When is the next solar eclipse?

Between the years 2001 and 2100 there will be 224 eclipses, with 68 of them total. For the most recent and the next solar eclipse see our maps below. You will only be able to see a solar eclipse if you are in a location within the path of the eclipse shadow across the planet, which varies completely for every single eclipse. In terms of seeing one, everything about a solar eclipse is specific to one day along a clearly defined route across the globe.

If you are anywhere along the eclipse path for a specific event, you will – weather-permitting - see some form of eclipse on the specified date. Along part of that path, the eclipse will be total, meaning the moon's silhouette will completely cover the sun for the very short period of darkness known as 'totality', leaving a spectacular, blazing "ring of fire" around the moon's silhouette. And anywhere on earth not on the path of a particular eclipse will not notice anything odd at all!

The biggest event on astronomers' calendars right now is the scheduled total solar eclipse in April 2024, a long blackout of up to four minutes, and superb visibility across swathes of the USA. And of course, if you can travel with an astronomy expert and eclipse chaser, as you can with several of the tours we feature, all the better!