An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, 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 was near the average diameter because it occurred 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).
Annularity was visible over Antarctica only. However, the partial eclipse was visible from the very southern tip of Argentina and Chile, as well as in much of southern Africa (including South Africa, Mozambique, and Madagascar).
Images Animated path
Eclipse timing Places experiencing annular eclipse Solar Eclipse of February 17, 2026(Local Times)Country or territory City or placeStart of partial eclipseStart of annular eclipseMaximum eclipseEnd of annular eclipseEnd of partial eclipseDuration of annularity (min:s)Duration of eclipse (hr:min)Maximum coverage Concordia Station 18:48:14 19:46:35 19:47:37 19:48:40 20:45:42 2:05 1:57 92.46%References:
Places experiencing partial eclipse Solar Eclipse of February 17, 2026(Local Times)Country or territory City or placeStart of partial eclipseMaximum eclipseEnd of partial eclipseDuration of eclipse (hr:min)Maximum coverage Punta Arenas 07:07:16 07:28:52 07:51:03 0:44 1.81% Marambio Base 06:59:05 07:45:50 08:34:27 1:35 18.30% Orcadas Base 07:05:16 07:47:05 08:30:29 1:25 10.26% King Edward Point 08:29:18 08:47:47 09:06:38 0:37 0.62% Bouvet Island 11:42:45 12:40:56 13:38:34 1:56 16.92% Casey Station 19:06:03 20:05:16 20:55:52 (sunset) 1:50 91.29% Marion Island 14:21:59 15:33:27 16:39:38 2:18 47.62% Port-aux-Français 16:35:21 17:41:35 18:43:00 2:08 83.57% Cape Town 14:01:05 14:43:47 15:24:21 1:23 5.19% Gqeberha 13:56:00 14:51:41 15:43:33 1:48 13.99% Île Amsterdam 17:01:14 18:02:48 18:45:30 (sunset) 1:44 76.08% Mafeteng 14:11:34 15:02:49 15:50:32 1:39 11.14% Maseru 14:13:28 15:04:11 15:51:24 1:38 10.84% Teyateyaneng 14:13:59 15:04:47 15:52:04 1:38 10.97% Durban 14:09:56 15:05:51 15:57:31 1:48 16.10% Johannesburg 14:26:07 15:11:40 15:54:16 1:28 7.93% Pretoria 14:27:59 15:12:48 15:54:44 1:27 7.58% Gaborone 14:36:15 15:13:23 15:48:30 1:12 4.05% Mbabane 14:23:15 15:13:44 16:00:35 1:37 11.79% Maputo 14:23:54 15:15:31 16:03:16 1:39 13.10% Harare 15:01:59 15:31:22 15:59:23 0:57 2.36% Diego Garcia 19:07:59 19:31:40 19:33:56 (sunset) 0:26 10.95% Saint-Denis 16:37:08 17:32:56 18:24:06 1:47 31.14% Port Louis 16:38:57 17:34:07 18:24:43 1:46 31.64% Antananarivo 15:43:39 16:35:24 17:23:00 1:39 19.98% Toamasina 15:45:35 16:36:57 17:24:15 1:39 20.55% Lilongwe 15:17:53 15:39:57 16:01:11 0:43 1.09% Mamoudzou 16:05:50 16:45:03 17:21:48 1:16 8.20% Moroni 16:12:12 16:46:28 17:18:48 1:07 5.21% Victoria 17:29:11 17:55:35 18:20:52 0:52 3.21%References:
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 17, 2026 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) 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
+February 17, 2026 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value 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
Eclipse season
The 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 February–March 2026 February 17Ascending node (new moon) March 3Descending node (full moon) Annular solar eclipseSolar Saros 121 Total lunar eclipseLunar Saros 133
Related eclipses Eclipses in 2026 An annular solar eclipse on February 17. A total lunar eclipse on March 3. A total solar eclipse on August 12. A partial lunar eclipse on August 28.
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 30, 2022 Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 5, 2029
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 6, 2019 Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 30, 2033
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of February 11, 2017 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of February 22, 2035
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 20, 2015 Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 16, 2037
Solar Saros 121 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 7, 2008 Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 28, 2044
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 9, 1997 Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 27, 2055
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 19, 1939 Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 19, 2112
Solar eclipses of 2026–2029
Saros 121
Metonic series
Tritos series
Inex series
References
External links Annual Solar Eclipse of 2026 Feb 17 View of the eclipse from Concordia Station, Antarctica