A partial solar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Friday, July 1, 2011,[1] [2] [3] with a magnitude of 0.0971.[4] 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 partial solar eclipse occurs in the polar regions of the Earth when the center of the Moon's shadow misses the Earth.
This eclipse was the third of four partial solar eclipses in 2011, with the others occurring on January 4, June 1 and November 25.
This is the first solar eclipse of Saros series 156, only visible as a partial solar eclipse in a small area south of South Africa and north of Antarctica. It is the first new saros series to begin since saros 155 began with the partial solar eclipse of June 17, 1928.[5]
Animated path
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.[6]
| First Penumbral External Contact | 2011 July 01 at 07:54:48.7 UTC | |
| Greatest Eclipse | 2011 July 01 at 08:39:30.3 UTC | |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 2011 July 01 at 08:55:01.7 UTC | |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 2011 July 01 at 09:06:38.7 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 2011 July 01 at 09:23:55.6 UTC |
| Eclipse Magnitude | 0.09710 | |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 0.03573 | |
| Gamma | −1.49171 | |
| Sun Right Ascension | 06h40m01.7s | |
| Sun Declination | +23°07'05.9" | |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 15'43.9" | |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.6" | |
| Moon Right Ascension | 06h39m02.0s | |
| Moon Declination | +21°42'47.5" | |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 15'38.6" | |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°57'24.6" | |
| ΔT | 66.4 s |
See also: Eclipse cycle. 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. The first and last eclipse in this sequence is separated by one synodic month.
