| Type | What you see | 1926–2025 | Next one |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | The Sun is completely hidden and the corona appears | 72 | 2 August 2027 |
| Annular | A bright ring of Sun around the Moon | 70 | 6 February 2027 |
| Partial | Part of the Sun is covered, nowhere does it disappear | 82 | 14 January 2029 |
Total solar eclipse
In a total eclipse the Moon covers the whole disc of the Sun. The sky darkens to a deep twilight, the brightest stars and planets appear, and the corona, the Sun’s pearly outer atmosphere, spreads out around the black Moon. This only happens inside the narrow path of totality, usually a band between about 100 and 250 km wide, and lasts from a few seconds up to about seven and a half minutes at most.
The next total eclipse is on 2 August 2027, with up to 6m 27s of totality along a path through Morocco, Spain, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and 2 more.
Annular solar eclipse
When the Moon is near the far point of its orbit it looks slightly smaller than the Sun, so even when it is centred on the Sun a thin ring of sunlight remains. That ring is why annular eclipses are often called a ring of fire. The sky dims, but it never gets dark, the corona stays invisible, and you need eclipse glasses for the whole event, including the ring phase.
The next annular eclipse is on 6 February 2027, crossing Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Ghana.
Partial solar eclipse
A partial eclipse happens when the Moon covers only part of the Sun. Some eclipses are partial everywhere, because the Moon’s central shadow misses the Earth and passes above or below the poles. Every total and annular eclipse is also seen as a partial eclipse across a huge area either side of its central path. Even 99% coverage leaves the sky bright, which is why travelling into the path makes such a difference.
Hybrid solar eclipse
A hybrid eclipse changes type along its path. Because the Earth is round, places near the middle of the path are a few thousand kilometres closer to the Moon than places near the ends. On a borderline eclipse that can be enough to turn an annular eclipse into a total one in the middle of the path and back again. Hybrids are the rarest kind; a recent example was the eclipse of 20 April 2023, which was total over Western Australia, Timor-Leste and western New Guinea.
Our counts and calendar list hybrid eclipses under the type seen at greatest eclipse. How we calculate.