Maybe it was cloudy when you tried the eclipse, or you live outside the path of totality. Maybe you enjoyed the spectacle so much that you just can’t wait for the next one.
Either way, there are more opportunities to witness the celestial spectacle of a solar eclipse, even if you’ll have to wait 20 years for the next one with totality to touch any part of the continental US.
An annular eclipsewhen the moon crosses the center of the sun but is so far from the earth that it does not completely block it, will occur on October 2 this year in Uruguay and Argentina, with a partial eclipse visible in several South American countries.
Europe, including the United Kingdom, gets a turn March 29 next year, when a partial solar eclipse will pass. Some cities in Scotland will experience more than 40% eclipse of the sun.
And the next total eclipse is everywhere August 12, 2026, covering large areas of the northern hemisphere, although totality will be limited to Greenland, Iceland, Spain, Russia and a small area of Portugal. The UK will see a partial eclipse of more than 90%.
to newsletter promotion
In the continental US, the next total solar eclipse is on August 22, 2044 in North and South Dakota and Montana, plus northern Canada. After that, it’s less than a year until the next coast-to-coast total eclipse in the US, op August 12, 2045stretching from California to Florida.
“After people see a total solar eclipse, the first question they ask is when is the next one,” said John Gianforte, professor of space science at the University of New Hampshire and the director of its observatory.
“Eclipses happen quite often, not all of them are total, but some are, and some of them are not that far. People who have seen one understand why people get emotional and make a big deal about traveling to watch a total solar eclipse.”
Nasa has a list of upcoming solar and lunar eclipses here.
