Countdown to
The Next Solar Eclipse
A solar eclipse is the Moon sliding between Earth and the Sun, dimming the day.
Today is the Solar Eclipse.
96 days until the Next Solar Eclipse, on Saturday, February 6, 2027.
The Next Solar Eclipse is Saturday, February 6, 2027. Happens irregularly, on dates taken from NASA's eclipse catalog.Provisional date — not yet officially confirmed.
A solar eclipse happens when the new moon passes directly in front of the Sun and throws its shadow onto Earth. Where that shadow falls the sky dims — from a shallow bite out of the Sun to, along a narrow track, a few minutes of eerie midday twilight with the Sun’s corona blazing around a black disk. Eclipses don’t follow a tidy calendar; they arrive in an irregular rhythm set by the Moon’s tilted orbit, which is part of what makes each one worth marking.
How we get this date. A solar eclipse can’t be produced by a simple yearly rule, so we don’t try to compute one. Instead the countdown reads the next date from a hand-verified table built from NASA’s eclipse catalog.
Total, annular, or partial. The type comes down to geometry. In a total eclipse the Moon is close enough to cover the Sun completely; in an annular eclipse it sits farther out in its orbit and looks slightly too small, leaving a bright “ring of fire” around its edge; in a partial eclipse the alignment is off-center and the Moon only clips part of the Sun’s disk.
Watch it safely. The Sun is dangerous to look at even when mostly covered. Use eclipse glasses or a solar viewer that meets the ISO 12312-2 standard, or project the Sun’s image onto a surface — ordinary sunglasses will not protect your eyes. The one exception is the brief total phase of a total eclipse, when the Sun’s disk is entirely hidden and it is safe to look with the naked eye.
A timezone note. The dates in our table are given in Universal Time. A solar eclipse is only visible along the track its shadow traces, and because that track can straddle local midnight, the eclipse may fall on the calendar day before or after the UT date depending on where you stand.
🌘 Fun facts about the Next Solar Eclipse
- A solar eclipse happens at new moon, when the Moon passes directly between Earth and the Sun and casts its shadow onto our planet.
- Most places see a total solar eclipse only once every few centuries, because the Moon's full shadow traces a path just a few hundred kilometers wide.
- Totality is fleeting: the Moon can fully cover the Sun for at most about 7½ minutes, and usually far less, and only for viewers inside the narrow path.
- Total and annular eclipses look different because the Moon's distance changes — near Earth it can fully hide the Sun; farther out it looks too small and leaves a bright "ring of fire" around a dark disk.
- Solar eclipses repeat in near-identical families called saros cycles, each recurring about every 18 years, 11 days, and 8 hours.
Upcoming Solar Eclipse dates
| Date | Days away |
|---|---|
| 96 days | |
| 273 days | |
| 450 days | |
| 628 days | |
| 804 days |
Frequently asked
When is the next solar eclipse?
The countdown above shows the next date from our NASA-derived table, and the table below it lists the dates after that. Whether you can see a given eclipse depends on where you are, so check a path map for your location.
How is the solar-eclipse date calculated?
Eclipses are irregular and can't be produced by a simple yearly rule, so we don't compute them — we read the next date from a hand-verified table built from NASA's eclipse catalog. When the countdown reaches an eclipse, it resolves forward to the next entry.
What is the difference between a total, annular, and partial eclipse?
In a total eclipse the Moon completely covers the Sun and day briefly turns to twilight. In an annular eclipse the Moon is farther from Earth and looks too small to cover the Sun, leaving a bright "ring of fire." In a partial eclipse the Moon only clips part of the Sun's disk.
How do I watch a solar eclipse safely?
Never look at the partly eclipsed Sun without protection. Use eclipse glasses or a solar viewer that meet the ISO 12312-2 standard, or watch a projected image — ordinary sunglasses are not safe. The only moment it is safe to look with the naked eye is during the brief total phase, when the Sun's disk is completely covered.