Solar eclipse of September 11, 1988

{{Infobox solar eclipse|1988Sep11

| previous = Solar eclipse of March 18, 1988

| next = Solar eclipse of March 7, 1989

}}

An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Sunday, September 11, 1988,{{cite web|title=September 11, 1988 Annular Solar Eclipse|url=https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/1988-september-11|publisher=timeanddate|access-date=9 August 2024}} with a magnitude of 0.9377. 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 only 12.5 hours after apogee (on September 10, 1988, at 16:10 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.{{cite web|title=Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England|url=https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/distance.html?year=1988&n=136|publisher=timeanddate|access-date=9 August 2024}}

Annularity was visible in southeastern Somalia (including the capital city Mogadishu), the Indian Ocean and Macquarie Island of Australia. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of East Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

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.{{cite web|title=Annular Solar Eclipse of 1988 Sep 11|url=https://eclipsewise.com/solar/SEprime/1901-2000/SE1988Sep11Aprime.html|publisher=EclipseWise.com|access-date=9 August 2024}}

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|+September 11, 1988 Solar Eclipse Times

! Event

! Time (UTC)

First Penumbral External Contact

| 1988 September 11 at 01:46:36.7 UTC

First Umbral External Contact

| 1988 September 11 at 02:56:30.0 UTC

First Central Line

| 1988 September 11 at 02:59:28.7 UTC

First Umbral Internal Contact

| 1988 September 11 at 03:02:28.6 UTC

Greatest Duration

| 1988 September 11 at 04:35:51.5 UTC

Greatest Eclipse

| 1988 September 11 at 04:44:28.7 UTC

Ecliptic Conjunction

| 1988 September 11 at 04:50:04.6 UTC

Equatorial Conjunction

| 1988 September 11 at 05:15:01.8 UTC

Last Umbral Internal Contact

| 1988 September 11 at 06:26:09.7 UTC

Last Central Line

| 1988 September 11 at 06:29:09.8 UTC

Last Umbral External Contact

| 1988 September 11 at 06:32:08.7 UTC

Last Penumbral External Contact

| 1988 September 11 at 07:42:08.2 UTC

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|+September 11, 1988 Solar Eclipse Parameters

! Parameter

! Value

Eclipse Magnitude

| 0.93768

Eclipse Obscuration

| 0.87924

Gamma

| −0.46811

Sun Right Ascension

| 11h18m19.4s

Sun Declination

| +04°29'02.7"

Sun Semi-Diameter

| 15'53.3"

Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax

| 08.7"

Moon Right Ascension

| 11h17m30.7s

Moon Declination

| +04°06'57.9"

Moon Semi-Diameter

| 14'42.2"

Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax

| 0°53'57.6"

ΔT

| 56.1 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.

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|+ Eclipse season of August–September 1988

! August 27
Ascending node (full moon)
!! September 11
Descending node (new moon)

200px

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| Partial lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 118

Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 144