# Solar eclipse of February 15, 2018

A partial solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Thursday, February 15, 2018, with a magnitude of 0.5991. 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. A partial solar eclipse occurs in the polar regions of the Earth when the center of the Moon's shadow misses the Earth.
A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Antarctica and southern South America.

## Gallery

* Time lapse images as viewed from Olivos, Buenos Aires, Argentina
* From Ramos Mejía, Argentina, 22:13 UTC

## 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.
February 15, 2018 Solar Eclipse Times :
| Event | Time (UTC) |
| First Penumbral External Contact | 2018 February 15 at 18:56:59.4 UTC |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 2018 February 15 at 20:16:17.1 UTC |
| Greatest Eclipse | 2018 February 15 at 20:52:33.3 UTC |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 2018 February 15 at 21:06:21.5 UTC |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 2018 February 15 at 22:48:19.3 UTC |
February 15, 2018 Solar Eclipse Parameters :
| Parameter | Value |
| Eclipse Magnitude | 0.59911 |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 0.49084 |
| Gamma | −1.21163 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 21h57m18.8s |
| Sun Declination | -12°28'07.3" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'11.4" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.9" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 21h58m26.9s |
| Moon Declination | -13°32'29.9" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 14'59.4" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°55'00.9" |
| ΔT | 69.0 s |

## Eclipse season

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.
Eclipse season of January–February 2018 :
| January 31 Ascending node (full moon) | February 15 Descending node (new moon) |
| Total lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 124 | Partial solar eclipse Solar Saros 150 |

## Related eclipses
### Eclipses in 2018

* A total lunar eclipse on January 31.
* A partial solar eclipse on February 15.
* A partial solar eclipse on July 13.
* A total lunar eclipse on July 27.
* A partial solar eclipse on August 11.

### Metonic

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 29, 2014
* Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 4, 2021

### Tzolkinex

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 4, 2011
* Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 29, 2025

### Half-Saros

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of February 9, 2009
* Followed by: Lunar eclipse of February 20, 2027

### Tritos

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 19, 2007
* Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 14, 2029

### Solar Saros 150

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 5, 2000
* Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 27, 2036

### Inex

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 7, 1989
* Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 26, 2047

### Triad

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 18, 1931
* Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 17, 2104

### Solar eclipses of 2015–2018

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.
The partial solar eclipse on July 13, 2018 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.
Solar eclipse series sets from 2015 to 2018 :
| Descending node | Descending node | Descending node | Ascending node | Ascending node | Ascending node |
| Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma |
| 120 Totality in Longyearbyen, Svalbard | March 20, 2015 Total | 0.94536 | 125 Solar Dynamics Observatory | September 13, 2015 Partial | −1.10039 |
| 130 Balikpapan, Indonesia | March 9, 2016 Total | 0.26092 | 135 Annularity in L'Étang-Salé, Réunion | September 1, 2016 Annular | −0.33301 |
| 140 Partial from Buenos Aires, Argentina | February 26, 2017 Annular | −0.45780 | 145 Totality in Madras, OR, USA | August 21, 2017 Total | 0.43671 |
| 150 Partial in Olivos, Buenos Aires, Argentina | February 15, 2018 Partial | −1.21163 | 155 Partial in Huittinen, Finland | August 11, 2018 Partial | 1.14758 |

### Saros 150

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 150, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on August 24, 1729. It contains annular eclipses from April 22, 2126 through June 22, 2829. There are no hybrid or total eclipses in this set. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on September 29, 2991. 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 will be produced by member 45 at 9 minutes, 58 seconds on December 19, 2522. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.
Series members 5–27 occur between 1801 and 2200: :
| 5 | 6 | 7 |
| October 7, 1801 | October 19, 1819 | October 29, 1837 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 |
| November 9, 1855 | November 20, 1873 | December 1, 1891 |
| 11 | 12 | 13 |
| December 12, 1909 | December 24, 1927 | January 3, 1946 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 |
| January 14, 1964 | January 25, 1982 | February 5, 2000 |
| 17 | 18 | 19 |
| February 15, 2018 | February 27, 2036 | March 9, 2054 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 |
| March 19, 2072 | March 31, 2090 | April 11, 2108 |
| 23 | 24 | 25 |
| April 22, 2126 | May 3, 2144 | May 14, 2162 |
| 26 | 27 |
| May 24, 2180 | June 4, 2198 |

### Metonic series

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.
21 eclipse events between July 11, 1953 and July 11, 2029 :
| July 10–11 | April 29–30 | February 15–16 | December 4 | September 21–23 |
| 116 | 118 | 120 | 122 | 124 |
| July 11, 1953 | April 30, 1957 | February 15, 1961 | December 4, 1964 | September 22, 1968 |
| 126 | 128 | 130 | 132 | 134 |
| July 10, 1972 | April 29, 1976 | February 16, 1980 | December 4, 1983 | September 23, 1987 |
| 136 | 138 | 140 | 142 | 144 |
| July 11, 1991 | April 29, 1995 | February 16, 1999 | December 4, 2002 | September 22, 2006 |
| 146 | 148 | 150 | 152 | 154 |
| July 11, 2010 | April 29, 2014 | February 15, 2018 | December 4, 2021 | September 21, 2025 |
| 156 |
| July 11, 2029 |

### Tritos series

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.
The partial solar eclipses on December 7, 2170 (part of Saros 164) and November 7, 2181 (part of Saros 165) are also a part of this series but are not included in the table below.
Series members between 1801 and 2105 :
| September 28, 1810 (Saros 131) | August 27, 1821 (Saros 132) | July 27, 1832 (Saros 133) | June 27, 1843 (Saros 134) | May 26, 1854 (Saros 135) |
| April 25, 1865 (Saros 136) | March 25, 1876 (Saros 137) | February 22, 1887 (Saros 138) | January 22, 1898 (Saros 139) | December 23, 1908 (Saros 140) |
| November 22, 1919 (Saros 141) | October 21, 1930 (Saros 142) | September 21, 1941 (Saros 143) | August 20, 1952 (Saros 144) | July 20, 1963 (Saros 145) |
| June 20, 1974 (Saros 146) | May 19, 1985 (Saros 147) | April 17, 1996 (Saros 148) | March 19, 2007 (Saros 149) | February 15, 2018 (Saros 150) |
| January 14, 2029 (Saros 151) | December 15, 2039 (Saros 152) | November 14, 2050 (Saros 153) | October 13, 2061 (Saros 154) | September 12, 2072 (Saros 155) |
| August 13, 2083 (Saros 156) | July 12, 2094 (Saros 157) | June 12, 2105 (Saros 158) |

### Inex series

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.
Series members between 1801 and 2200 :
| July 6, 1815 (Saros 143) | June 16, 1844 (Saros 144) | May 26, 1873 (Saros 145) |
| May 7, 1902 (Saros 146) | April 18, 1931 (Saros 147) | March 27, 1960 (Saros 148) |
| March 7, 1989 (Saros 149) | February 15, 2018 (Saros 150) | January 26, 2047 (Saros 151) |
| January 6, 2076 (Saros 152) | December 17, 2104 (Saros 153) | November 26, 2133 (Saros 154) |
| November 7, 2162 (Saros 155) | October 18, 2191 (Saros 156) | |