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The first eclipse of the year will be an annular solar eclipse. The eclipse will begin at 13:56 on February 17 and end at 18:27.
This was reported by the Shamakhi Astrophysical Observatory.
This eclipse, with a maximum phase at 16:12, will be mainly observed over Antarctica. Since the type of eclipse depends on the observer’s position, it will be visible in Argentina, Madagascar, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Seychelles, Mozambique, Chile, Botswana, Malawi, Zambia, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, Mauritius, Reunion, Lesotho, and a number of other countries.
Eclipses are observed when the Earth or Moon passes in front of the Sun, partially or completely blocking its light. There is only a 5°09′ difference between the plane of the Earth’s orbit and the plane of the Moon’s orbit. An eclipse occurs when the new Moon or full Moon phases coincide with the nodes of the orbit. An additional condition for a solar eclipse is that the angular dimensions of the Moon and Sun disks appearing in the sky are almost the same.
During a solar eclipse, the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, preventing the Sun’s rays from reaching the Earth. As a result, a shadow of the Moon is formed in certain parts of the Earth’s surface, and an eclipse is observed. A solar eclipse only occurs during the new Moon phase.
Depending on the relative position of the Moon, Earth, and Sun, solar eclipses are divided into several types: total, annular, partial, and hybrid. The maximum duration of the total phase of a solar eclipse is approximately 7 minutes. This limitation is due to the relatively small area covered by the Moon’s shadow on the Earth’s surface.
As the observer moves from the shadow to the penumbra, the percentage of the Sun’s disk covered by the Moon decreases, and instead of a total eclipse, a partial solar eclipse is observed. The percentage of coverage in a partial eclipse also depends on the geographical location of the observation site.
Note that this eclipse will not be observed from Azerbaijan. The next eclipse will be a total lunar eclipse on March 3.