The Total Solar Eclipse of 8 April 2024.
The narrow blue region is the Path of Totality of the eclipse (also known as the Umbra).
The Moon's umbra (shadow) travels from West to East (left to right on the map).
At the point of Greatest Eclipse (red star in the centre of the path), Totality is at local midday. The duration of Totality at greatest eclipse is 4 minute 28 seconds. This occured over Mexico close to the small vilage of Nazas. On either side of that point, the duration of Totality is less. To the West (left) of the point of greatest eclipse, the eclipse is total before local noon; East (right) of this point, Totality is seen after local noon. The umbra is generally widest around the time of greatest eclipse as the Earth is bulging out towards the Moon in that region. This brings the Earth's surface closer to the Moon.
The area on either side of the path of Totality (in pale blue) is called the Penumbra and provides a partial eclipse, the magnitude decreasing with distance from the path of Totality. Beyond the partial region no eclipse is visible.
The Sub-solar Point is the location where the Sun is overhead at the time of greatest eclipse; in early April this point is North of the equator. The parts in red on either end of the umbra are the regions where the eclipse occurs during sunrise (left) or sunset (right).
The path of Totality began in the Pacific Ocean south of the Equator at sunrise. It remained in the ocean turning North East until it passed over the coast of Mexico. It moved North East over the centre of the country and entered the United States of America. The path of Totality passed over parts of Canada (including Niagara Falls) and left North America into the Atlantic Ocean. The umbra left the Earth in the mid Atlantic.
The umbra took 3 hours 16 minutes to traverse its entire path.
27% of all solar eclipses are total.
The Path of Totality (the Moon's Umbra) is the shaded area crossing North America, passing over Mexico, United States of America and Canada from bottom left to top right.
The Moon's shadow took 1 hour 40 minutes to move across North America crossing three countries.
The cities of Mazatlan (on the Pacific coast), Durango, Torreon, Monclava and Piedras Negras (on the Mexico - USA border) are all within the Path of Totality.
The Moon's shadow (the Umbra) took 25 minutes to move across Mexico.
The black spot just inland from the coast of Mexico is where the maximum duration (Greatest Eclipse) occurs.
The Centre Line of the Path of Totality is shown in blue in the region of Mazatlan on the Pacific Coast of Mexico.
The Path Width was 199km in this region and the duration of Totality at the coast on the centre line was 4m 27s, just one second short of the maximum duration of this eclipse.
The large urban area of Mazatlan is the closest city to the Centre Line of the eclipse.
Stone Island (actually a peninsula to the East of the Old City) consisted of a long beach. The closest part of the beach to the Centre Line (Playa Estrella, South of the Airport) was 7km from the Centre Line. Totality here was 4m 26s.
| Date | 8 April 2024 |
| Location | Estrella Beach at La Paloma Sabores de Mexico Restaurant, Stone Island, Mazatlan |
| Latitude | 23° 06' 29" N |
| Longitude | 106° 18' 18" W |
| Altitude | 2 m |
| Distance from Centre Line | 7.2 km |
| 1st Contact (UT - 7) | 09:51 |
| 2nd Contact | 11:07:20 |
| 3rd Contact | 11:11:46 |
| 4th Contact | 12:32 |
| Duration of Totality | 4m 26s |
| Path Width | 199 km |
| Direction of Shadow Approach | ~ 220° |
| Umbral Velocity | 0.698 km/s |
| Solar Altitude | 69° |
| Solar Azimuth | 136° |
| Position Angle: 2nd Contact | 041° |
| Position Angle: 3rd Contact | 229° |
| Gamma | 0.3432 |
| Diameter Ratio | 1.057 |
| Saros Details | 139 (30 / 71) 1262 years |
The Location, Latitude, Longitude and Altitude (in metres) are for the observation site at Estrella Beach near Mazatlan.
The Distance from Centre Line was established from Google Interactive maps provided by Xavier Jubier.
First Contact is the beginning of the eclipse when the first "bite" appears on the Sun's disk; it is the beginning of the partial phase. Second Contact is the beginning of totality. Third Contact is the end of totality. Fourth Contact is the end of the partial eclipse. The times are in local time which, for this eclipse, is UT (GMT) - 7.
Some locally made t-shirts had the wrong start time for the eclipse bcause they were made before Sinaloa state decided to abolish Daylight Saving Time.
The Duration of the eclipse at the observation site was 4 minutes 26 seconds. This was 1s shorter than the duration at the centre line further South along the coast.
The Path Width is the width of the path of totality. The umbra itself was almost circular in shape. The umbra at the observation site had a path width of 199km.
