A total solar eclipse will occur at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Wednesday, September 23, 2071, with a magnitude of 1.0333. 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 total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter 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 2.5 days before perigee (on September 21, 2071, at 5:10 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter will be larger. The path of totality will be visible from parts of northern Mexico, northern Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, far northern Brazil, Suriname, and French Guiana. A partial solar eclipse will also be visible for parts of Hawaii, North America, Central America, the Caribbean, northern and central South America, and West Africa.
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 2071 A penumbral lunar eclipse on March 16. An annular solar eclipse on March 31. A penumbral lunar eclipse on September 9. A total solar eclipse on September 23.
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 6, 2067 Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 13, 2075
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 12, 2064 Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 4, 2078
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of September 18, 2062 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of September 29, 2080
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 24, 2060 Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 24, 2082
Solar Saros 145 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 12, 2053 Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 4, 2089
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 14, 2042 Followed by: Solar eclipse of September 4, 2100
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 22, 1984 Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 25, 2158
Solar eclipses of 2069–2072 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 eclipse on May 20, 2069 occurs in the previous lunar year eclipse set.
Saros 145 This eclipse is a part of Saros series 145, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 77 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on January 4, 1639. It contains an annular eclipse on June 6, 1891; a hybrid eclipse on June 17, 1909; and total eclipses from June 29, 1927 through September 9, 2648. The series ends at member 77 as a partial eclipse on April 17, 3009. 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 was produced by member 15 at 6 seconds (by default) on June 6, 1891, and the longest duration of totality will be produced by member 50 at 7 minutes, 12 seconds on June 25, 2522. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending 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 ascending 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 Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC Google interactive map Besselian elements