Wednesday, Oct. 2, Annular Eclipse Is Second of Two 2024 Solar Eclipses

Summary: The Wednesday, Oct. 2, annular solar eclipse is the second of two 2024 solar eclipses and the fourth and last of the year's lineup of four eclipses.

animation of path of annular solar eclipse Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024: A.T. Sinclair/NASA, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Wednesday, Oct. 2, annular solar eclipse is the second of two solar eclipses in 2024 and the fourth and last of the year's queue of four eclipses, which opened with a lunar eclipse, followed by alternating solar and lunar eclipses.

The moon's passage between the Earth and the sun completely or incompletely obscures the solar disk, as viewed from Earth. For example, a total solar eclipse ensues from complete obscuration of the solar disk during the casting of the innermost, darkest umbral (Latin: umbra, "shadow") portion of the lunar shadow onto Earth's surface. The partial blocking of the solar disk from the view of Earthlings and the casting of the outermost, lightest penumbral (Latin: penumbra, from paene, “almost," + umbra, “shadow”) portion of the lunar shadow onto Earth's surface occasion a partial solar eclipse. Incomplete coverage rimmed by a bright ring of the solar disk and the casting of the lighter antumbral (Latin: antumbra, from ante, "before," + umbra, "shadow") extension of the lunar shadow's umbral portion onto Earth's surface create an annular (Latin: anularis, “ring-shaped”) solar eclipse.

October's annular solar eclipse opens as a partial solar eclipse and then expands into an annular solar eclipse. The eclipse completes annularity and subsequently closes with the end of partiality.

The October event's initial partial eclipse commences with first external contact of the edge of the shadow's penumbra (Latin: penumbra, from paene, “almost," + umbra, “shadow”), that is, the lunar shadow's outer, lighter portion, with Earth's surface. In a partial solar eclipse, the moon's interposition between Earth and the sun occasions only partial coverage of the solar disk by the moon. The partial solar eclipse begins Wednesday, Oct. 2, at 15:42:56.4 Universal Time UT1, according to eclipse predictions by retired NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center) astrophysicist Fred Espenak on his EclipseWise website. Universal Time UT1 equates to 5:42 a.m. Hawaii Standard Time HST; 10:42 a.m. Easter Island Summer Time EASST; and 12:42 p.m. Argentina Time ART, Chile Summer Time CLST and Falkland Islands Summer Time FKST.

The penumbral shadow first touches Earth's surface at 16 degrees 02.5 minutes north latitude, 147 degrees 19.0 minutes west longitude. This first external penumbral contact point occurs in the wide expanses of the North Pacific Ocean, distantly southeast of the Hawaiian Archipelago's (Hawaiian: Na Moku o Hawai‘i) largest and easternmost island, Hawaii (Hawaiian: Hawaiʻi), known as the Big Island.

The first external contact with the antumbra initiates October's annular solar eclipse. This first fall of the edge of the antumbra onto Earth's surface is slated for 16:50:34.2 UT1 (6:50 a.m. HST; 11:50 a.m. EASST; 1:50 p.m. ART, CLST, FKST).

The first external antumbral contact alights at 08 degrees 53.2 minutes north latitude, 164 degrees 44.7 minutes west longitude. This point is sited in the North Pacific Ocean, distantly southwest of Hawai'i (the Big Island), southeast of Johnston Atoll, an unincorporated U.S. territory grouped in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument and in the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands.

