Solar eclipse of February 7, 2008
| Annular eclipse | |
Partial from Christchurch, New Zealand | |
| Gamma | −0.957 |
|---|---|
| Magnitude | 0.965 |
| Maximum eclipse | |
| Duration | 132 s (2 min 12 s) |
| Coordinates | 67°36′S 150°30′W / 67.6°S 150.5°W |
| Max. width of band | 444 km (276 mi) |
| Times (UTC) | |
| Greatest eclipse | 3:56:10 |
| References | |
| Saros | 121 (60 of 71) |
| Catalog # (SE5000) | 9525 |
An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Thursday, February 7, 2008, with a magnitude of 0.965. 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 was near the average diameter because it occurred 7 days after apogee (on January 31, 2008, at 4:25 UTC) and 6.9 days before perigee (on February 14, 2008, at 1:00 UTC).
The moon's apparent diameter was 1 arcminute, 17.8 arcseconds (77.8 arcseconds) smaller than the August 1, 2008 total solar eclipse.