * A penumbral lunar eclipse on March 23. * A penumbral lunar eclipse on August 18. * An annular solar eclipse on September 1. * A penumbral lunar eclipse on September 16.

Metonic

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 20, 2012 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 26, 2019

Tzolkinex

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 26, 2009 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 20, 2023

Half-Saros

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 3, 2007 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 14, 2025

Tritos

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 8, 2005 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 6, 2027

Solar Saros 130

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 26, 1998 * Followed by:

Solar eclipse of March 20, 2034 Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...

Inex

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 29, 1987 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 16, 2045

Triad

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 9, 1929 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 8, 2103

Solar eclipses of 2015–18

Saros 130

Metonic series

Tritos series

Inex series

Notes

References

* F. Espenak, J. Meeus: Five Millennium Catalog of Solar eclipses, NASA/TP-2009-213174 *
hermit.org: Total Solar Eclipse: March 9 2016

* ttp://www.iac.es/divulgacion.php?op1=16&id=1035&lang=en EU project Stars4All: Eclipse online broadcast from Palu (Indonesia)*

External links

High-resolution animation of eclipse shadow
by Seán Doran from

JAXA The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into o ...

's Himawari imagery {{Solar eclipses 2016 in Asia 2016 in science 2016 3 9 2016 3 9 March 2016 2016 in Indonesia