Panchang · Eclipses · Cape Town
2023 has 2 solar and 2 lunar eclipses; 2 are visible from Cape Town.
Times in Cape Town (Africa/Johannesburg, UTC+2).
Times in Cape Town (Africa/Johannesburg, UTC+2). A lunar eclipse’s phases happen at the same instant everywhere; whether you see it depends on the Moon being above your horizon. A solar eclipse’s times and extent differ from city to city.
Surya grahan
Thursday, 20 April 2023
Not visible from Cape Town.
Sutak†: None at Cape Town: the texts count a grahan’s sutak only where the eclipse is seen.
Chandra grahan
Friday, 5 May 2023
Visible from Cape Town from 5:56 pm to 9:31 pm. The Moon rises already in eclipse (grastodaya).
Sutak†: The Moon only dims slightly in a penumbral eclipse; most almanacs do not count it as a grahan and give no sutak.
Surya grahan
Saturday, 14 October 2023
Not visible from Cape Town.
Sutak†: None at Cape Town: the texts count a grahan’s sutak only where the eclipse is seen.
Chandra grahan
Saturday, 28 October 2023
Visible from Cape Town from 9:35 pm to 10:52 pm.
Sutak†: Sat, 28 Oct, 12:35 pm to 10:52 pm (from 9 hours, three prahar before the eclipse begins until it ends).
† Practice varies. Traditions differ on how long sutak lasts, what it is counted from (first contact, or moonrise when the Moon rises eclipsed) and whom it applies to. The rule used here: from 12 hours before a solar eclipse and 9 hours before a lunar one begins, until it ends, and only where the eclipse is visible. Follow the practice of your family or local almanac.
See also: Rahu · Ketu · Amavasya · Purnima · Festivals and vrats
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.
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