Eclipses 2016

Retrograde windows run from the station-retrograde day to the station-direct day, both counted, in UTC — the same windows as the 2016 retrograde calendar.

Eclipses and times of greatest eclipse are computed with astronomy-engine and checked against NASA’s eclipse catalog; see the method.

01When are the eclipses in 2016?

Total solar: 9 Mar 2016, 18° Pisces; Penumbral lunar: 23 Mar 2016, 3° Libra; Annular solar: 1 Sep 2016, 9° Virgo; Penumbral lunar: 16 Sep 2016, 24° Pisces. Times of greatest eclipse are on this page, in UTC.

02When is eclipse season in 2016?

22 Feb 2016 to 30 Mar 2016 (south node); 17 Aug 2016 to 23 Sep 2016 (north node). A season here is every UTC day on which the Sun stands within 18.5° of one of the Moon’s nodes.

03Which planets were retrograde during the 2016 eclipses?

Total solar eclipse on 9 Mar: Retrograde that day: Jupiter. Penumbral lunar eclipse on 23 Mar: Retrograde that day: Jupiter. Annular solar eclipse on 1 Sep: Retrograde that day: Mercury, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. It falls on day 3 of a 24-day Mercury retrograde. Penumbral lunar eclipse on 16 Sep: Retrograde that day: Mercury, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. It falls on day 18 of a 24-day Mercury retrograde.

04What is an eclipse season?

The Moon’s orbit is tilted about five degrees to the Sun’s path, so most new and full moons pass above or below the Sun or Earth’s shadow. Twice a year, for about five weeks, the Sun stands near one of the two points where the orbits cross, the nodes; any new or full moon then is close enough to the node to cast or catch a shadow. Every season has at least two eclipses, a solar and a lunar, and sometimes three.