September 1: Annular Solar Eclipse
Annular eclipse September 2016
Here's the path of annularity across central Africa for the solar eclipse on September 1, 2016.
Xavier Jubier
Annular solar eclipses typically occur when the Moon is its farthest from Earth, and that's the situation on September 1st (apogee falls on the 6th).
This time the relatively narrow track crosses central Africa and specifically parts of Gabon, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Madagascar. At the moment of greatest eclipse, 9:06:54 UT, well-placed observers in Mozambique get to see the Moon's disk completely silhouetted by sunlight for 186 seconds. The area where partial phases occur extends across virtually all of Africa and parts of the Arabian Peninsula.
September 16: Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
The year's fourth and final eclipse is another barely-there circumstance during which the Moon again slides through Earth's vague outer shadow. Dusky shading on the lunar disk's northern half should be easy to spot when the eclipse reaches its maximum at 18:54 UT. However, no one in North America will see it. Instead, this event is well placed for observers in Europe, Africa, and Asia.