Home   Sun, Moon & Space   Eclipses   December 4, 2002 Total Solar Eclipse

December 4, 2002 Total Solar Eclipse

This eclipse wasn't visible in Washington DC - Which upcoming eclipses can be seen in your location?

What the Eclipse Looked Like Near the Maximum Point

The animation shows what the eclipse approximately looked like near the maximum point. The curvature of the Moon's path is due to the Earth's rotation.

Live Eclipse Animation will start at:
Live Eclipse Animation has ended.
You are using an outdated browser, to view the animation please update or switch to a modern browser. Alternatively you can view the old animation by clicking here.

Where the Eclipse Was Seen

Try our new interactive eclipse maps. Zoom in and search for accurate eclipse times and visualizations for any location.


Path of the Eclipse Shadow

Regions that saw, at least, a partial eclipse: South in Asia, Australia, Much of Africa, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Antarctica.

Expand for a list of selected cities where at least part of the total eclipse was visible
Expand for a list of selected cities where the partial eclipse was visible

This eclipse wasn't visible in Washington DC - Which upcoming eclipses can be seen in your location?

Eclipse Shadow Path

Portion of Sun covered by the Moon (Eclipse obscuration)

0%

>0%

40%

90%

100%

The dark areas symbolize night and twilight.

When the Eclipse Happened Worldwide — Timeline

The eclipse started at one location and ended at another. The times below are actual times (in UTC) when the eclipse occurred. This calculation uses a Delta T value of 64.5 seconds.

Eclipse Stages WorldwideUTC TimeLocal Time in Washington DC*
First location to see the partial eclipse beginDec 4 at 04:51:24Dec 3 at 11:51:24 pm
First location to see the full eclipse beginDec 4 at 05:50:20Dec 4 at 12:50:20 am
Maximum EclipseDec 4 at 07:31:13Dec 4 at 2:31:13 am
Last location to see the full eclipse endDec 4 at 09:11:55Dec 4 at 4:11:55 am
Last location to see the partial eclipse endDec 4 at 10:11:02Dec 4 at 5:11:02 am

* These local times do not refer to a specific location but indicate the beginning, peak, and end of the eclipse on a global scale, each line referring to a different location. This eclipse isn't visible in Washington DC.

