August 1, 2008 Total Solar Eclipse

Where the Eclipse Was Seen

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Path of the Eclipse Shadow

Regions that saw, at least, a partial eclipse: Europe, Asia, Much of North America, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Arctic.

The eclipse's path

The path of this eclipse begins in the Northwest Territories in Canada and finishes in north-central China. Though the central shadow narrowly misses Cambridge Bay on Victoria Island and Resolute on Cornwallis Island, its edge just nips the town of Alert on Ellesmere Island, giving residents 40 seconds of early morning totality.

Across the Atlantic north, the eclipse’s path skips across Greenland’s northernmost coast and comes within about 720 kilometers (450 miles) of the North Pole before heading southward toward more moderate climes. Totality of the eclipse passes by Svalbard in Norway and touches Russia’s Franz Josef Land island group before cutting across Novaya Zemlya on its way to mainland Asia.

The umbra first touches the Russian coast of the Yamal Peninsula. The solar eclipse occurs closer to the inland, producing about two minutes and 27 seconds of totality and reaches near the town of Nadym, inland from the boot shaped Gulf of Obskaja. Continuing to hook towards the southeast, the central path passes near Novosibirsk where totality lasts about two minutes and 18 seconds. The path then enters western Mongolia, with the towns of Olgij and Bulgan seeing about two minutes of a total eclipse. A total eclipse then occurs in north-central China before the umbra leaves Earth just north of the cities of Lanzhou and Xian. A partial eclipse will be seen throughout northeastern North America, most of Europe, the Middle East and western parts of Asia.

This eclipse wasn't visible in Columbus - Which upcoming eclipses can be seen in your location?

Eclipse Shadow Path

When the Eclipse Happened Worldwide — Timeline

The eclipse started at one location and ended at another. The times below are actual times (in UTC) when the eclipse occurred. This calculation uses a Delta T value of 65.6 seconds.

* These local times do not refer to a specific location but indicate the beginning, peak, and end of the eclipse on a global scale, each line referring to a different location. This eclipse isn't visible in Columbus.

Upcoming eclipses visible in Columbus

Next Total Solar Eclipse will be on Jul 21 – Jul 22, 2009

Eclipse calculations usually accurate to a few seconds

Countries Where the Eclipse Is Visible

* The number of people refers to the resident population (as a round number) in areas where the eclipse is visible. timeanddate has calculated these numbers using raw population data provided by the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) at Columbia University. The raw data is based on population estimates from the year 2000 to 2020.

An Eclipse Never Comes Alone!

A solar eclipse always occurs about two weeks before or after a lunar eclipse.

Usually, there are two eclipses in a row, but other times, there are three during the same eclipse season.

All eclipses 1900 — 2199

This is the first eclipse this season.

Second eclipse this season: August 16, 2008 — Partial Lunar Eclipse

How accurate is the eclipse calculation