An annular eclipse leaves a ring of sunlight around the Moon, and this one will leave an unusually long one. At the central line the ring lasts 7 minutes and 51 seconds, because the Moon is far from the Earth and looks small, and because the track runs close to the middle of the Earth’s sunlit face. The track starts in the Pacific, crosses southern Chile and Argentina and then the South Atlantic. Few cities lie on it, and none of the 49 on this site does.
The path
NASA’s map shows the ring crossing central Chile and Argentina and then passing out over the South Atlantic. The greatest eclipse is at 15:59 UT over open sea off the coast of Uruguay and Brazil, with the Sun 73 degrees above the horizon. Beyond the narrow ring track, a partial eclipse is seen over most of South America, Antarctica, and the west and south of Africa.
Our 49 cities
Of the 49 cities in the table only Durban will see any of it. A little before sunset it will begin at 18:39 local time, and the Sun will go down at 18:50 with only about 1 per cent of its width covered. This is too small to notice without watching carefully. Every other city, including the nine in India and the cities of North America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia, is outside the partial zone, and the table says so city by city. If you live on the track in South America, the calculator gives local times for your town.
Not visible from India
At the greatest eclipse it will be nearly half past nine at night in India, so the Sun will be far below the horizon. No part of the eclipse is seen from India, and Indian panchangs will list it as not visible. By the usual rule no sutak or other grahan observance applies. The day itself is the Amavasya of Magha in the purnimanta calendar and of Pausha in the amanta one, and its ordinary observances stand as usual. See the page on Amavasya.
In the Hindu calendar
The Sun and the Moon will stand together in Makara, the sidereal Capricorn, about 23.4 degrees into the sign, in the first pada of Dhanishta nakshatra. Dhanishta begins at 23 degrees 20 minutes of Makara and runs on into Kumbha, and it is the nakshatra that the previous eclipse of 17 February 2026 also fell in, in its fourth pada. The positions are Lahiri positions, worked out to within a few hundredths of a degree. What an astrologer makes of them depends on your chart. The nakshatra calculator and the Moon sign calculator tell you your own placements to compare.
Sutak, where it applies
By Hindu tradition sutak begins twelve hours before first contact in places that see the eclipse. In Durban that would be 06:39 on the morning of the eclipse. Because the eclipse there is barely visible, a family that keeps the rule would ask its priest whether it applies.
Watching a solar eclipse safely
Looking at the Sun, even when most of it is covered, can burn the retina, and the damage is painless while it happens. The only time the naked eye is safe is the few minutes of totality, when the Sun's bright disc is completely hidden, and that happens only on the narrow path of a total eclipse. At every other moment, and everywhere in a partial or annular eclipse, use one of these.
- Eclipse glasses or a handheld viewer marked ISO 12312-2, from a maker you trust. Throw away any that are scratched or torn. Ordinary sunglasses, smoked glass, exposed film and a stack of filters are not safe.
- A pinhole projector: a card with a small hole, held so that the Sun's image falls on a second card. The same works with the shadows under a leafy tree, which show hundreds of small crescents.
- No cameras, binoculars or telescopes pointed at the Sun without a proper solar filter fitted to the front of the lens, never behind it. Looking at a phone screen is safe, but pointing the phone's camera at the Sun for long can harm the sensor.
- Children should be watched by an adult, and anyone with an eye condition should ask their eye doctor before watching.
Many Indian families follow the traditional rule of not looking at the eclipse directly. That rule and the safety advice point the same way, and a pinhole view lets everyone share the sight.
Seen from 1 of the 49 cities (0 for the whole eclipse, 1 for part of it). All times are local to each city and cut to the whole minute. For any other place use the eclipse visibility calculator.
How the solar eclipse times are worked out
The shadow of the Moon is described by a small set of numbers, the Besselian elements, that NASA publishes for every eclipse (Fred Espenak, eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov, public domain). For each city this site finds where the Moon's shadow axis passes in relation to the place and when the edge of the shadow reaches it, which gives first contact, the moment of greatest eclipse and last contact, and the share of the Sun's diameter covered, called the magnitude. The share of the Sun's disc that is hidden is the obscuration. The Sun's height above the horizon decides what can be seen, so where the Sun rises or sets during the eclipse the table says so and shows the first or last moment you can see it.
Times are the local clock time of the city, with daylight saving where it applies, cut to the whole minute. Magnitude and obscuration are for the moment shown in the Maximum column.
Sutak. By Hindu tradition the period of caution before a solar eclipse, sutak, begins twelve hours before first contact and ends when the eclipse ends. It is kept only at places where the eclipse can be seen. Temples close, cooking and eating are avoided in many households, and a bath and fresh food follow the eclipse. Some families go by a sutak of a different length, and some regions keep it more loosely, so follow your own family or temple. Children, the elderly and the unwell are generally excused from fasting.
Frequently asked questions
↳ Is the 6 February 2027 solar eclipse visible in India?
No. At the time of the eclipse the Sun is below the horizon in India, so Indian almanacs will list it as not visible, and no sutak is kept.
↳ Why does the ring last almost eight minutes?
The Moon is far from the Earth and looks small, so the ring is wide, and the track runs close to the middle of the sunlit face of the Earth, where the shadow sweeps over the ground most slowly. NASA lists 7 minutes 51 seconds at the greatest point.
↳ What is the difference between this and a total eclipse?
In a total eclipse the Moon hides the whole Sun. Here it leaves a thin ring, so the Sun is never fully covered and the bright ring is unsafe to look at without a solar filter at every moment.