A total

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...

will occur at the Moon's

ascending node An orbital node is either of the two points where an orbit intersects a plane of reference to which it is inclined. A non-inclined orbit, which is contained in the reference plane, has no nodes. Planes of reference Common planes of referenc ...

of orbit on Saturday, July 24, 2055, with a

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

of 1.0359. A

occurs when the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

passes between

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

and the

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 2.9 days before

perigee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values. Apsides perta ...

(on July 27, 2055, at 6:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter will be larger. The path of totality will be visible from parts of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. A partial solar eclipse will also be visible for parts of southern and

central Africa Central Africa (French language, French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries accordin ...

Eclipse details

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.

Eclipse season

This eclipse is part of an

eclipse season An eclipse season is a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Eclipse seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of the Orbit of the Moon, Moon's orbital plane (orbital inclination, tilted five degrees to the ecliptic, Earth ...

, 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 A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term , meaning "" (or "fourteen days", since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights). Astronomy and tides In astronomy, a ''lunar fortnight'' is hal ...

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 2055

* A partial solar eclipse on January 27. * A total lunar eclipse on February 11. * A total solar eclipse on July 24. * A partial lunar eclipse on August 7.

Metonic

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 4, 2051 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 11, 2059

Tzolkinex

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 11, 2048 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of September 3, 2062

Half-Saros

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of July 18, 2046 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of July 28, 2064

Tritos

* Preceded by:

Solar eclipse of August 23, 2044 A total solar eclipse will occur at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Monday, August 22 and Tuesday, August 23, 2044, with a magnitude of 1.0364. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or p ...

* Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 22, 2066

Solar Saros 127

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 13, 2037 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 3, 2073

Inex

* Preceded by:

Solar eclipse of August 12, 2026 A total solar eclipse will occur at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Wednesday, 12 August 2026, with a magnitude of 1.0386. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image ...

* Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 3, 2084

Triad

* Preceded by:

Solar eclipse of September 22, 1968 A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Sunday, September 22, 1968, with a magnitude of 1.0099. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image o ...

* Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 25, 2142

Solar eclipses of 2054–2058

Saros 127

Metonic series

Tritos series

Inex series

References

External links

NASA graphics
{{Solar eclipses 2055 07 24 2055 in science 2055 07 24 2055 07 24