A total solar eclipse will occur at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Friday, May 20, 2050, with a magnitude of 1.0038. It is a hybrid event, with only a fraction of its path as total, and longer sections at the start and end as an annular eclipse. 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. A hybrid solar eclipse is a rare type of solar eclipse that changes its appearance from annular to total and back as the Moon's shadow moves across the Earth's surface. Totality occurs between the annularity paths across the surface of the Earth, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 5.2 days after perigee (on May 15, 2050, at 16:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter will be larger. This hybrid eclipse is notable in that the path of hybridity does not hit land anywhere on Earth. However, a partial solar eclipse will be visible for parts of New Zealand, eastern Oceania, and western South America.
Eclipse timing
Places experiencing partial eclipse
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, 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.
Related eclipses
Eclipses in 2050 A total lunar eclipse on May 6. A hybrid solar eclipse on May 20. A total lunar eclipse on October 30. A partial solar eclipse on November 14.
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 2, 2046 Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 9, 2054
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 9, 2043 Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 1, 2057
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 16, 2041 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 27, 2059
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 21, 2039 Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 20, 2061
Solar Saros 148 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 9, 2032 Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 31, 2068
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 10, 2021 Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 1, 2079
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 20, 1963 Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 21, 2137
Solar eclipses of 2047–2050 This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit. The partial solar eclipses on January 26, 2047 and July 22, 2047 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set.
Saros 148 This eclipse is a part of Saros series 148, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 75 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on September 21, 1653. It contains annular eclipses on April 29, 2014 and May 9, 2032; a hybrid eclipse on May 20, 2050; and total eclipses from May 31, 2068 through August 3, 2771. The series ends at member 75 as a partial eclipse on December 12, 2987. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth. The longest duration of annularity will be produced by member 22 at 22 seconds (by default) on May 9, 2032, and the longest duration of totality will be produced by member 54 at 5 minutes, 23 seconds on April 26, 2609. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.
Metonic series The metonic series repeats eclipses every 19 years (6939.69 days), lasting about 5 cycles. Eclipses occur in nearly the same calendar date. In addition, the octon subseries repeats 1/5 of that or every 3.8 years (1387.94 days). All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's descending node.
Tritos series This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
Inex series This eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
Notes
References
External links Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC Google interactive map Besselian elements