An annular solar eclipse will occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Tuesday, February 17, 2026,[1] with a magnitude of 0.963. 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. The Moon's apparent diameter will be near the average diameter because it will occur 6.8 days after apogee (on February 10, 2026, at 16:50 UTC) and 7.5 days before perigee (on February 24, 2026, at 23:15 UTC).[2]
Annularity will be visible over Antarctica only. However, the partial eclipse will be visible from the very southern tip of Argentina and Chile, as well in much of Southern Africa (such as in South Africa, Mozambique, and Madagascar).
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 | 2026 February 17 at 09:57:35.9 UTC | |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 2026 February 17 at 11:19:59.0 UTC | |
| First Umbral External Contact | 2026 February 17 at 11:44:00.0 UTC | |
| First Central Line | 2026 February 17 at 11:49:27.4 UTC | |
| Greatest Duration | 2026 February 17 at 11:49:27.4 UTC | |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 2026 February 17 at 11:56:29.1 UTC | |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 2026 February 17 at 12:02:18.1 UTC | |
| Greatest Eclipse | 2026 February 17 at 12:13:05.8 UTC | |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 2026 February 17 at 12:30:19.1 UTC | |
| Last Central Line | 2026 February 17 at 12:37:17.4 UTC | |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 2026 February 17 at 12:42:41.3 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 2026 February 17 at 14:28:51.0 UTC |
| Eclipse Magnitude | 0.96300 | |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 0.92736 | |
| Gamma | −0.97427 | |
| Sun Right Ascension | 22h03m54.3s | |
| Sun Declination | -11°52'42.3" | |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'11.1" | |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.9" | |
| Moon Right Ascension | 22h05m34.0s | |
| Moon Declination | -12°42'29.5" | |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 15'32.4" | |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°57'02.0" | |
| ΔT | 72.2 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.