The Direction of the Shadow indicates that the umbra approached the observation site from South of West.
The Umbral Velocity is the speed of the Moon's shadow (769 metres per second) at the observation site. This, and the size and shape of the umbra, determines the duration of the total eclipse.
The Sun's Altitude is measured from the horizon; the Azimuth is the direction of the Sun measured clockwise from North. The figures are for mid-eclipse. The figures mean that the Sun was high and towards the South East.
The Position Angles indicate the exact position of the Sun's disk where the Moon covers and uncovers the Sun at the beginning and end of Totality. These figures determine the position of any diamond rings or Bailey's beads at the beginning and end of Totality.
Gamma determines how the Moon's shadow, if extended, would pass through the Earth.
A Gamma of zero implies that the shadow would pass through the exact centre of the Earth. A Gamma of greater than 1 misses the Earth and no total eclipse would occur. A positive Gamma passes North of the Earth's centre; a negative Gamma passes South of the Earth's centre. The value of Gamma for this eclipse is 0.3432. This means that the shadow passes about a third of the way between the Earth's centre and the Northern part of the Earth. This, combined with the fact that in April, the North Pole is tilted slightly towards the Sun, produces an eclipse mostly in the Northern Hemisphere.
The Diameter Ratio determines how much bigger the Moon's apparent radius is than the Sun's. In this case, the Moon's radius is 1.057 that of the Sun's. A total eclipse can only occur if this figure is greater than 1. The Moon would then appear larger than the Sun and could cover it completely. If this figure was less than one a total eclipse could not occur because the Moon would appear smaller than the Sun.
For this eclipse the value of the Diameter Ratio means that the Moon appears nearly 5.7% larger than the Sun. This high figure gives us a relatively long Totality.
The Saros is a collection of eclipses belonging to a series. Each member of the series is followed by a similar eclipse approximately 18 years, 10 / 11 days and 8 hours later.
The eight hours has an interesting effect. Each eclipse is about 120 degrees West of its predecessor because 8 hours is a third of 24 hours.
This eclipse is a member of Saros number 139. It is the 30th eclipse out of a total of 71 in the series.
The series began on 17 May 1501 with a small partial eclipse (9.1%) in the Northern polar regions. This was followed by 6 more partial eclipses each of increasing magnitude.
On 11 August 1627 the series produced the first of 12 Hybrid Eclipses. These eclipses are annular (ring shaped) at their beginning and end but Total in their middle portion. This is because, in a Hybrid Eclipse, the Moon is only just close enough to the Earth to cover the Sun in those parts of the Earth bulging up towards the Sun. At the edges of the eclipse, the Earth curves away and the Moon is too far to cover the Sun completely giving a ring shaped eclipse. Totality in a Hybrid Eclipse is always relatively short. The first Hybrid Eclipse of the series had a maximum duration of less than 1 second; the final one was 1m 34s on 9 December 1825.
These eclipses began in the Northern Hemisphere with each subsequent eclipse moving generally southwards.
On 21 December 1843 the eclipse was Total along its whole path and had a maximum duration of 1m 43s. This was the first of 43 Total Eclipses in the series. Each successive eclipse is further South than the previous one and each is getting longer as the Moon is closer to the Earth on the eclipse date.
Kryss saw the eclipse of 18 March 1988 (Number 28 in this Saros series) in the South of the Philippines. It was my second totality.
Both Kryss and Talaat saw the 29th eclipse in this Saros series on 29 March 2006 in Turkey.
The next eclipse in this series (20 April 2042) will have a maximum duration 4m 51s. The duration of totality continues to increase for this Saros.
Between 25 June 2150 and 8 August 2222, the five eclipses from this Saros will be over 7 minutes long. Eclipses over 7 minutes long are rare. There were only three during the 20th century and none will occur in the 21st century.
The longest eclipse of Saros 139 will occur on 16 July 2186 and will be 7m 29s long, just 2 seconds short of the theoretical maximum. This will be the longest eclipse for ten thousand years.
The remaining Total eclipses of the series will see the duration decrease. The final Total Eclipse of the series will occur on 26 March 2601 with a duration of 0m 35s in the Southern polar regions.
The series will end with 9 partial eclipses in the Southern polar regions, each successive eclipse of smaller magnitude. The final eclipse will be a 5.6% partial on 3 July 2763.
Saros 139 will produce 71 eclipses consisting of 16 partials, 12 hybrids and 43 totals. The series lasts for 1262 years.
At any one time dozens of Saros series are in progress. Other eclipses will belong to different series.
