On Friday, 2010 January 15, an annular eclipse of the Sun is visible from within a 300-km-wide track that traverses half of Earth. The path of the Moon's antumbral shadow begins in Africa and passes through Chad, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, and Somalia. After leaving Africa, the path crosses the Indian Ocean where the maximum duration of annularity reaches 11 min 08 s. The central path then continues into Asia through Bangladesh, India, Burma (Myanmar), and China. A partial eclipse is seen within the much broader path of the Moon's penumbral shadow, which includes eastern Europe, most of Africa, Asia, and Indonesia.
This web site has been established for the purpose of providing detailed predictions, maps, figures and information about this important event. The material here is adapted from Annular and Total Solar Eclipses of 2010 (NASA/TP-2008-214171). The publication date of this document is 2008 December. It is part of NASA's official eclipse bulletin publication series. Instructions and a form for ordering a hard copy of this publication can be found at: Order Form for NASA Eclipse Bulletins.
A special Web site is also available for the Total Solar Eclipse of 2010 July 11.
An implementation of Google Map has been created which includes the central path of the 2010 annular solar eclipse. This allows the user to select any portion of the path and to zoom in using either map data or Earth satellite data.
The following maps show the overall regions of visibility of the partial eclipse as well as the path of the Annular eclipse through Africa, the Indian ocean and Asia. They use high resolution coastline data from the World Data Base II (WDB). Each map was chosen to isolate a specific region along the land portion of the eclipse path. Curves of maximum eclipse are included as well as the outline of the antumbral shadow.
The maps are available as high resolution (300 dpi) PDF files.
| Figure Number | Title/Description | Map File |
| Figure 2.1 | Orthographic (Global) Map of 2010 Annular Solar Eclipse | |
| Figure 2.2 | Path of the Annular Eclipse Through Africa | |
| Figure 2.6 | Path of the Annular Eclipse Through Asia |
From NASA Tech. Pub. Annular and Total Solar Eclipses of 2010 (NASA/TP-2008-214171).
The following maps show path of the 2010 annular eclipse in greater detail. They use high resolution coastline, city and highway data from the Digital Chart of the World (DCW). Each map was chosen to isolate a specific region along the land portion of the eclipse path. Curves of maximum eclipse are included as well as the outline of the antumbral shadow. Within the antumbral path, curves of constant duration have been plotted for annularity.
The maps are available as high resolution (300 dpi) PDF files.
| Figure Number | Title/Description | Map File |
| Figure 2.3 | Annular Path - Central African Republic | |
| Figure 2.4 | Annular Path - Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| Figure 2.5 | Annular Path - Kenya | |
| Figure 2.7 | Annular Path - Central Maldive Islands | |
| Figure 2.8 | Annular Path - India and Sri Lanka | |
| Figure 2.9 | Annular Path - Burma | |
| Figure 2.10 | Annular Path - Burma - China | |
| Figure 2.11 | Annular Path - China - Luzhou | |
| Figure 2.12 | Annular Path - China Enshi | |
| Figure 2.13 | Annular Path - China - Zengzhou | |
| Figure 2.14 | Annular Path - China - Linyi |
From NASA Tech. Pub. Annular and Total Solar Eclipses of 2010 (NASA/TP-2008-214171).
The following figures depict the lunar limb profile, and cloudiness data along the eclipse path.
| Figure Number |
Title/Description | Figure File |
| Figure 2.15 | Lunar Limb Profile for 2010 January 15 at 07:00 UT | |
| Figure 2.16 | Average Cloudiness in January Along the Eclipse Path |
From NASA Tech. Pub. Annular and Total Solar Eclipses of 2010 (NASA/TP-2008-214171).
The following tables give detailed predictions including the Besselian Elements, shadow contacts with Earth, path of the antumbral shadow and topocentric data (with path corrections) along the path.
From NASA Tech. Pub. Annular and Total Solar Eclipses of 2010 (NASA/TP-2008-214171).
The following tables do not appear in the NASA 2010 Eclipse Bulletin due to page constraints. The tables provide detailed coordinates for the path of the antumbral shadow as well as the zones of grazing eclipse. They are listed in a format convenient for plotting on maps.
The following tables give the local circumstances of the eclipse from various cities throughout the Eastern Hemisphere. All contact times are given in the tables are in Universal Time.
From NASA Tech. Pub. Annular and Total Solar Eclipses of 2010 (NASA/TP-2008-214171).
The following tables also appear in the <Annular and Total Solar Eclipses of 2010 (NASA/TP-2008-214171).
The following links give detailed descriptions and explanations of the eclipse maps and tables.
All eclipse calculations are by Fred Espenak, and he assumes full responsibility for their accuracy. Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment:
"Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA's GSFC"
For more information, see: NASA Copyright Information
Special thanks to Solar Eclipse Mailing List moderator Michael Gill for proof reading and testing links on the ASE2010 Web page.
