Annular eclipse — Easter Island & Patagonia (2024)
On 2 October 2024 a ring of fire hung for about 5 minutes 47 seconds above the moai of Easter Island in the South Pacific. The shadow then crossed the ocean and ended in the evening over Patagonia in Chile and Argentina.
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The story
The annular eclipse of 2 October 2024 spent most of its path over the South Pacific Ocean. It touched land in only two main places. One was Easter Island (Rapa Nui) in the middle of the Pacific, and the other was Patagonia at the southern tip of South America. As a result, not many people were able to see the ring in person.
At Hanga Roa on Easter Island, the ring lasted about 5 minutes 47 seconds, centred on about 2:07 in the afternoon local time. The island is famous for its moai, giant figures carved from stone. The image of the Sun turned into a round hoop of light above the moai became the symbol of this eclipse. The longest ring, 7 minutes 25 seconds, occurred over the ocean to the west of the island.
The shadow then crossed a wide stretch of ocean to reach the Aysén region of Chile and Santa Cruz province in Argentina. In Patagonia the Sun was already low in the west. At Puerto Deseado, a town on the Atlantic coast, the ring appeared low in the sky from about 5:27 in the afternoon and lasted 3 minutes 40 seconds.
October is spring in the Southern Hemisphere, but Patagonia is a place of strong winds and fast-moving clouds. Success that day depended on where people stood, and observers moved around inside the path looking for clear sky. The orbit view reproduces the Moon's shadow crossing the Pacific and reaching the tip of South America.
Viewing guide — where, when, how
The ring could be seen over the South Pacific, on Easter Island (around 2:07 p.m.), in Chile's Aysén region and in Argentina's Santa Cruz province (Puerto Deseado around 5:27 p.m.). A partial eclipse was visible across Chile and Argentina and in several other countries of southern South America. Europe, Africa, Asia and most of North America saw none of it.
A low evening Sun is no less bright. In Patagonia observers needed an open western horizon and shelter from the wind, and filters had to stay on from beginning to end. When the Sun is low, moving air makes its image shimmer, so a faster shutter speed helps when taking photographs. In windy places it was also important to fix tripods firmly.
The sky view follows the Sun over Hanga Roa on Easter Island and reproduces the moment the ring forms. Changing the viewing place to Puerto Deseado shows the ring on an evening Sun sinking close to the horizon. Switching to Santiago shows a partial eclipse, with only part of the Sun covered instead of a ring. This shows how different the view was inside and outside the path.
See this for yourself — open that sky at that moment · replay the moment in the orbit view
Why this eclipse is special
Easter Island is a place of ancient heritage, which drew extra attention to this eclipse. Some studies suggest that certain of the island's stone platforms, called ahu, were placed in line with the direction of sunrise. Because a ring of fire appeared over a place where people long ago watched the Sun's movements, the scene joined past and present sky-watching in a single picture.
The eclipse also showed how people enjoy an eclipse that is hard to reach. Not many travelled to see it in person, but far more watched it through live internet broadcasts. Many others used simulations to see how the eclipse would have looked from where they live. The harder an eclipse is to reach, the more people share it in these ways.
The contrast with April's total eclipse over North America in the same year is clear. The April eclipse crossed a crowded continent, with tens of millions of people inside its path. The October eclipse spent most of its path over the ocean, so far fewer saw it directly. How many people can see an eclipse depends greatly on how much land its path crosses.
Background and earlier eclipses
This eclipse is the 17th member of Saros 144. The previous member of the series was the annular eclipse of 22 September 2006 over the South Atlantic. The next is the annular eclipse of 14 October 2042, expected to cross the Indian Ocean and South-East Asia. Similar eclipses repeat about every eighteen years over different parts of the world.
Easter Island was also in the path of the total eclipse of 11 July 2010. So this remote Pacific island saw both a total and an annular eclipse within fourteen years. Both times, photographs of the eclipse together with the moai were taken. In 2010 the Sun was completely covered and the corona appeared; in 2024 a round ring of light was seen instead. The same island now offers a comparison of the two kinds of eclipse.
Patagonia met the centre of the Moon's shadow again only four years after the total eclipse of 14 December 2020, which passed near Pucón in Chile and Neuquén in Argentina. Another total eclipse is expected to cross the region on 5 December 2048. It is a thinly populated region, yet it meets eclipses fairly often.
FAQ
How long did the ring last over Easter Island?
About 5 minutes 47 seconds at Hanga Roa, centred on about 2:07 p.m.
How did it look from Patagonia?
At Puerto Deseado the ring appeared on a low Sun in the western sky from about 5:27 p.m. and lasted 3 minutes 40 seconds.
Why did so few see it in person?
Most of the path was over the ocean, and the land sections, Easter Island and southern Patagonia, are remote and thinly populated.
Was it visible from Europe?
No. The path lay in the Southern Hemisphere, and Europe was far outside the area of partial eclipse.
Related
- The 2020 total eclipse over Chile and Argentina
- The 2024 North American total eclipse
- The 2028 annular over South America and Iberia
- The Sun — object index
- The Moon — object index
Times and figures are approximate — verify with official sources when planning travel. Simulation uses J2000 mean elements.