February 26, 1979 — 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.

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Live Eclipse Animation has ended.

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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: West in Europe, North 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.

3D Eclipse Animation

Portion of Sun covered by the Moon (Eclipse obscuration)

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The dark areas symbolize night and twilight.

Note: The animation follows the eclipse shadow from west to east, its point of view moving around the planet at a greater speed than Earth's rotation. If you don't take into account this rapid change of perspective, it may look like Earth is spinning in the wrong direction.

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.

Event	UTC Time	Time in Washington DC*
First location to see the partial eclipse begin	Feb 26 at 14:45:15	Feb 26 at 9:45:15 am
First location to see the full eclipse begin	Feb 26 at 16:07:16	Feb 26 at 11:07:16 am
Maximum Eclipse	Feb 26 at 16:54:17	Feb 26 at 11:54:17 am
Last location to see the full eclipse end	Feb 26 at 17:40:56	Feb 26 at 12:40:56 pm
Last location to see the partial eclipse end	Feb 26 at 19:03:04	Feb 26 at 2:03:04 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 16, 1980.