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A total solar eclipse will occur at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Saturday, December 25 and Sunday, December 26, 2038,[1] with a magnitude of 1.0268. 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. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 1.7 days after perigee (on December 24, 2038, at 8:25 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter will be larger.[2]
Totality will be visible from parts of Australia and New Zealand. A partial eclipse will be visible for parts of Southeast Asia, Australia, Antarctica, and Oceania.
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Animated path
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.[3]
| Event | Time (UTC) |
|---|---|
| First Penumbral External Contact | 2038 December 25 at 22:20:51.4 UTC |
| First Umbral External Contact | 2038 December 25 at 23:19:15.0 UTC |
| First Central Line | 2038 December 25 at 23:19:33.4 UTC |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 2038 December 25 at 23:19:51.9 UTC |
| First Penumbral Internal Contact | 2038 December 26 at 00:23:04.9 UTC |
| Greatest Duration | 2038 December 26 at 00:59:26.3 UTC |
| Greatest Eclipse | 2038 December 26 at 01:00:09.7 UTC |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 2038 December 26 at 01:02:10.7 UTC |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 2038 December 26 at 01:03:10.7 UTC |
| Last Penumbral Internal Contact | 2038 December 26 at 01:37:10.7 UTC |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 2038 December 26 at 02:40:28.5 UTC |
| Last Central Line | 2038 December 26 at 02:40:45.0 UTC |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 2038 December 26 at 02:41:01.5 UTC |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 2038 December 26 at 03:39:31.2 UTC |
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Eclipse Magnitude | 1.02685 |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 1.05443 |
| Gamma | −0.28813 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 18h18m51.7s |
| Sun Declination | -23°21'47.8" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'15.7" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.9" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 18h18m46.7s |
| Moon Declination | -23°39'05.4" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'25.8" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 1°00'18.1" |
| ΔT | 78.0 s |
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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.
| December 11 Ascending node (full moon) | December 26 Descending node (new moon) |
|---|---|
 |  |
| Penumbral lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 116 | Total solar eclipse Solar Saros 142 |
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Eclipses in 2038
Metonic
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 9, 2035
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 14, 2042
Tzolkinex
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 14, 2031
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 5, 2046
Half-Saros
- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of December 20, 2029
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of January 1, 2048
Tritos
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 26, 2028
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 25, 2049
Solar Saros 142
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 14, 2020
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 5, 2057
Inex
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 15, 2010
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 6, 2067
Triad
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 25, 1952
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 26, 2125
Solar eclipses of 2036–2039
This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.[4]
The partial solar eclipses on February 27, 2036 and August 21, 2036 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set.
| Solar eclipse series sets from 2036 to 2039 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ascending node | Descending node | |||||
| Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma | |
| 117 | July 23, 2036 Partial |
−1.425 | 122 | January 16, 2037 Partial |
1.1477 | |
| 127 | July 13, 2037 Total |
−0.7246 | 132 | January 5, 2038 Annular |
0.4169 | |
| 137 | July 2, 2038 Annular |
0.0398 | 142 | December 26, 2038 Total |
−0.2881 | |
| 147 | June 21, 2039 Annular |
0.8312 | 152 | December 15, 2039 Total |
−0.9458 | |
Saros 142
This eclipse is a part of Saros series 142, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 72 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on April 17, 1624. It contains a hybrid eclipse on July 14, 1768, and total eclipses from July 25, 1786 through October 29, 2543. There are no annular eclipses in this set. The series ends at member 72 as a partial eclipse on June 5, 2904. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.
