A total solar eclipse will occur at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Saturday, December 25 and Sunday, December 26, 2038,[1] with a magnitude of 1.0268. 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 total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 1.7 days after perigee (on December 24, 2038, at 8:25 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter will be larger.[2]
Totality will be visible from parts of Australia and New Zealand. A partial eclipse will be visible for parts of Southeast Asia, Australia, Antarctica, and Oceania.
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.[3]
| First Penumbral External Contact | 2038 December 25 at 22:20:51.4 UTC | |
| First Umbral External Contact | 2038 December 25 at 23:19:15.0 UTC | |
| First Central Line | 2038 December 25 at 23:19:33.4 UTC | |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 2038 December 25 at 23:19:51.9 UTC | |
| First Penumbral Internal Contact | 2038 December 26 at 00:23:04.9 UTC | |
| Greatest Duration | 2038 December 26 at 00:59:26.3 UTC | |
| Greatest Eclipse | 2038 December 26 at 01:00:09.7 UTC | |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 2038 December 26 at 01:02:10.7 UTC | |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 2038 December 26 at 01:03:10.7 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral Internal Contact | 2038 December 26 at 01:37:10.7 UTC | |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 2038 December 26 at 02:40:28.5 UTC | |
| Last Central Line | 2038 December 26 at 02:40:45.0 UTC | |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 2038 December 26 at 02:41:01.5 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 2038 December 26 at 03:39:31.2 UTC |
| Eclipse Magnitude | 1.02685 | |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 1.05443 | |
| Gamma | −0.28813 | |
| Sun Right Ascension | 18h18m51.7s | |
| Sun Declination | -23°21'47.8" | |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'15.7" | |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.9" | |
| Moon Right Ascension | 18h18m46.7s | |
| Moon Declination | -23°39'05.4" | |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'25.8" | |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 1°00'18.1" | |
| ΔT | 78.0 s |
See also: Eclipse cycle. 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.