Upcoming eclipses visible in Washington DC

Next Total Solar Eclipse will be on Nov 23 – Nov 24, 2003

Eclipse calculations usually accurate to a few seconds

Countries Where the Eclipse Is Visible

CountryTypeStartEndTotality Duration
Angola
Total Solar Eclipse
5:53 am WAT9:18 am CAT12m, 4s
Australia
Total Solar Eclipse
3:54 pm AWST6:11 pm AWST1m, 48s
Botswana
Total Solar Eclipse
7:04 am CAT9:34 am SAST10m, 3s
Mozambique
Total Solar Eclipse
7:02 am CAT9:47 am CAT7m, 30s
Namibia
Total Solar Eclipse
7:04 am CAT9:28 am SAST2m, 16s
South Africa
Total Solar Eclipse
7:11 am SAST10:17 am SAST5m, 20s
Zambia
Total Solar Eclipse
6:57 am CAT9:24 am CAT3m, 24s
Zimbabwe
Total Solar Eclipse
7:03 am CAT9:37 am CAT9m, 51s
Algeria
Partial Solar Eclipse
7:39 am EET7:20 am CET---
Antarctica
Partial Solar Eclipse
9:55 am 5:11 pm ---
Benin
Partial Solar Eclipse
6:46 am WAT6:37 am GMT---
Burkina Faso
Partial Solar Eclipse
6:56 am WAT6:35 am GMT---
Burundi
Partial Solar Eclipse
6:55 am CAT9:00 am CAT---
Cameroon
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:51 am WAT7:43 am WAT---
Central African Republic
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:51 am WAT7:42 am WAT---
Chad
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:53 am WAT7:34 am WAT---
Christmas Island
Partial Solar Eclipse
3:40 pm CXT4:39 pm CXT---
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Partial Solar Eclipse
2:58 pm CCT3:54 pm CCT---
Comoros
Partial Solar Eclipse
8:11 am EAT10:35 am EAT---
Congo
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:51 am WAT7:52 am WAT---
Congo Democratic Republic
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:51 am WAT9:19 am CAT---
Cote d'Ivoire
Partial Solar Eclipse
6:06 am GMT6:41 am GMT---
East Timor
Partial Solar Eclipse
4:40 pm WITA6:53 pm TLT---
Equatorial Guinea
Partial Solar Eclipse
6:02 am WAT7:45 am WAT---
Eswatini
Partial Solar Eclipse
7:17 am SAST9:46 am SAST---
Ethiopia
Partial Solar Eclipse
8:06 am EAT9:40 am EAT---
French Southern Territories
Partial Solar Eclipse
10:14 am TFT2:31 pm TFT---
Gabon
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:51 am WAT7:50 am WAT---
Ghana
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:51 am GMT6:39 am GMT---
Guinea
Partial Solar Eclipse
6:32 am GMT6:39 am GMT---
Indonesia
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:34 pm WIT6:02 pm WITA---
Kenya
Partial Solar Eclipse
7:59 am EAT10:07 am EAT---
Lesotho
Partial Solar Eclipse
7:21 am SAST9:45 am SAST---
Liberia
Partial Solar Eclipse
6:25 am GMT6:41 am GMT---
Libya
Partial Solar Eclipse
7:24 am EET7:58 am EET---
Madagascar
Partial Solar Eclipse
8:15 am EAT11:11 am EAT---
Malawi
Partial Solar Eclipse
7:59 am EAT9:33 am CAT---
Mali
Partial Solar Eclipse
6:57 am WAT6:36 am GMT---
Mauritius
Partial Solar Eclipse
9:42 am MUT12:33 pm MUT---
Mayotte
Partial Solar Eclipse
8:14 am EAT10:38 am EAT---
New Zealand
Partial Solar Eclipse
9:06 pm NZDT9:51 pm NZDT---
Niger
Partial Solar Eclipse
6:12 am WAT7:30 am WAT---
Nigeria
Partial Solar Eclipse
6:07 am WAT7:39 am WAT---
Papua New Guinea
Partial Solar Eclipse
6:33 pm PGT5:43 pm WIT---
Reunion
Partial Solar Eclipse
9:38 am RET12:21 pm RET---
Rwanda
Partial Solar Eclipse
6:55 am CAT8:56 am CAT---
Saint Helena
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:42 am GMT7:04 am GMT---
Sao Tome and Principe
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:19 am GMT6:44 am GMT---
Seychelles
Partial Solar Eclipse
9:15 am SCT11:30 am SCT---
Somalia
Partial Solar Eclipse
8:09 am EAT9:58 am EAT---
South Sudan
Partial Solar Eclipse
6:56 am CAT8:42 am CAT---
Sudan
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:56 am WAT7:30 am WAT---
Tanzania
Partial Solar Eclipse
6:55 am CAT9:25 am CAT---
Togo
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:49 am GMT6:37 am GMT---
Uganda
Partial Solar Eclipse
6:55 am CAT9:54 am EAT---

All times shown in this table are local time. (Note: more than one time zone is listed.) "Totality duration" gives the time between the start and finish of totality within the entire country (not at one location).

How Many People Can See This Eclipse?

Number of People Seeing...Number of People*Fraction of World Population
Any part of the eclipse593,000,0009.41%
At least 10% partial442,000,0007.00%
At least 20% partial413,000,0006.55%
At least 30% partial350,000,0005.55%
At least 40% partial272,000,0004.32%
At least 50% partial214,000,0003.40%
At least 60% partial130,000,0002.07%
At least 70% partial98,100,0001.56%
At least 80% partial63,400,0001.01%
At least 90% partial26,100,0000.41%
Totality or annularity2,510,0000.04%

* The number of people refers to the resident population (as a round number) in areas where the eclipse is visible. timeanddate has calculated these numbers using raw population data provided by the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) at Columbia University. The raw data is based on population estimates from the year 2000 to 2020.

An Eclipse Never Comes Alone!

A solar eclipse always occurs about two weeks before or after a lunar eclipse.

Usually, there are two eclipses in a row, but other times, there are three during the same eclipse season.

All eclipses 1900 — 2199

This is the second eclipse this season.

First eclipse this season: November 19–20, 2002 — Penumbral Lunar Eclipse