The first internal antumbral contact registers at 16:56:40.8 UT1 (6:56 a.m. HST; 11:56 a.m. EASST; 1:56 p.m. ART, CLST, FKST). The antumbral shadow falls on Earth's surface at 07 degrees 50.9 minutes north latitude, 166 degrees 20.7 minutes west longitude. This point in the North Pacific Ocean nears the first external antumbral contact point.

visibility regions of Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, partial solar eclipse and path of annularity of annular solar eclipse; courtesy of Fred Espenak, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov): Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Greatest eclipse designates the instant of the closest passage of the axis of the lunar shadow cone to Earth's center. The October solar event attains its greatest eclipse at 18:45:01.6 UT1 (8:45 a.m. HST; 1:45 p.m. EASST; 3:45 p.m. ART, CLST, FKST). Greatest eclipse takes place at 21 degrees 57.2 minutes south latitude, 114 degrees 30.5 minutes west longitude. This point in the South Pacific Ocean lies northwest of Easter Island (Spanish: Isla de Pascua; Rapa Nui: Rapa Nui, "Big Rapa"), a Special Territory, Province and Commune of Chile (Republic of Chile; Spanish: República de Chile) at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in the West and East water hemisphere's region of Oceania.

The last internal penumbral contact occurs at 19:13:50.4 UT1 (9:13 a.m. HST; 2:13 p.m. EASST; 4:13 p.m. ART, CLST, FKST). This last fall of the entire penumbral shadow is sited at 83 degrees 02.8 minutes south latitude, 013 degrees 42.3 minutes east longitude, a point on Antarctica's East Antarctic Ice Shield.

The annular portion of October's solar eclipse records its last internal antumbral contact at 20:33:07.8 UT1 (10:33 a.m. HST; 3:33 p.m. EASST; 5:33 p.m. ART, CLST, FKST). This last fall of the entire penumbral shadow connects with Earth's surface in the South Atlantic Ocean at 50 degrees 00.5 minutes south latitude, 036 degrees 13.4 minutes west longitude. This last internal antumbral contact is located north of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI).

The annular eclipse makes its last external contact at 20:39:15.3 UTI (10:39 a.m. HST; 3:39 p.m. EASST; 5:39 p.m. ART, CLST, FKST). This last fall of the edge of the antumbral shadow taps Earth's surface at 48 degrees 58.5 minutes south latitude, 037 degrees 55.6 minutes west longitude. This point in the South Atlantic Ocean is positioned north of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, slightly northwest of the last internal antumbral contact point.

The annular eclipse's last external contact precedes the partial eclipse's last external contact. The end of the partial solar eclipse closes October's solar event. The partial eclipse achieves its last external contact at 21:46:58.1 UT1 (11:46 a.m. HST; 4:46 p.m. EASST; 6:46 p.m. ART, CLST, FKST). This last fall of the edge of the penumbral shadow contacts the Earth's surface at 41 degrees 51.2 minutes south latitude, 055 degrees 51.9 minutes west longitude. This last external penumbral contact lies east of the Province of Río Negro (Spanish: Provincia de Río Negro) in the northern Patagonia region in south central Argentina (Argentine Republic; Spanish: (Spanish: República Argentina) and distantly northeast of East Falkland Island, the largest island in the 778-island South Atlantic archipelago of the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas).

October's solar eclipse closes the 2024 lineup of four eclipses as the second of the year's two solar eclipses and as the year's fourth and last eclipse. A penumbral lunar eclipse on Monday, March 25, had opened the year's lineup of two solar and two lunar eclipses. A total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, had numbered as the second of the year's four eclipses and as the first of the year's two solar eclipses. A partial lunar eclipse on Wednesday, Sep. 18, which succeeded April's solar eclipse, sequenced as the year's third eclipse and numbered as the second and last of the year's two lunar eclipses.

Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, annular solar eclipse details; Eclipse predictions by Espenak, NASA's GSFC: Permission freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by acknowledgment, via NASA Eclipse Web Site

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

animation of path of annular solar eclipse Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024: A.T. Sinclair/NASA, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SE2024Oct02A.gif

visibility regions of Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, partial solar eclipse and path of annularity of annular solar eclipse; courtesy of Fred Espenak, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov): Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SE2024Oct02A.png

Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, annular solar eclipse details; Eclipse predictions by Espenak, NASA's GSFC: Permission freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by acknowledgment, via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEplot/SEplot2001/SE2024Apr08T.GIF

For further information:

