Real Time Solar System.

annular solar eclipse

Annular solar eclipse of 5 January 2038

Greatest eclipse
UTC
Moon distance
383,124km
Ecliptic latitude
0.395deg
Obscuration
94.6%

At greatest eclipse the Moon's disc spans 0.5196° against the Sun's 0.5424° — a ratio of 0.9580. Because the Moon appears smaller, it cannot cover the Sun, and a ring of sunlight is left around it. That is what makes this eclipse annular rather than total.

Where you can see it

The shadow crosses North America, South America, the North Atlantic, Africa and North Africa and the Middle East. Only along the central line does the Moon cover the Sun completely; a few hundred kilometres either side and it is a partial eclipse, which looks nothing like the same event.

-120°-60°0°60°120°60°30°0°-30°-60°Helsinki: not visibleReykjavík: not visibleHouston: not visibleDallas: not visibleDenver: not visiblePhoenix: not visibleLos Angeles: not visibleSan Francisco: not visibleSeattle: not visibleVancouver: not visibleMexico City: not visibleBuenos Aires: not visibleSantiago: not visibleCape Town: not visibleJohannesburg: not visibleDubai: not visibleMumbai: not visibleDelhi: not visibleSingapore: not visibleHong Kong: not visibleTokyo: not visibleSeoul: not visibleSydney: not visibleMelbourne: not visibleBrisbane: not visiblePerth: not visibleAuckland: not visibleGlasgow: partial, 1% coveredBelfast: partial, 1% coveredEdinburgh: partial, 2% coveredDublin: partial, 2% coveredManchester: partial, 3% coveredOslo: partial, 3% coveredBirmingham: partial, 3% coveredCardiff: partial, 4% coveredSão Paulo: partial, 5% coveredLondon: partial, 5% coveredThe Hague: partial, 6% coveredAmsterdam: partial, 6% coveredStockholm: partial, 6% coveredRotterdam: partial, 6% coveredBruges: partial, 6% coveredUtrecht: partial, 6% coveredGhent: partial, 7% coveredCopenhagen: partial, 7% coveredAntwerp: partial, 7% coveredEindhoven: partial, 7% coveredBrussels: partial, 7% coveredLeuven: partial, 7% coveredHamburg: partial, 7% coveredCharleroi: partial, 8% coveredLiège: partial, 8% coveredParis: partial, 8% coveredCologne: partial, 8% coveredLuxembourg: partial, 9% coveredBerlin: partial, 10% coveredNairobi: partial, 10% coveredLyon: partial, 13% coveredZurich: partial, 13% coveredLisbon: partial, 13% coveredPrague: partial, 13% coveredMunich: partial, 14% coveredMadrid: partial, 14% coveredWarsaw: partial, 15% coveredMilan: partial, 16% coveredMarseille: partial, 17% coveredBarcelona: partial, 17% coveredVienna: partial, 17% coveredCádiz: partial, 19% coveredMálaga: partial, 20% coveredTangier: partial, 20% coveredMontreal: partial, 24% coveredRome: partial, 25% coveredBoston: partial, 28% coveredToronto: partial, 33% coveredNew York: partial, 34% coveredWashington, D.C.: partial, 41% coveredIstanbul: partial, 43% coveredChicago: partial, 45% coveredAthens: partial, 45% coveredBenghazi: partial, 57% coveredAtlanta: partial, 64% coveredJeddah: partial, 75% coveredCairo: partial, 77% coveredMiami: partial, 83% coveredLuxor: annular, 92% covered
The brass line is the central track — where the Moon covers the Sun completely. Dots are the 86 cities on the tonight pages, shaded by how much of the Sun is covered there. Hollow dots see nothing. Coastlines are Natural Earth 1:110m.

Cities in the path

CityMaximum (UTC)Sun altitudeDuration
Luxor15:26-3°1m 21s

Partial elsewhere

Sorted by how much of the Sun disappears. Below about 40% nothing looks wrong to the naked eye — the Sun is so bright that losing a third of it changes very little. Never look without a proper solar filter regardless.

CityCoveredMaximum (UTC)Sun altitude
Miami83%12:06below horizon
Cairo77%15:23below horizon
Jeddah75%15:28below horizon
Atlanta64%12:12below horizon
Benghazi57%15:185°
Athens45%15:141°
Chicago45%12:20below horizon
Istanbul43%15:12below horizon
Washington, D.C.41%12:19below horizon
New York34%12:220°
Toronto33%12:24below horizon
Boston28%12:262°
Rome25%15:027°
Montreal24%12:29below horizon
Tangier20%14:4224°
Málaga20%14:4422°
Cádiz19%14:4023°
Vienna17%14:562°
Barcelona17%14:5014°
Marseille17%14:5211°
Milan16%14:548°
Warsaw15%14:53below horizon
Madrid14%14:4219°
Munich14%14:525°

Showing the 24 deepest of 58 listed cities.

Not visible at all from Helsinki, Reykjavík, Houston, Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Dubai, Mumbai, Delhi, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Auckland.

Greatest eclipse falls at 2.08°, -25.45° — the point where the axis passes closest to Earth's centre. The central line is computed from the Sun–Moon axis intersected with the geoid, and agrees with the reference coordinates to within a tenth of a kilometre.

Why eclipses come in seasons

The Moon's orbit is tilted about 5° to the ecliptic, so at most new and full moons it passes above or below the alignment. An eclipse needs the syzygy to coincide with the Moon being near one of the two nodes where the orbits cross. At this eclipse the Moon's ecliptic latitude was 0.395° — close enough to zero for the shadow to connect.

Times computed from VSOP87 and an ELP-derived lunar theory, validated against NOVAS and JPL Horizons to within one arcminute. See the alignment for yourself in the live simulation.