Solar & Lunar Eclipses, 2026–2035
Every total, annular, partial, and penumbral eclipse visible from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres over the next decade — with dates, Saros numbers, and viewing safety built in.
Northern Hemisphere Focus
Observational Guide
A “Blood Moon” visible across North America. The moon passes through Earth’s darkest shadow for 59 minutes.
European Totality
First total eclipse in mainland Europe since 1999. Path crosses Greenland, Iceland, and Northern Spain.
93% coverage. Visible from the USA, Canada, and Western Europe.
Shadow grazing the northern lunar pole. Subtle dimming visible under clear skies.
An extremely shallow graze — only ~0.3% of the Moon touches the penumbra. Effectively invisible to the naked eye. Visible in principle from Africa, Asia, and Oceania.
The Great Totality
Over 6 minutes of darkness. Luxor, Egypt is the prime viewing destination.
Evening shadow grazing visible across the Western Hemisphere.
Shallow partial (7%). Visible in the pre-dawn sky for Europe.
Ends in Spain. Visible as a deep partial eclipse for the Eastern US.
39% of the Moon dips into the umbra. Visible in the evening across Western Europe and Africa.
New Year’s Blood Moon
Ushering in 2029. Falls on a monthly blue moon (the second full moon of December 2028, per UT).
Visible from almost all of North America. High magnitude partiality.
High northern latitude visibility including Scandinavia and Greenland.
Long Totality
Extremely long dark eclipse (1h 42m) — the longest total lunar eclipse by totality duration of the 21st century.
Central totality visible across the Northern sky during the winter solstice.
The Eurasian Ring
Path through Algeria, Greece, Turkey, and China.
Subtle shadow grazing at year-end.
Alaskan Totality
Only US totality between 2024-2044. Visible from Nome and Utqiagvik.
Deep Blood Moon visible across the Western Hemisphere.
Central totality visible for East Asia and Western USA.
Central African and Chad totality, with the path continuing to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and beyond. Duration over 4 minutes.
Northern China Totality
Path of totality crosses Beijing and Pyongyang, passing just north of Tokyo — which sees a near-total (99.5%) partial eclipse instead.
Southern Hemisphere Focus
The South Pole Ring
Annularity rising over Antarctica. Partial phases visible in South Africa and Tasmania.
Blood Moon Peak
Visible throughout the Pacific. Australia and New Zealand will see the moon turn deep crimson in the evening sky.
93% coverage. Fully visible from South America, Africa, Europe, and western Asia.
Ring of Fire
Path through Chile, Argentina, and West Africa. 7m 51s duration.
An extremely shallow graze — only ~0.3% of the Moon touches the penumbra, effectively invisible. Visible in principle from Africa, Oceania, and Antarctica.
Shadow grazing visible from Oceania and South America.
The Amazon Ring
Annularity crosses Ecuador, Peru, northern Brazil, and French Guiana, then continues out over the Atlantic before reaching southwestern Iberia — one of the longest annular eclipses of the century, over 10 minutes at greatest.
Sydney Totality
A premier event for Australia. Totality passes directly over Sydney Harbor and Dunedin, NZ.
39% of the Moon dips into the umbra. Visible across Africa, the Indian Ocean, and Australia.
New Year’s Eve Eclipse
Total eclipse ushering in 2029 for Australia and Asia. Whether this counts as a “Blue Moon” depends on your calendar convention and time zone, so treat that label loosely rather than as a fixed fact.
Extremely long totality visible from South America and Africa.
A modest partial eclipse visible from southern Chile and Argentina.
Visible from Southern Argentina and Antarctica.
Deep central totality visible across Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia during solstice week.
Just over half the Moon dips into shadow. Fully visible from East Africa, Antarctica, and Australia.
Outback Totality
Crossing Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa, then the path reaches Australia via the Great Australian Bight, passing just north of Adelaide before crossing into New South Wales and Queensland.
Lunar south pole grazing, visible from Africa and Asia. Final shadow of 2030.
Ring of fire crossing Angola, Zambia, and Tanzania, then continuing over the Indian Ocean to Sri Lanka and Indonesia.
Hybrid Alignment
Transitioning from total to annular. Visible across the South Pacific.
Remote ring of fire over the mid-South Atlantic; the path stays entirely at sea, with no land witnessing annularity.
