An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Saturday, October 14, 2023,[1] with a magnitude of 0.952. 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. Occurring about 4.6 days after apogee (on October 10, 2023, at 4:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.[2]
Annularity was visible from parts of Oregon, California, Nevada, extreme southwestern Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas in the United States, the Yucatán Peninsula, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, eastern coastal Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Brazil. A partial eclipse was visible for most of North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America.
thumb|Animated map of the eclipse's path across North America and South America
The path of the eclipse crossed the United States beginning in Oregon, entering at Dunes City, and passing over Newport, Crater Lake National Park, Eugene (passing over University of Oregon), and Medford. After passing over the northeast corner of California (in Modoc National Forest), it traveled through Nevada (passing over Black Rock Desert, Winnemucca and Elko) and Utah (passing over Canyonlands National Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and Bluff). After that, it covered the northeast corner of Arizona (including Kayenta) and the southwest corner of Colorado (including Cortez and the Ute Mountain Reservation). In New Mexico, it passed over Farmington, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Roswell, Hobbs, and Carlsbad. Afterwards, it entered Texas, passing over Midland, Odessa, San Angelo, Kerrville, San Antonio and Corpus Christi before entering the Gulf of Mexico. This was the second annular eclipse visible from Albuquerque in 11 years, where it crossed the path of the May 2012 eclipse. It also coincided with the last day of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
A total solar eclipse crossed the United States in April 2024 (12 states) (Saros 139, Ascending Node), and a future solar eclipse will cross in August 2045 (10 states) (Saros 136, Descending Node). An annular solar eclipse will occur in June 2048 (9 states) (Saros 128, Descending Node).
In Mexico, the eclipse path passed over the Yucatán Peninsula, covering San Francisco de Campeche in Campeche, Oxkutzcab in Yucatán (coming close to Mérida), and Chetumal in Quintana Roo.
In Western Cuba, Cayman Islands, and Jamaica all saw a partial eclipse (50% and above). The greatest of the partial eclipse was seen over Western Cuba and the Cayman Islands.
In Belize, the eclipse passed over Belmopan and Belize City before leaving land again; when it entered in Honduras, it passed over La Ceiba and Catacamas, and in Nicaragua it passed over Bluefields. The point of greatest eclipse occurred near the coast of Nicaragua. After that, in Costa Rica it passed over Limon, and in Panama it passed over Santiago and came close to Panama City. Its point of greatest duration occurred just off the coast of Nata, Panama.
In South America, the eclipse entered Colombia from the Pacific Ocean and passed over Pereira, Armenia, Cali, Ibagué and Neiva. In Brazil, it passed over the states of Amazonas (covering Fonte Boa, Tefé and Coari), Pará (covering Parauapebas and Xinguara), Tocantins (Araguaína) Maranhão (Balsas), Piauí (Picos), Ceará (Juazeiro do Norte), Pernambuco (Araripina), Paraíba (João Pessoa) and Rio Grande do Norte (Natal) before ending in the Atlantic Ocean.
During the annular and total eclipses of 2023 and 2024, the GLOBE Program (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) through the GLOBE Observer app will seek to collect information on air temperature, clouds, and wind. During the 2017 eclipse, citizen scientists contributed with over 80,000 observations of air temperature and 20,000 cloud observations.
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]
| First Penumbral External Contact | 2023 October 14 at 15:04:58.2 UTC | |
| First Umbral External Contact | 2023 October 14 at 16:11:19.0 UTC | |
| First Central Line | 2023 October 14 at 16:13:35.5 UTC | |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 2023 October 14 at 16:15:52.5 UTC | |
| First Penumbral Internal Contact | 2023 October 14 at 17:35:49.8 UTC | |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 2023 October 14 at 17:37:48.0 UTC | |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 2023 October 14 at 17:56:18.3 UTC | |
| Greatest Eclipse | 2023 October 14 at 18:00:40.6 UTC | |
| Greatest Duration | 2023 October 14 at 18:14:20.8 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral Internal Contact | 2023 October 14 at 18:26:05.1 UTC | |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 2023 October 14 at 19:45:45.0 UTC | |
| Last Central Line | 2023 October 14 at 19:47:59.2 UTC | |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 2023 October 14 at 19:50:13.1 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 2023 October 14 at 20:56:26.7 UTC |
| Eclipse Magnitude | 0.95204 | |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 0.90638 | |
| Gamma | 0.37534 | |
| Sun Right Ascension | 13h18m05.4s | |
| Sun Declination | -08°14'36.7" | |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'02.0" | |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.8" | |
| Moon Right Ascension | 13h18m44.3s | |
| Moon Declination | -07°56'18.9" | |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 15'02.9" | |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°55'13.8" | |
| ΔT | 71.3 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.