TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSEBelize City, BelizeSaturday 14 October 2023 · times in UTC-6
5m 12s
OF TOTAL DARKNESS
The Moon crossed the centre of the Sun but was too far away to cover it, so a complete ring of sunlight remained. It never went dark, and it was never safe to look without a filter.
90.5% COVERED SUN 64° UP 10 km OFF CENTRE
02 · TIMING
When did it happen?
The whole eclipse ran 3h 27m. All times are local, in UTC-6.
09:52 MAX 11:34 13:19
| Phase | LOCAL TIME | SUN |
|---|---|---|
| First contactthe Moon touches the Sun's edge | 09:52 | 53° SE |
| Totality beginsfilters off — the corona | 11:31 | — |
| Maximumthe deepest point | 11:34 | 64° S |
| Totality endsfilters back on, immediately | 11:36 | — |
| Last contactthe Sun is whole again | 13:19 | 54° SW |
03 · DIRECTION
Where was it in the sky?
At maximum the Sun stood 64° above the horizon to the south — high enough to clear most buildings and trees.
The Sun's height and bearing at maximum, from Belize City. The horizon is at 0°.
THE EXPERIENCE
What it was actually like
At maximum the Moon sat wholly inside the Sun's disc and left a complete ring of sunlight. There was no corona and no darkness — the remaining ring was still far too bright to look at — but the light went strange and flat, and shadows sharpened.
04 · POSITION
Where was it seen?
Belize City lay inside the path, 10 km from its centre line. The path was 185 km wide here.
THE DAY
- SUNRISE
- 05:45
- SUNSET
- 17:31
- DAY LENGTH
- 11h 46m
- CIVIL DUSK
- 17:53
REFERENCE FIGURES
- OBSCURATION
- 90.5%
- COORDINATES
- 17.504° N, 88.197° W
- PATH WIDTH
- 185 km
- SHADOW SPEED
- 2,019 km/h
- SAROS
- 134 · no. 41
- MAGNITUDE
- 0.9733
- GAMMA
- 0.3754
Contact times are accurate to a couple of seconds at the coordinates above. Altitudes are geometric — unrefracted, on the WGS 84 ellipsoid.
NEXT FROM BELIZE CITY
What else is coming here?
The rest of what the sky over Belize City has coming, soonest first.