When Is the Next Eclipse?

Updated October 2026 by Elena Stone

The next solar eclipse is the annular solar eclipse on February 6, 2027, seen from South America, Antarctica and western and southern Africa. The next lunar eclipse is the penumbral lunar eclipse on February 20, 2027.

The tool below shows which eclipses you can see from where you live, at what local time and how much of the Sun will be covered. It guesses your place from your time zone. Tap Change to pick a city or use your exact location.

When is the next solar eclipse?

The next solar eclipse anywhere on Earth is the annular solar eclipse on February 6, 2027. A solar eclipse is only seen from part of the planet, so the next one somewhere is often not the next one you can see. The first card in the tool answers that second question for your location.

The next total solar eclipse is on August 2, 2027. Its path of totality crosses Morocco, Spain, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Somalia.

Every year has between 2 and 5 solar eclipses. A total eclipse happens somewhere on Earth about every 18 months, but any one place sees totality only about once every 375 years on average. That is why people travel to stand inside the path.

Next total solar eclipse: August 2, 2027

How to read the eclipse map

The map in the tool shows the path of any eclipse in the list. The dark band is the path of totality, where the Moon covers the whole Sun. For an annular eclipse, the band is where you see the full ring. Outside the band the eclipse is partial. The lines mark where 75%, 50% and 25% of the Sun is covered at the peak. Select an eclipse in the list to load its path, then tap World to see the whole Earth.

Solar and lunar eclipses in 2027 and 2028

Every eclipse in the next two calendar years, in date order. Dates are in Universal Time, so an eclipse late in the day in Europe can fall on the previous evening in the Americas. The tool converts every time to your own time zone.

When is the next lunar eclipse?

The next lunar eclipse is the penumbral lunar eclipse on February 20, 2027. The next total lunar eclipse, the kind that turns the Moon red and gets called a blood moon, is on December 31, 2028.

A lunar eclipse is seen from the whole night side of Earth at once, so it reaches far more people than a solar eclipse. If the Moon is above your horizon while it passes through Earth’s shadow, you can see it. The tool checks the Moon’s height at each stage of the eclipse for your location.

Not every lunar eclipse is worth staying up for:

• Total: the whole Moon turns copper or deep red for up to about an hour and 45 minutes. This is the blood moon.
• Partial: Earth’s dark inner shadow takes a bite out of the Moon. The covered part looks dark grey or reddish.
• Penumbral: the Moon only passes through the faint outer shadow. It dims a little, and most people notice nothing.

Next eclipse visible from the USA

The next solar eclipse visible from the contiguous United States is the annular solar eclipse on January 26, 2028. These are the next eclipses, solar and lunar, that can be seen from at least part of the country:

The next total solar eclipses in the United States come one year apart. On August 23, 2044, the path of totality crosses northern Montana and North Dakota at sunset, with the Sun only a few degrees above the horizon. On August 12, 2045, the path runs coast to coast from northern California to Florida, and the longest totality, just over 6 minutes, falls off the Florida coast near the Bahamas.

How to watch a solar eclipse safely

Looking at the Sun during a solar eclipse can burn the retina in seconds, and it does not hurt while it happens. Sunglasses do not protect you, even very dark ones. Use one of these:

• Eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer that meet the ISO 12312-2 standard. Buy them from a maker on the American Astronomical Society’s list of reputable vendors, and throw away any pair with scratches or holes.
• A solar filter that covers the front of your telescope or binoculars. Never look through a telescope, binoculars or a camera viewfinder while wearing eclipse glasses. The optics concentrate the sunlight and burn through the glasses. Never use a filter that screws into the eyepiece.
• A pinhole projector. A small hole in a piece of card throws an image of the eclipsed Sun onto a second card or the ground. The gaps between tree leaves do the same thing.
• Welding filters of shade 12 or darker. Lighter shades are not safe.

During totality, and only then, you can take the glasses off and look at the Sun. Put them back on as soon as the first bright point of sunlight returns. In an annular or partial eclipse, keep them on the whole time. A lunar eclipse is safe to watch with your eyes, binoculars or a telescope.

Why there isn’t an eclipse every month

The Moon’s orbit is tilted by about 5 degrees to Earth’s orbit around the Sun. At most new moons the Moon passes above or below the Sun as seen from Earth, and at most full moons it misses Earth’s shadow. An eclipse only happens when a new or full moon falls close to one of the two points where the orbits cross.

That alignment comes around twice a year, in windows called eclipse seasons that are about 173 days apart. Each season brings a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse two weeks apart, and sometimes a third. Every year has at least 2 solar eclipses and, counting the faint penumbral kind, at least 2 lunar eclipses. The most eclipses possible in one year is 7.

Types of eclipses

A solar eclipse happens at new moon, when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth. There are four kinds:

• Total: the Moon covers the whole Sun. The sky turns dark, stars and planets appear and the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona, shows as a white glow around the black disc.
• Annular: the Moon is near the far point of its orbit and looks slightly smaller than the Sun. It leaves a bright ring, often called the ring of fire.
• Partial: the Moon covers part of the Sun. Outside the central path, every total and annular eclipse is partial.
• Hybrid: total along part of the path and annular along the rest, because the curve of Earth brings some places close enough to the Moon’s shadow for totality.

A lunar eclipse happens at full moon, when Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon. It can be total, partial or penumbral, as described above. Our guide to the types of eclipses covers each one in more detail.

Frequently asked questions