Espenak, Fred. "Annular Solar Eclipse of 2024 Oct 02." NASA Eclipse Web Site > Solar Eclipses > Recent and Upcoming Eclipses > Observer's Handbook -- Eclipses During the Year (a detailed look at every eclipse in a given year): 2024 > Eclipses During 2024.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipsewise.com/oh/ec2024.html

Espenak, Fred. "Annular Solar Eclipse of 2024 Oct 02." NASA Eclipse Web Site > Eclipses of the Sun > Decade Solar Eclipse Tables: 2021-2030 > Solar Eclipses: 2021-2030 > 2024 Oct 02.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEplot/SEplot2001/SE2024Oct02A.GIF

Espenak, Fred. "Explanation of Greatest Eclipse and Greatest Duration." EclipseWise > Observer's Handbook -- Eclipses During the Year (a detailed look at every eclipse in a given year): 2024 > Eclipses During 2024 > Annular Solar Eclipse 2024 Oct 02 > Solar Eclipse Prime Page: Annular Solar Eclipse of 2024 Oct 02 > Central Line Extremes and Duration: Annular Solar Eclipse of 2024 Oct 02 > Explanation of Greatest Eclipse and Greatest Duration.
Available via EclipseWise @ https://eclipsewise.com/solar/SEhelp/SEgreatest.html

Espenak, Fred. "Explanation of Penumbral Contacts and Extremes for Solar Eclipses." EclipseWise > Observer's Handbook -- Eclipses During the Year (a detailed look at every eclipse in a given year): 2024 > Eclipses During 2024 > Annular Solar Eclipse 2024 Oct 02 > Solar Eclipse Prime Page: Annular Solar Eclipse of 2024 Oct 02 > Penumbral Shadow Contacts and Extremes: Annular Solar Eclipse of 2024 Oct 02 > Explanation of Penumbral Shadow Contacts and Extremes Tables.
Available via EclipseWise @ https://eclipsewise.com/solar/SEhelp/SEpenumbrakey.html

Espenak, Fred. "Explanation of Solar Eclipse Data Tables." EclipseWise > Observer's Handbook -- Eclipses During the Year (a detailed look at every eclipse in a given year): 2024 > Eclipses During 2024 > Annular Solar Eclipse 2024 Oct 02 > Solar Eclipse Prime Page: Annular Solar Eclipse of 2024 Oct 02 > Eclipse Data: Annular Solar Eclipse of 2024 Oct 02 > Explanation of Solar Eclipse Data Tables.
Available via EclipseWise @ https://eclipsewise.com/solar/SEhelp/SEdatakey.html

Espenak, Fred. "Explanation of Umbral Contacts and Extremes for Solar Eclipses." EclipseWise > Observer's Handbook -- Eclipses During the Year (a detailed look at every eclipse in a given year): 2024 > Eclipses During 2024 > Annular Solar Eclipse 2024 Oct 02 > Solar Eclipse Prime Page: Annular Solar Eclipse of 2024 Oct 02 > Umbral Shadow Contacts and Extremes: Annular Solar Eclipse of 2024 Oct 02 > Explanation of Umbral Shadow Contacts and Extremes Tables.
Available via EclipseWise @ https://eclipsewise.com/solar/SEhelp/SEumbrakey.html

Espenak, Fred. "Figure 6 Annular Solar Eclipse of 2024 Oct 02." NASA Eclipse Web Site > Solar Eclipses > Recent and Upcoming Eclipses > Observer's Handbook -- Eclipses During the Year (a detailed look at every eclipse in a given year): 2024 > Eclipses During 2024 > Annular Solar Eclipse of 2024 Oct 02: Figure 6.
Available via EclipseWise @ https://eclipsewise.com/oh/oh-figures/ec2024-Fig06.pdf

Espenak, Fred. "Glossary of Solar Eclipse Terms." NASA Eclipse Web Site.
Available via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/SEglossary.html

