A total solar eclipse will occur at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Wednesday, May 11, 2078,[1] with a magnitude of 1.0701. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 16 hours after perigee (on May 11, 2078, at 2:10 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter will be larger.[2]
The path of totality will be visible from parts of Kiribati, Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, the western Florida panhandle, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, in the United States, and the eastern Canary Islands. A partial solar eclipse will also be visible for parts of Oceania, North America, Central America, the Caribbean, northern South America, Western Europe, and Northwest Africa.
The path of totality will begin over the Pacific Ocean near Caroline Island, Kiribati. From there, it will track northeast towards North America, making landfall on the Mexican coast. In Mexico, totality will be visible in the cities of Manzanillo, Guadalajara, Aguascalientes, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, Ciudad Victoria, and Matamoros, Tamaulipas. The path then briefly crosses into the United States in southern Texas, including McAllen and Brownsville before crossing the Gulf of Mexico. It then re-enters the United States, passing through Louisiana (including New Orleans and Baton Rouge), Mississippi (including Biloxi), Alabama (including Mobile and Montgomery), far northwestern Florida, Georgia (including Atlanta, Athens, and Augusta), South Carolina (including Columbia and Greenville), North Carolina (including Charlotte and Raleigh), and Virginia (including Virginia Beach). It then passes over the Atlantic Ocean and ends near the Canary Islands.[3]
Shown below are two tables displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. The first table outlines times at which the moon's penumbra or umbra attains the specific parameter, and the second table describes various other parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[4]
| First Penumbral External Contact | 2078 May 11 at 15:20:00.9 UTC | |
| First Umbral External Contact | 2078 May 11 at 16:14:08.4 UTC | |
| First Central Line | 2078 May 11 at 16:15:33.1 UTC | |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 2078 May 11 at 16:16:57.9 UTC | |
| First Penumbral Internal Contact | 2078 May 11 at 17:12:36.4 UTC | |
| Greatest Eclipse | 2078 May 11 at 17:56:54.8 UTC | |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 2078 May 11 at 17:58:47.4 UTC | |
| Greatest Duration | 2078 May 11 at 18:02:17.5 UTC | |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 2078 May 11 at 18:04:05.9 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral Internal Contact | 2078 May 11 at 18:41:03.0 UTC | |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 2078 May 11 at 19:36:48.0 UTC | |
| Last Central Line | 2078 May 11 at 19:38:12.0 UTC | |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 2078 May 11 at 19:39:36.1 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 2078 May 11 at 20:33:47.3 UTC |
| Eclipse Magnitude | 1.07012 | |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 1.14516 | |
| Gamma | 0.18380 | |
| Sun Right Ascension | 03h16m09.4s | |
| Sun Declination | +18°07'17.6" | |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 15'50.2" | |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.7" | |
| Moon Right Ascension | 03h15m52.6s | |
| Moon Declination | +18°17'46.7" | |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'39.9" | |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 1°01'09.6" | |
| ΔT | 104.1 s |
See also: Eclipse cycle. This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.