Solar eclipse of August 23, 2044

Totality will be visible in the evening of August 22 across:^[3]

• Northwestern Greenland
• In Canada:
  • Northern and western Nunavut
  • Central Northwest Territories
  • Extreme southeast Yukon
  • Eastern British Columbia, including Dawson Creek and Fernie
  • Much of Alberta including Edmonton, Calgary, and Lethbridge
  • Southwestern Saskatchewan, including Swift Current
• In the United States:
  • The northeastern half of Montana. Glacier National Park, Great Falls, Lewistown, and Forsyth will be just inside the path of totality.
  • Western North Dakota, including Williston, Minot, and Dickinson
  • Extreme northwest South Dakota

A partial solar eclipse will be visible in Siberia in the morning of August 23, and throughout western Canada and United States until sunset on August 22.

The greatest duration of the total eclipse will be observed in the Northwest Territories, approximately 60 miles (97 km) southeast of Great Bear Lake.^[4]

 
Animated path

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.^[5]

This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, 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.

• An annular solar eclipse on February 28.
• A total lunar eclipse on March 13.
• A total solar eclipse on August 23.
• A total lunar eclipse on September 7.

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 4, 2040
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 11, 2048

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 13, 2037
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 4, 2051

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of August 19, 2035
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of August 29, 2053

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 23, 2033
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 24, 2055

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 12, 2026
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of September 3, 2062

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 13, 2015
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 3, 2073

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 23, 1957
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 25, 2131

This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.^[6]

The partial solar eclipses on June 23, 2047 and December 16, 2047 occur in the next lunar year eclipse set.

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 126, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 72 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on March 10, 1179. It contains annular eclipses from June 4, 1323 through April 4, 1810; hybrid eclipses from April 14, 1828 through May 6, 1864; and total eclipses from May 17, 1882 through August 23, 2044. The series ends at member 72 as a partial eclipse on May 3, 2459. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.

The longest duration of annularity was produced by member 11 at 6 minutes, 30 seconds on June 26, 1359, and the longest duration of totality was produced by member 45 at 2 minutes, 36 seconds on July 10, 1972. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.^[7]

The metonic series repeats eclipses every 19 years (6939.69 days), lasting about 5 cycles. Eclipses occur in nearly the same calendar date. In addition, the octon subseries repeats 1/5 of that or every 3.8 years (1387.94 days). All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's descending node.

This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

This eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

• http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEplot/SEplot2001/SE2044Aug23T.GIF