Eclipses in 2023

A solar eclipse falls on an amavasya, when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth; a lunar eclipse on a purnima, when the Earth’s shadow falls on the Moon. It happens only when the Moon is then near one of the two points where its path crosses the Sun’s path. Jyotisha names those two points Rahu and Ketu.

Chapters 4 and 5 of the Surya Siddhanta (on lunar and solar eclipses) give the method for the time, the extent and the duration of an eclipse: the positions of the Sun, Moon and Rahu, the sizes of their discs and the size of the shadow. Sparsha (first contact), madhya (middle) and moksha (release) are that tradition’s words.

Dharmashastra digests such as the Nirnaya Sindhu call the time before an eclipse sutak: four prahar (about 12 hours) before a solar eclipse and three prahar (about 9 hours) before a lunar one. For that time and the eclipse itself they prescribe japa, meditation, bathing and giving, and relax the rules for children, the elderly and the unwell. Sutak is kept only where the eclipse is seen. Details differ between traditions.

Never look at the Sun with the naked eye, sunglasses, a camera or binoculars, even during an eclipse. Certified solar-filter glasses or a pinhole projection are the safe ways. A lunar eclipse is safe to watch with the naked eye.

Sun and Moon positions come from NASA JPL’s DE421 ephemeris; every contact is found by root-finding on the geometry. For 2026–2027 the greatest-eclipse and contact times agree with NASA’s published predictions to within seconds. Visible from a city means the Sun or Moon is above its horizon at the time.