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October 12, 1977 Total Solar Eclipse

Was this Total Solar Eclipse visible in Washington DC?

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: North in Asia, North America, North/West South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic.

Expand for some cities where at least part of the total eclipse was visible
Expand for some cities where partial eclipse was visible

Was this eclipse visible in Washington DC?

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.

EventUTC TimeTime in Washington DC*
First location to see the partial eclipse beginOct 12 at 17:47:36Oct 12 at 1:47:36 pm
First location to see the full eclipse beginOct 12 at 18:48:13Oct 12 at 2:48:13 pm
Maximum EclipseOct 12 at 20:26:39Oct 12 at 4:26:39 pm
Last location to see the full eclipse endOct 12 at 22:05:16Oct 12 at 6:05:16 pm
Last location to see the partial eclipse endOct 12 at 23:05:43Oct 12 at 7:05:43 pm

* 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. Please note that the local times for Washington DC are meant as a guideline in case you want to view the eclipse via a live webcam. They do not mean that the eclipse is necessarily visible there.

Eclipse calculations usually accurate to a few seconds.

Eclipses visible in Washington DC.

Next Total Solar Eclipse will be on Feb 26, 1979.

How Many People Can See This Eclipse?

Number of People Seeing...Number of People*Fraction of World Population
Any part of the eclipse616,000,0007.80%
At least 10% partial453,000,0005.74%
At least 20% partial376,000,0004.77%
At least 30% partial326,000,0004.13%
At least 40% partial252,000,0003.20%
At least 50% partial221,000,0002.80%
At least 60% partial126,000,0001.60%
At least 70% partial88,700,0001.12%
At least 80% partial71,500,0000.91%
At least 90% partial31,700,0000.40%
Totality or annularity3,210,0000.04%

* 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: September 27, 1977 — Penumbral Lunar Eclipse