Next Solar Eclipse
| Epoch | Confidence |
|---|---|
| Next Solar Eclipse | High |
Overview
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon casts a shadow anywhere onto the Earth. It is a fairly rare event that always occurs during a New Moon.
When the moon completely covers the disk of the sun from the perpective of a point on the Earth, it is called a Total Solar Eclipse. When the moon appears to be smaller than the sun, with the sun visible in a 'Ring of Fire' around the edge, it is called an Annular Solar Eclipse. When the moon covers part of the sun but doesn't intersect the center of the sun's disk, it is called a Partial Solar Eclipse.
This entry also displays the node at which the eclipse took place as well as the hemisphere of Earth where it is visible at its maximum.
Solar eclipses typically are only viewable from a small area on the Earth's surface, and they are historically significant events that have inspired legend, religion, and myth. The solar eclipse of 8 April 2024 CE is what inspired me to build this website.
Info
Solar eclipses happen two to four times per year, though total solar eclipses are rarer (every two or three years). They can only occur when a New Moon happens very near to the moon's ascending or descending nodes—the points along the lunar orbit that intersect the Earth's equator. These are at 0°/360° and 180° respectively.
Due to the oblong shape of the moon's orbit, the moon can either appear larger or smaller than the sun from the perspective of Earth. This coincidence produces the two different types of central eclipses, total and annular.
During a total solar eclipse, the sun's corona is visible to the naked eye, providing a spectacular sight as well as an opportunity to conduct science.
Accuracy
This calculation is reasonably accurate (to within seconds or minutes) for thousands of years before and after the year 2000 CE. Outside of that, errors are induced which can grow from hours to even days.
This calculation relies on the New Moon calculation as well as Terrestrial Time, each of which have potential to induce these errors.
Source
This calculation in its entirety was sourced from Astronomical Algorithms (1991) by Jean Meeus.
This cycle can be calibrated using the ephemerides at this website.