The longest duration of totality will be produced by member 38 at 6 minutes, 34 seconds on May 28, 2291. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.[5]
| Series members 11–32 occur between 1801 and 2200: | ||
|---|---|---|
| 11 | 12 | 13 |
 August 5, 1804 |
 August 16, 1822 |
 August 27, 1840 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 |
 September 7, 1858 |
 September 17, 1876 |
 September 29, 1894 |
| 17 | 18 | 19 |
 October 10, 1912 |
 October 21, 1930 |
 November 1, 1948 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 |
 November 12, 1966 |
 November 22, 1984 |
 December 4, 2002 |
| 23 | 24 | 25 |
 December 14, 2020 |
December 26, 2038 |
 January 5, 2057 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 |
 January 16, 2075 |
 January 27, 2093 |
 February 8, 2111 |
| 29 | 30 | 31 |
 February 18, 2129 |
 March 2, 2147 |
 March 12, 2165 |
| 32 | ||
 March 23, 2183 | ||
Metonic series
The metonic series repeats eclipses every 19 years (6939.69 days), lasting about 5 cycles. Eclipses occur in nearly the same calendar date. In addition, the octon subseries repeats 1/5 of that or every 3.8 years (1387.94 days). All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's descending node.
| 21 eclipse events between May 21, 1993 and May 20, 2069 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 20–21 | March 9 | December 25–26 | October 13–14 | August 1–2 |
| 118 | 120 | 122 | 124 | 126 |
 May 21, 1993 |
 March 9, 1997 |
 December 25, 2000 |
 October 14, 2004 |
 August 1, 2008 |
| 128 | 130 | 132 | 134 | 136 |
 May 20, 2012 |
 March 9, 2016 |
 December 26, 2019 |
 October 14, 2023 |
 August 2, 2027 |
| 138 | 140 | 142 | 144 | 146 |
 May 21, 2031 |
 March 9, 2035 |
December 26, 2038 |
 October 14, 2042 |
 August 2, 2046 |
| 148 | 150 | 152 | 154 | 156 |
 May 20, 2050 |
 March 9, 2054 |
 December 26, 2057 |
 October 13, 2061 |
 August 2, 2065 |
| 158 | ||||
 May 20, 2069 | ||||
Tritos series
This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
| Series members between 1801 and 2200 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 October 9, 1809 (Saros 121) |
 September 7, 1820 (Saros 122) |
 August 7, 1831 (Saros 123) |
 July 8, 1842 (Saros 124) |
 June 6, 1853 (Saros 125) |
 May 6, 1864 (Saros 126) |
 April 6, 1875 (Saros 127) |
 March 5, 1886 (Saros 128) |
 February 1, 1897 (Saros 129) |
 January 3, 1908 (Saros 130) |
 December 3, 1918 (Saros 131) |
 November 1, 1929 (Saros 132) |
 October 1, 1940 (Saros 133) |
 September 1, 1951 (Saros 134) |
 July 31, 1962 (Saros 135) |
 June 30, 1973 (Saros 136) |
 May 30, 1984 (Saros 137) |
 April 29, 1995 (Saros 138) |
 March 29, 2006 (Saros 139) |
 February 26, 2017 (Saros 140) |
 January 26, 2028 (Saros 141) |
December 26, 2038 (Saros 142) |
 November 25, 2049 (Saros 143) |
 October 24, 2060 (Saros 144) |
 September 23, 2071 (Saros 145) |
 August 24, 2082 (Saros 146) |
 July 23, 2093 (Saros 147) |
 June 22, 2104 (Saros 148) |
 May 24, 2115 (Saros 149) |
 April 22, 2126 (Saros 150) |
 March 21, 2137 (Saros 151) |
 February 19, 2148 (Saros 152) |
 January 19, 2159 (Saros 153) |
 December 18, 2169 (Saros 154) |
 November 17, 2180 (Saros 155) |
 October 18, 2191 (Saros 156) | ||||
Inex series
This eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
| Series members between 1801 and 2200 | ||
|---|---|---|
 June 6, 1807 (Saros 134) |
 May 15, 1836 (Saros 135) |
 April 25, 1865 (Saros 136) |
 April 6, 1894 (Saros 137) |
 March 17, 1923 (Saros 138) |
 February 25, 1952 (Saros 139) |
 February 4, 1981 (Saros 140) |
 January 15, 2010 (Saros 141) |
December 26, 2038 (Saros 142) |
 December 6, 2067 (Saros 143) |
 November 15, 2096 (Saros 144) |
 October 26, 2125 (Saros 145) |
 October 7, 2154 (Saros 146) |
 September 16, 2183 (Saros 147) |
|
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