Partial Solar Eclipse Occurs on June 1, 2011

A partial solar eclipse will be visible from the high latitudes in the Northern hemisphere on June 1, 2011. This eclipse will be the second of four partial solar eclipses that occur throughout the year.

This image shows the partial solar eclipse’s path on June 1, 2011. The different shades of red depict the eclipse's visibility, with the strongest and innermost shade depicting 50 percent visibility, 25 percent visibility, and down to as low as zero percent visibility.

Where is the Eclipse Visible?

The June 1 partial solar eclipse will only be visible to those who plan on traveling north for the summer. A very small partial eclipse can be seen from northern Alaska, northern Canada, Greenland, Iceland, and portions of northeastern Asia.  A partial solar eclipse occurs when the moon’s shadow misses the Earth but passes very close to it. This allows many viewers the opportunity to view at least a small portion of the sun being blocked by the moon.

The Eclipse’s Path

The path of the partial solar eclipse begins at sunrise in Siberia and northern China at 19:25:18 Universal Time (UT). The eclipse’s path will travel northeast and end at 23:06:56 UT, just north of Newfoundland in the Atlantic Ocean.   

Greatest Eclipse Occurrence

The greatest eclipse occurs in far northwestern Russia, near Cheshskaya Bay at 21:16:11 UT with a magnitude of 0.602. This will occur about two hours after the eclipse begins its path from Siberia. An eclipse magnitude of 0.601 will be visible from the Arctic coast of western Siberia, while Icelanders will receive a magnitude of 0.462 just before sunset. The northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland will also get a midnight sun eclipse.

Eclipse Animation

The following animation shows the partial solar eclipse for June 1, 2011. The icon of the sun can be seen moving across towards the left in the animation. A white, round icon that represents the moon is seen underneath the icon of the sun.

The brightest shadow at the center of the moving shadow shows the area where the annular solar eclipse is most visible: The eclipse’s visibility is 50 percent or more. The outermost area with the lightest shading shows where the eclipse’s visibility is between zero and 50 percent.

Please click on the play button to view the animation. The pause button can also be used to temporarily suspend the animation.

Eclipses in 2011

The partial solar eclipse on June 1, 2011 is one of six eclipses that occur in 2011. The full list of eclipses in 2011 includes:

• A partial solar eclipse on January 4.
• A total lunar eclipse on June 15.
• A partial solar eclipse on July 1.
• A partial solar eclipse on November 25.
• A total lunar eclipse on December 10.

timeanddate.com will provide information on more eclipses close to the time of their occurrence.

Useful tools

Eclipse enthusiasts and travelers can use the World Clock’s Time Zone Converter to help discover when the eclipse will occur in cities’ local time. People can also get the latest weather information for the eclipse’s date from the links located on the results page.

There are tips and tricks on our website that you can learn when viewing the partial solar eclipse. More useful tools are found at the bottom of this page.

Note: Universal Time (UT) is a timescale based on the Earth’s rotation. UT is about 0.265 seconds behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) during most of July. Eclipse information courtesy of Fred Espenak, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and P. Harrington, author of Eclipse! The What, Where, When, Why & How Guide to Watching Solar and Lunar Eclipses.