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Solar eclipse of February 17, 2026

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Solar eclipse of February 17, 2026
Map
Type of eclipse
NatureAnnular
Gamma−0.9743
Magnitude0.963
Maximum eclipse
Duration140 s (2 min 20 s)
Coordinates64°42′S 86°48′E / 64.7°S 86.8°E / -64.7; 86.8
Max. width of band616 km (383 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse12:13:06
References
Saros121 (61 of 71)
Catalog # (SE5000)9565

An annular solar eclipse will occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Tuesday, February 17, 2026,[1] with a magnitude of 0.963. 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. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide. The Moon's apparent diameter will be near the average diameter because it will occur 6.8 days after apogee (on February 10, 2026, at 16:50 UTC) and 7.5 days before perigee (on February 24, 2026, at 23:15 UTC).[2]

Annularity will be visible over Antarctica only. However, the partial eclipse will be visible from the very southern tip of Argentina and Chile, as well in much of Southern Africa (such as in South Africa, Mozambique, and Madagascar).

Images

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Animated path

Eclipse details

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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.[3]

February 17, 2026 Solar Eclipse Times
Event Time (UTC)
First Penumbral External Contact 2026 February 17 at 09:57:35.9 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction 2026 February 17 at 11:19:59.0 UTC
First Umbral External Contact 2026 February 17 at 11:44:00.0 UTC
First Central Line 2026 February 17 at 11:49:27.4 UTC
Greatest Duration 2026 February 17 at 11:49:27.4 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact 2026 February 17 at 11:56:29.1 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction 2026 February 17 at 12:02:18.1 UTC
Greatest Eclipse 2026 February 17 at 12:13:05.8 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact 2026 February 17 at 12:30:19.1 UTC
Last Central Line 2026 February 17 at 12:37:17.4 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact 2026 February 17 at 12:42:41.3 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact 2026 February 17 at 14:28:51.0 UTC
February 17, 2026 Solar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter Value
Eclipse Magnitude 0.96300
Eclipse Obscuration 0.92736
Gamma −0.97427
Sun Right Ascension 22h03m54.3s
Sun Declination -11°52'42.3"
Sun Semi-Diameter 16'11.1"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9"
Moon Right Ascension 22h05m34.0s
Moon Declination -12°42'29.5"
Moon Semi-Diameter 15'32.4"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°57'02.0"
ΔT 72.2 s

Eclipse season

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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.

Eclipse season of February–March 2026
February 17
Ascending node (new moon)
March 3
Descending node (full moon)
Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 121
Total lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 133
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Eclipses in 2026

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Metonic

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Tzolkinex

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Half-Saros

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Tritos

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Solar Saros 121

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Inex

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Triad

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Solar eclipses of 2026–2029

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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.[4]

The partial solar eclipses on June 12, 2029 and December 5, 2029 occur in the next lunar year eclipse set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 2026 to 2029
Ascending node   Descending node
Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma
121 February 17, 2026

Annular
−0.97427 126 August 12, 2026

Total
0.89774
131 February 6, 2027

Annular
−0.29515 136 August 2, 2027

Total
0.14209
141 January 26, 2028

Annular
0.39014 146 July 22, 2028

Total
−0.60557
151 January 14, 2029

Partial
1.05532 156 July 11, 2029

Partial
−1.41908

Saros 121

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This eclipse is a part of Saros series 121, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on April 25, 944 AD. It contains total eclipses from July 10, 1070 through October 9, 1809; hybrid eclipses on October 20, 1827 and October 30, 1845; and annular eclipses from November 11, 1863 through February 28, 2044. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on June 7, 2206. 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 totality was produced by member 39 at 6 minutes, 20 seconds on June 21, 1629, and the longest duration of annularity will be produced by member 62 at 2 minutes, 27 seconds on February 28, 2044. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.[5]

Series members 49–70 occur between 1801 and 2200:
49 50 51

October 9, 1809

October 20, 1827

October 30, 1845
52 53 54

November 11, 1863

November 21, 1881

December 3, 1899
55 56 57

December 14, 1917

December 25, 1935

January 5, 1954
58 59 60

January 16, 1972

January 26, 1990

February 7, 2008
61 62 63

February 17, 2026

February 28, 2044

March 11, 2062
64 65 66

March 21, 2080

April 1, 2098

April 13, 2116
67 68 69

April 24, 2134

May 4, 2152

May 16, 2170
70

May 26, 2188

Metonic series

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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.

21 eclipse events between July 13, 2018 and July 12, 2094
July 12–13 April 30–May 1 February 16–17 December 5–6 September 22–23
117 119 121 123 125

July 13, 2018

April 30, 2022

February 17, 2026

December 5, 2029

September 23, 2033
127 129 131 133 135

July 13, 2037

April 30, 2041

February 16, 2045

December 5, 2048

September 22, 2052
137 139 141 143 145

July 12, 2056

April 30, 2060

February 17, 2064

December 6, 2067

September 23, 2071
147 149 151 153 155

July 13, 2075

May 1, 2079

February 16, 2083

December 6, 2086

September 23, 2090
157

July 12, 2094

Tritos series

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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.

The partial solar eclipses on March 27, 1884 (part of Saros 108) and December 24, 1916 (part of Saros 111) are also a part of this series but are not included in the table below.

Series members between 1971 and 2200

July 22, 1971
(Saros 116)

June 21, 1982
(Saros 117)

May 21, 1993
(Saros 118)

April 19, 2004
(Saros 119)

March 20, 2015
(Saros 120)

February 17, 2026
(Saros 121)

January 16, 2037
(Saros 122)

December 16, 2047
(Saros 123)

November 16, 2058
(Saros 124)

October 15, 2069
(Saros 125)

September 13, 2080
(Saros 126)

August 15, 2091
(Saros 127)

July 15, 2102
(Saros 128)

June 13, 2113
(Saros 129)

May 14, 2124
(Saros 130)

April 13, 2135
(Saros 131)

March 12, 2146
(Saros 132)

February 9, 2157
(Saros 133)

January 10, 2168
(Saros 134)

December 9, 2178
(Saros 135)

November 8, 2189
(Saros 136)

October 9, 2200
(Saros 137)

Inex series

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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.

Series members between 1801 and 2200

July 8, 1823
(Saros 114)

June 17, 1852
(Saros 115)

May 27, 1881
(Saros 116)

May 9, 1910
(Saros 117)

April 19, 1939
(Saros 118)

March 28, 1968
(Saros 119)

March 9, 1997
(Saros 120)

February 17, 2026
(Saros 121)

January 27, 2055
(Saros 122)

January 7, 2084
(Saros 123)

December 19, 2112
(Saros 124)

November 28, 2141
(Saros 125)

November 8, 2170
(Saros 126)

October 19, 2199
(Saros 127)

References

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  1. ^ "February 17, 2026 Annular Solar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  3. ^ "Annular Solar Eclipse of 2026 Feb 17". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  4. ^ van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  5. ^ "NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 121". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.
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