When

So just when do eclipses occur? Why don't we see them more often? Exactly when did that solar eclipse that my grandmother remembers happen? And, more to the point, when will I next see an eclipse in my part of the world?

The following pages answer all these questions and more:

	Solar Eclipse List A summary of recent and future solar eclipses until 2020, with links to full details on each significant eclipse; and special sections on total eclipses of the Sun in the UK and USA in this century.
	Lunar Eclipse List A summary of recent and future lunar eclipses until 2020, with links to full details on each significant eclipse.
	Eclipse Statistics A collection of interesting eclipse statistics. Just how often do total eclipses of the Sun occur? How often do we get 2 in a year? And more...
	Eclipse Search A searchable database of 5,000 years of eclipses. Look for an eclipse by type, duration, or magnitude; on specific days (will you ever see one on your birthday?); or for years with a number of eclipses.
	What's The Time? All eclipse times in these pages are given in Universal Time (UT). This page contains some information on UT, if you're interested.

The Next 5 Significant Eclipses

This list here shows the next 5 total and annular solar eclipses, and total and partial lunar eclipses. This is a quick reference for you to see what major events are coming up; but note that the lunar and solar eclipse lists show all eclipses up to 2020.

1 Aug 2008 - Total Solar Eclipse

(Saros 126, umbral mag. 1.039, max. eclipse 10:21 UT
    total: 09:21:07 UT to 11:21:28 UT)
The track -- 237 km wide at maximum -- begins in north Canada, passes near the North Pole, and into northern Russia. It then runs south-east into China. It is visible as a partial eclipse in Britain, though will not be dramatic.

The maximum duration is 2 minutes 27 seconds, and the path width at maximum is 237 kilometers.

16 Aug 2008 - Partial Lunar Eclipse

(Saros 138, umbral mag. 0.812, max. eclipse 21:10 UT
    partial: 19:35:45 UT to 22:44:38 UT)
A deep partial lunar eclipse will be visible over most of Asia, Australasia, Europe, Africa, and south America. Although only a partial eclipse, this eclipse should be quite spectacular, as most of the Moon will pass inside the Earth's umbral shadow at maximum eclipse -- the umbral magnitude is 0.81.

26 Jan 2009 - Annular Solar Eclipse

(Saros 131, umbral mag. 0.928, max. eclipse 07:59 UT
    annular: 06:02:39 UT to 09:54:44 UT)
The track runs from south of Africa, north-east across the Indian Ocean and into Australasia.

22 Jul 2009 - Total Solar Eclipse

(Saros 136, umbral mag. 1.080, max. eclipse 02:35 UT
    total: 00:51:17 UT on July 22 to 04:19:26 UT on July 22)
The track starts in India, crosses China, reaches greatest eclipse in the Pacific, and runs south-east before tailing off over the ocean.

The maximum duration is 6 minutes 39 seconds, and the path width at maximum is 258 kilometers.

31 Dec 2009 - Partial Lunar Eclipse

(Saros 115, umbral mag. 0.082, max. eclipse 19:23 UT
    partial: 18:51:38 UT to 19:53:51 UT)
A very narrow partial lunar eclipse will be visible over most of Asia, Australasia, Europe, and Africa. The partial phase will be quite hard to see with the naked eye, as only a tiny sliver of the Moon will be in the Earth's umbral shadow -- the umbral magnitude is just 0.08. However, the shading of the penumbral phase should be quite visible.

But When Will I See One?

Quick answer:

• If you live in the UK, check out the UK Solar Eclipses page.

• If you live in the USA, check out the USA eclipse bonanza page.

• In any case, use the lunar and solar eclipse lists and look for an eclipse that covers your part of the Earth.

One question that comes up often is: how often is an eclipse visible from a certain part of the Earth? The answer is different for different types of eclipse:

Solar Eclipses

It would be easy to say that eclipses happen "at random", but that's not true, of course. Basically, the set of circumstances that lead to an eclipse is really complex. It's totally deterministic, in that it depends on the motions of the Earth and Moon, which are known precisely and which are totally predictable. That's why we can predict eclipses so far in advance. But it's so complex that the distribution of eclipses is effectively "random" -- ie. they're scattered all over the Earth with no easily discernable pattern.

This means that two total solar eclipses can appear in the same place in one year, or a within few years -- or a given location may go thousands of years without seeing one. The average time between total solar eclipses in a given place is something like 360 years, but it's so variable that that doesn't really help much.

Check out my solar eclipse listing for a list and maps of solar eclipses, and you'll see how they're popping up all over the place. The listing of UK eclipses on that page should give you an idea of what kind of a lottery it is for any given place. If you're interested, you can go on to read about the mechanics behind this.

Lunar Eclipses

Lunar eclipses are different; since they occur on the Moon, any location on Earth that can see the Moon at the time can see the eclipse. This means that your chance of seeing a particular lunar eclipse is about 50-50. It's more complex than that, a little, because the Earth turns during the eclipse, but that's not far off.

You can check out my lunar eclipse listing for maps showing where on Earth lunar eclipses can be seen from. You can read about how lunar eclipses work if you're still confused.

And finally, my statistics page shows you how often particular types of eclipse occur.