A partial

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 ...

occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Thursday, October 23, 2014, 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 0.8114. 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 partial solar eclipse occurs in the polar regions of the Earth when the center of the Moon's shadow misses the Earth.

Viewing

The center of the Moon's shadow missed the Earth, passing above the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

, but a partial eclipse was visible at sunrise (October 24 local time) in far eastern

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, and before sunset (October 23) across most of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Gallery

Eclipse solar 23 de octubre del 2014 Puebla.jpg, Photograph of the eclipse projected with binoculars in Puebla, Mexico Solar_eclipse_of_October_23_2014_greatest_partiality.png, Simulated greatest partiality from

Nunavut, Canada Nunavut is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the ''Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act'', which provided this territory to ...

at sunset Solar Eclipse 085 (15429519910).jpg,

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, 21:21 UTC Partial solar eclipse October 23, 2014 San Jose.jpg,

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

, 21:26 UTC. The eclipse coincided with giant

sunspot Sunspots are temporary spots on the Sun's surface that are darker than the surrounding area. They are one of the most recognizable Solar phenomena and despite the fact that they are mostly visible in the solar photosphere they usually aff ...

region 2192, the largest seen in 24 years. Solar eclipse of October 23 2014 start of partial.jpg,

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

at 21:34 UTC DSCN2587 (15611970435).jpg,

Buchanan, Virginia Buchanan ( ) is a town in Botetourt County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,196 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Roanoke metropolitan area. It was the western terminus of the James River and Kanawha ...

, 21:44 UTC Maximum occlusion (14992410463).jpg,

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, 22:00 UTC Partial Solar Eclipse of October 23, 2014 (15609084861).jpg,

Joshua Tree National Park Joshua Tree National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, US National Park located in southeastern California, straddling north-central Riverside County, California, Riverside County and part of southern San Bernardino County, ...

, 22:14 UTC Solar Eclipse (15428734687).jpg,

Mentor, Ohio Mentor ( ) is the largest city in Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 47,450 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area. Mentor was first settled in 1797. In 1876, James A. Garfield purchased a home in ...

, 22:15 UTC Today’s solar eclipse by pocket camera. A massive cluster of sunspots is visible in the foreground, as well as a transiting Romulan craft. (14992098254).jpg,

Los Altos, California Los Altos (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Heights") is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 31,625 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Most of the city's growth ...

, 22:16 UTC COD Astronomy Club Photographs Recent Solar and Lunar Eclipses 6 (15636092986).jpg,

College of DuPage College of DuPage is a Public college, public community colleges in the United States, community college with its main campus in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. The college also owns and operates satellite campuses in Addison, Illinois, Addison, Carol St ...

, 22:28 UTC Solar eclipse with sunspot 2192 (15587837156).jpg,

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the population was 82,376 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Mountain V ...

, 22:33 UTC Partial Solar Eclipse - October 23, 2014 (15426591868).jpg,

Melbourne, Florida Melbourne ( ) is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is located southeast of Orlando, Florida, Orlando along Florida's Space Coast, named because of the region's proximity to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. The city ...

, 22:38 UTC Solar eclipse of October 23, 2014 in Denver.jpg,

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, 22:40 UTC Sunspots (15610294321).jpg,

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, 22:42 UTC Eclipse IMG 0716 (15442207687).jpg,

Cupertino, California Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose, California, San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The ...

, 22:47 UTC Solar Eclipse October 2014 windchu.jpeg,

Coralville, Iowa Coralville is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is a suburb of Iowa City and part of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 22,318 at the 2020 census. History Coralville is the location of the Edgewa ...

, 22:56 UTC Partial Solar Eclipse Sequence (15426702517).jpg, Composite image from Melbourne, Florida Solar eclipse of October 23 2014 composite Ruen4.jpg, Composite image from Minneapolis, Minnesota

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 2014

* A total lunar eclipse on April 15. * A non-central annular solar eclipse on April 29. * A total lunar eclipse on October 8. * A partial solar eclipse on October 23.

Metonic

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 4, 2011 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 11, 2018

Tzolkinex

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 11, 2007 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 4, 2021

Half-Saros

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of October 17, 2005 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of October 28, 2023

Tritos

* Preceded by:

Solar eclipse of November 23, 2003 A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Sunday, November 23 and Monday, November 24, 2003, with a magnitude of 1.0379. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or ...

* Followed by:

Solar eclipse of September 21, 2025 A partial solar eclipse will occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Sunday, September 21, 2025, with a magnitude of 0.855. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring th ...

Solar Saros 153

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 12, 1996 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 3, 2032

Inex

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 12, 1985 * Followed by:

Solar eclipse of October 3, 2043 An annular solar eclipse will occur at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Saturday, October 3, 2043, with a magnitude of 0.9497. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the ima ...

Triad

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 24, 1927 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 24, 2101

Solar eclipses of 2011–2014

Saros 153

Metonic series

Tritos series

Inex series

Notes

References

External links

*
Nontechnical information at NASA SSERVI
APOD 10/25/2014 {{Solar eclipses 2014 in science 2014 10 23 2014 10 23 October 2014