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October 23, 1976 Total Solar Eclipse

This eclipse wasn't visible in Washington DC - Which upcoming eclipses can bee 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.

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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/West Asia, Australia, South/East Africa, Pacific, 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 bee seen in your location?

Eclipse Shadow Path

Portion of Sun covered by the Moon (Eclipse obscuration)

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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 47.3 seconds.

Eclipse Stages WorldwideUTC TimeLocal Time in Washington DC*
First location to see the partial eclipse beginOct 23 at 02:38:30Oct 22 at 10:38:30 pm
First location to see the full eclipse beginOct 23 at 03:34:35Oct 22 at 11:34:35 pm
Maximum EclipseOct 23 at 05:12:59Oct 23 at 1:12:59 am
Last location to see the full eclipse endOct 23 at 06:51:16Oct 23 at 2:51:16 am
Last location to see the partial eclipse endOct 23 at 07:47:20Oct 23 at 3:47:20 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 Oct 12, 1977

Eclipse calculations usually accurate to a few seconds

Countries Where the Eclipse Is Visible

CountryTypeStartEndTotality Duration
Australia
Total Solar Eclipse
12:34 pm AWST5:47 pm AEST9m, 58s
Burundi
Total Solar Eclipse
5:35 am CAT7:31 am EAT1m, 15s
Tanzania
Total Solar Eclipse
5:50 am EAT6:41 am CAT3m, 42s
Angola
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:53 am SAST6:37 am SAST---
Antarctica
Partial Solar Eclipse
11:02 am MAWT4:49 pm DDUT---
Botswana
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:24 am SAST6:42 am SAST---
British Indian Ocean Territory
Partial Solar Eclipse
7:52 am IOT10:18 am IOT---
Central African Republic
Partial Solar Eclipse
4:56 am WAT5:24 am WAT---
Christmas Island
Partial Solar Eclipse
11:18 am CXT1:28 pm CXT---
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Partial Solar Eclipse
10:15 am CCT12:47 pm CCT---
Comoros
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:46 am EAT7:46 am EAT---
Congo Democratic Republic
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:30 am CAT6:37 am CAT---
Djibouti
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:57 am EAT7:17 am EAT---
East Timor
Partial Solar Eclipse
1:41 pm WITA2:53 pm WITA---
Egypt
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:32 am EET6:00 am EET---
Eritrea
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:58 am EAT7:15 am EAT---
Eswatini
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:12 am SAST6:46 am SAST---
Ethiopia
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:39 am EAT7:27 am EAT---
Fiji
Partial Solar Eclipse
7:04 pm TOT7:27 pm TOT---
French Southern Territories
Partial Solar Eclipse
7:46 am TFT11:09 am TFT---
India
Partial Solar Eclipse
8:31 am IST10:05 am IST---
Indonesia
Partial Solar Eclipse
11:09 am WIB4:14 pm WIT---
Kenya
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:53 am EAT7:35 am EAT---
Lesotho
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:19 am SAST6:45 am SAST---
Madagascar
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:46 am EAT8:00 am EAT---
Malawi
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:04 am CAT6:43 am CAT---
Maldives
Partial Solar Eclipse
7:53 am MVT10:02 am MVT---
Mauritius
Partial Solar Eclipse
6:46 am MUT9:22 am MUT---
Mayotte
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:47 am EAT7:48 am EAT---
Mozambique
Partial Solar Eclipse
4:48 am CAT6:47 am CAT---
Namibia
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:45 am SAST6:40 am SAST---
New Caledonia
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:03 pm NCT6:10 pm NCT---
New Zealand
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:42 pm NZST7:31 pm NZST---
Norfolk Island
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:27 pm NFT6:32 pm NFT---
Oman
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:52 am AST7:06 am AST---
Papua New Guinea
Partial Solar Eclipse
4:17 pm PGT5:33 pm PGT---
Reunion
Partial Solar Eclipse
6:59 am RET9:10 am RET---
Rwanda
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:35 am CAT6:30 am CAT---
Saudi Arabia
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:49 am AST7:08 am AST---
Seychelles
Partial Solar Eclipse
6:41 am SCT8:53 am SCT---
Solomon Islands
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:17 pm SBT6:26 pm SBT---
Somalia
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:38 am EAT7:33 am EAT---
South Africa
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:10 am SAST6:56 am SAST---
South Sudan
Partial Solar Eclipse
6:21 am EAT7:25 am EAT---
Sri Lanka
Partial Solar Eclipse
8:44 am IST10:15 am IST---
Sudan
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:21 am CAT5:20 am WAT---
Uganda
Partial Solar Eclipse
6:22 am EAT7:29 am EAT---
United Arab Emirates
Partial Solar Eclipse
6:18 am AST6:37 am AST---
Vanuatu
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:06 pm VUT5:54 pm VUT---
Yemen
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:44 am AST7:17 am AST---
Zambia
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:16 am CAT6:39 am CAT---
Zimbabwe
Partial Solar Eclipse
5:11 am CAT6:43 am CAT---

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 eclipse398,000,0009.62%
At least 10% partial218,000,0005.29%
At least 20% partial204,000,0004.94%
At least 30% partial174,000,0004.21%
At least 40% partial150,000,0003.62%
At least 50% partial127,000,0003.08%
At least 60% partial103,000,0002.51%
At least 70% partial82,300,0001.99%
At least 80% partial63,600,0001.54%
At least 90% partial28,000,0000.68%
Totality or annularity5,500,0000.13%

* 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 first eclipse this season.

Second eclipse this season: November 6–7, 1976 — Penumbral Lunar Eclipse