Solar eclipse of February 7, 2008

An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Thursday, February 7, 2008, with a magnitude of 0.965. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring 7 days after apogee (January 31, 2008) and 6.9 days before perigee (February 14, 2008), the Moon's apparent diameter was near the average diameter.

The moon's apparent diameter was 1 arcminute, 17.8 arcseconds (77.8 arcseconds) smaller than the August 1, 2008 total solar eclipse.

This was the first eclipse of the eclipse season, the second being the February 2008 lunar eclipse.

Visibility
Centrality was visible from parts of Antarctica. A significant partial eclipse was visible over New Zealand and a minor partial eclipse was seen from southeastern Australia.

For most solar eclipses the path of centrality moves eastwards. In this case the path moved west round Antarctica and then north.

Observations
The best land-based visibility outside of Antarctica was from New Zealand. Professional astronomer and eclipse-chaser Jay Pasachoff observed it from Nelson, New Zealand, 60% coverage, under perfect weather.

Images
Animated path

Eclipses of 2008

 * An annular solar eclipse on February 7.
 * A total lunar eclipse on February 21.
 * A total solar eclipse on August 1.
 * A partial lunar eclipse on August 16.

Metonic

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 19, 2004
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 25, 2011

Tzolkinex

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 25, 2000
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 20, 2015

Half-Saros

 * Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of January 31, 1999
 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of February 11, 2017

Tritos

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 9, 1997
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 6, 2019

Solar Saros 121

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 26, 1990
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 17, 2026

Inex

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 26, 1979
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 16, 2037

Triad

 * Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 8, 1921
 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 7, 2094