A total lunar eclipse visible from the Americas and Africa.
Visible from the Americas, Africa, and parts of Europe as the Moon rises or sets.
Perfect evening Blood Moon for Oceania and the Pacific.
Path through Chile and Argentina. Visible as a deep partial for Oceania.
A “Ring of Fire” crossing central New Zealand and French Polynesia; eastern Australia sees only a partial eclipse.
How Solar and Lunar Eclipses Happen
Solar Eclipse
The Moon passes directly between the Sun and Earth, casting its shadow onto Earth’s surface. Observers inside the narrow shadow path see the Sun partially or fully blocked, depending on how precisely the three bodies align.
Lunar Eclipse
Earth passes directly between the Sun and the Moon, and Earth’s shadow falls across the lunar surface. Because Earth’s shadow is much larger than the Moon, lunar eclipses are visible from an entire night hemisphere at once, unlike the narrow path of a solar eclipse.
Eclipses don’t happen every month because the Moon’s orbit is tilted about 5° relative to Earth’s path around the Sun. Alignment only happens near the two points where the Moon’s orbit crosses that plane — a detail covered in more depth in our Moon precession cycles article.
Eclipse Types Explained
Solar Eclipses
The Moon fully covers the Sun’s disc, revealing the corona. Visible only within a narrow path a few hundred kilometers wide.
The Moon is too far from Earth in its orbit to fully cover the Sun, leaving a bright ring, or “ring of fire,” around its edge.
The Moon covers only part of the Sun’s disc. Visible across a much wider region than totality or annularity.
A rare eclipse that appears total along part of its path and annular along the rest, due to the curvature of Earth’s surface.
Lunar Eclipses
The Moon passes fully into Earth’s darkest shadow (the umbra) and takes on a deep red “Blood Moon” color.
Only part of the Moon enters the umbra, so a portion of the disc darkens while the rest stays bright.
The Moon passes only through Earth’s outer, lighter shadow (the penumbra), producing a subtle dimming that’s easy to miss.
The Saros Cycle: Why Eclipses Repeat
Every eclipse card above lists a Saros number. Eclipses sharing the same number belong to the same family — near-identical alignments of Sun, Moon, and Earth that recur roughly every 18 years, 11 days, and 8 hours, drifting slightly in longitude each time due to that extra 8-hour offset.
A single Saros series can run for 12–13 centuries, producing 70–80 eclipses before the geometry finally drifts out of alignment. For the full mechanics of why the cycle length works out to that exact interval, see our dedicated breakdown: Why Do Eclipses Repeat Every 18 Years?
How to Photograph an Eclipse
Solar Eclipses
- Use a certified solar filter over the front of your lens at all times — not just eclipse glasses over your eye.
- A telephoto lens (400mm+) fills the frame; a tripod is essential for sharp, high-magnification shots.
- Only remove the filter during the brief window of totality for a total eclipse — never during a partial or annular phase.
- Shoot in RAW and bracket exposures to capture both the corona and prominences.
Lunar Eclipses
- No filter is needed — a lunar eclipse is as safe to photograph directly as a normal full moon.
- A tripod and remote shutter (or timer) prevent blur during longer exposures as the Moon dims.
- Expect to lengthen exposure time significantly as totality approaches — the “Blood Moon” phase is far dimmer than a normal full moon.
- A telephoto or telescope setup pairs well with the composition notes in our Lunar 100 field guide for framing surface detail alongside the eclipse shadow.
Frequently Asked Questions
Optical Requirements for 2026-2035
To safely view the partial phases of a solar eclipse, your eyewear must meet these laboratory-verified criteria:
- Luminous Transmittance: Blocks 99.999% of intense visible light (Standard filters must transmit between 0.0012% and 0.00004%).
- Radiation Filtering: 100% blockage of harmful ultraviolet (UVA/UVB) and infrared (IR) radiation.
- Material Integrity: Filters must be free of scratches, bubbles, pinholes (>200μm), or dull spots that could concentrate light.
- Field of View: Lenses must provide a minimum horizontal aperture to prevent peripheral light bleed.
DANGER: Regular sunglasses, even “polarized” or “dark” versions, are thousands of times too bright. Looking through a camera or telescope with eclipse glasses will burn through the filter instantly.