Sky ArchiveTonight

Partial solar eclipse on February 15

Image at top: Partial solar eclipse from Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, on October 23, 2014, via Doug Waters.

The new moon will take a bite out of the solar disk to stage a partial eclipse of the sun on February 15, 2018. This eclipse is visible from southern South America (Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, far-southern Brazil and far-southern Paraguay), Antarctica, and the far-southern extremities of the South Pacific and South Atlantic oceans. If you’re in a position to watch this eclipse, remember to use proper eye protection.

On a worldwide scale, the partial eclipse of the sun starts at sunrise over the South Pacific Ocean, and then the moon’s penumbral shadow moves eastward across the globe, to finally end at sunset nearly four hours later over the South Atlantic Ocean.

Partial solar eclipse from Austin, Texas
Flickr user Mrlaugh caught this partial solar eclipse near sunset May 20, 2012, from Austin, Texas.

The animation and map below help illustrate the February 15 eclipse path. In the animation, every place within the moving gray shadow can see varying degrees of a partial solar eclipse.

The animation helps illustrate this eclipse, whereby every place within the gray shadow can see varying degrees of a partial solar eclipse.

From South America, this partial solar eclipse happens in the late afternoon on February 15, placing the sun low in the west at eclipse time. The farther south you live in South America, the deeper the partial solar eclipse.

Map of February 15, 2018, partial solar eclipse via EclipseWise.com.

You can find out local standard times of the eclipse for many localities at EclipseWise.com (or, if applicable, the local summer times) at TimeandDate.com.

For your convenience, we list the local times of the eclipse – plus eclipse magnitude (percentage of the sun’s diameter covered over by the moon) and eclipse obscuration (percentage of solar disk eclipsed by the moon) – for a few localities below:

Eclipse times for South America (February 15, 2018)

Santiago, Chile
Partial eclipse begins: 18:49 (6:49 p.m.) local summer time
Maximum (greatest) eclipse: 19:16 (7:16 p.m.) local summer time
Partial eclipse ends: 19:42 (7:42 p.m.) local summer time
Eclipse magnitude: 16.5%
Eclipse obscuration: 7.7%

Buenos Aires, Argentina
Partial eclipse begins: 18:37 (6:37 p.m.) local standard time
Maximum (greatest) eclipse: 19:13 (7:13 p.m.) local standard time
Partial eclipse ends: 19:47 (7:47 p.m.) local standard time
Eclipse magnitude: 7.6%
Eclipse obscuration: 2.4%

Stanley, Falkland Islands
Partial eclipse begins: 17:46 (5:46 p.m.) local summer time
Maximum (greatest eclipse): 18:42 (6:42 p.m.) local summer time
Partial eclipse ends: 19:34 (7:34 p.m.) local summer time
Eclipse magnitude: 39.8%
Eclipse obscuration: 27.7%

Source: EclipseWise.com and TimeandDate.com

Map showing varying degrees of eclipse obscuration via Fernado de Gorocica.

Click on this Google map to find out the eclipse times in Universal Time. Remember, you must convert Universal Time to your local time. Here’s how.

What causes a solar eclipse?

Although the moon can only eclipse the sun at new moon, the new moon more often than not swings to the north or south of the solar disk – meaning no solar eclipse.

In 2018, for instance, we have 12 new moons but only three solar eclipses (February 15, July 13 and August 11), all of which are partial. Last month, on January 17, the new moon passed north of the sun; and next month, on March 17, the new moon will swing south of the sun.

This month, on February 15, 2018, the new moon doesn’t line up well enough with the sun to give us a total solar eclipse. The moon clips the southern part of the solar disk, so it’s only a partial solar eclipse for the far southern regions in the Southern Hemisphere.

The small black dot shows where it’s a total solar eclipse on Earth. The larger gray circle surrounding this small dot depicts where a partial solar eclipse is taking place. On February 15, 2018, the umbra (dark shadow) misses Earth enitirely, so it’s only a partial solar eclipse.

Bottom line: Information – times, maps and more – for the partial solar eclipse of February 15, 2018.

Posted 
February 15, 2018
 in 
Sky Archive

Like what you read?
Subscribe and receive daily news delivered to your inbox.

Your email address will only be used for EarthSky content. Privacy Policy
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

More from 

Bruce McClure

View All