Espenak, Fred. "Greatest Eclipse and Greatest Duration." EclipseWise > Observer's Handbook -- Eclipses During the Year (a detailed look at every eclipse in a given year): 2024 > Eclipses During 2024 > Annular Solar Eclipse 2024 Oct 02 > Solar Eclipse Prime Page: Annular Solar Eclipse of 2024 Oct 02 > Central Line Extremes and Duration: Annular Solar Eclipse of 2024 Oct 02.
Available via EclipseWise @ https://eclipsewise.com/solar/SEprime/2001-2100/SE2024Oct02Aprime.html

Espenak, Fred. "Penumbral Shadow Contacts and Extremes: Annular Solar Eclipse of 2024 Oct 02." EclipseWise > Observer's Handbook -- Eclipses During the Year (a detailed look at every eclipse in a given year): 2024 > Eclipses During 2024 > Annular Solar Eclipse 2024 Oct 02 > Solar Eclipse Prime Page: Annular Solar Eclipse of 2024 Oct 02.
Available via EclipseWise @ https://eclipsewise.com/solar/SEprime/2001-2100/SE2024Oct02Aprime.html

Espenak, Fred. "Solar Eclipse Prime Page: Annular Solar Eclipse of 2024 Oct 02." EclipseWise > Observer's Handbook -- Eclipses During the Year (a detailed look at every eclipse in a given year): 2024 > Eclipses During 2024 > Annular Solar Eclipse 2024 Oct 02.
Available via EclipseWise @ https://eclipsewise.com/solar/SEprime/2001-2100/SE2024Oct02Aprime.html

Espenak, Fred. "Umbral Shadow Contacts and Extremes: Annular Solar Eclipse of 2024 Oct 02." EclipseWise > Observer's Handbook -- Eclipses During the Year (a detailed look at every eclipse in a given year): 2024 > Eclipses During 2024 > Annular Solar Eclipse 2024 Oct 02 > Solar Eclipse Prime Page: Annular Solar Eclipse of 2024 Oct 02.
Available via EclipseWise @ https://eclipsewise.com/solar/SEprime/2001-2100/SE2024Oct02Aprime.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Annular Solar Eclipse Dec. 26 Is Third of Three 2019 Solar Eclipses." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2019.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/12/annular-solar-eclipse-dec-26-is-third.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Dec. 2, 1937, Annular Eclipse Was Second of Two 1937 Solar Eclipses." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2021.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/12/dec-2-1937-annular-eclipse-was-second.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Dec. 3, 1918, Annular Eclipse Was Second of Two 1918 Solar Eclipses." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/12/dec-3-1918-annular-eclipse-was-second.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "February 2017 Annular Solar Eclipse Favors South Atlantic Ocean." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/02/february-2017-annular-solar-eclipse.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "February 2017 New Moon Blocks the Sun in Ring of Fire Annular Eclipse." Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/02/february-2017-new-moon-blocks-sun-in.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "First 2012 Solar Eclipse Is Annular Solar Eclipse Sunday, May 20." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 16, 2012.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/05/first-2012-solar-eclipse-is-annular.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "First 2013 Solar Eclipse Is Annular Solar Eclipse Friday, May 10." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 8, 2013.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/05/first-2013-solar-eclipse-is-annular.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "First 2014 Solar Eclipse Is Annular Solar Eclipse Tuesday, April 29." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, April 23, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/04/first-2014-solar-eclipse-is-annular.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Sept. 1, 2016, Annular Eclipse Favors Central Africa and Madagascar." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/08/sept-1-2016-annular-eclipse-favors.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Sunday, June 21, Annular Solar Eclipse Is First 2020 Solar Eclipse." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, June 10, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/sunday-june-21-annular-solar-eclipse-is.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Thursday, June 10, Annular Solar Eclipse Is First 2021 Solar Eclipse." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, June 2, 2021.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/06/thursday-june-10-annular-solar-eclipse.html

Time and Date. "October 2, 2024 Annular Solar Eclipse." Time and Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available via Time and Date @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/2024-october-2