Solar eclipses - occurances and types by Mark Sukhija

What types of solar eclipse are there?

  • Total Eclipse. A total eclipse occurs when the Moon completely obscures the Sun. The disk of the sun is replaced, instead, by an outline of the moon. The Corona, a much fainter outline of the sun, is only visible. This occurs when the Moon is relatively close to Earth.
  • Annular Eclipse. When the Sun and Moon are exactly in line but the moon is relatively further from the Earth - i.e. it's apparent size is smaller than that of the Sun. This causes the effect that the Sun appears as a very bright ring, or annulus, around the moon.
  • Hybrid Eclipse. A hybrid eclipse is a cross between a total and annular eclipse. From some parts of Earth, the eclipse is total and in others it is Annular. Hybrid eclipses are quite rare and short in duration.
  • Partial Eclipse. When the moon and sun are not exactly in line, the moon only partially obscures the Sun. Outside of the path of totality, partial eclipses are visible from a large expanse of the earth. However, some eclipses are only ever partial as the shadow, or umbra, never crosses the Earths surface. Partial eclipses are less dramatic than total eclipses.

What happens during a total solar eclipse?

During a total solar eclipse, the sky will darken and the air will cool, animals and birds react to the change in the climate and will often be seen preparing for and going to sleep - as though it were night - and awaking at the end of the eclipse.

How large is the area I can see totality from?

Totality is the period of time when the moon totally covers the sun. The path along which one can see totality is usually less that 200km wide. However, in 2009 this path was be as wide as 258 km.

Outside of this band, a partial eclipse is visible.

When is the next solar eclipse?

The next total solar eclipses are on these dates:

More solar eclipses occur for many years after this, but I simply haven't had time to add information about those eclipses yet.

For the purposes of this site I have concentrated on soley on total solar eclipses. If I ever have the time or inclination I may put up some information on other eclipse types but I will probably come to the conclusion that that's beyond the scope of this site.

Related Posts

Why chase solar eclipses? Why I chase total solar eclipse all over the world
2012 Solar Eclipse totality seen from offshore of Port Douglas Video of totality during the 2012 eclipse seen from Port Douglas in Queensland
2012 eclipse information and schedule 2012 eclipse information and schedule in Queensland
2012 solar eclipse path - Australia map 2012 total eclipse path across Australia and the Pacific
2012 solar eclipse path - global map Global view of the 2012 total eclipse path
2012 solar eclipse path - Northern Territory map 2012 total eclipse path in Northern Territory of Australia
2012 solar eclipse path - Queensland map 2012 total eclipse path in Queensland
Queensland - 2012 eclipse time and durations Times and durations of the total solar eclipse in Queensland

Map

Further reading

2017 Solar Eclipse - United States - Travel plans for the Total Solar Eclipse in 2017 across the mainland United States

Chase eclipses - 5 reasons you must - Chasing eclipses and why it's is a must-do experience in a travellers life

Eclipse chasing - Essential total eclipse trip planning information from 2010 to 2019

Eclipse Websites - A selection of websites with information about total solar eclipses

Your next solar eclipse trip - what to know and do - What to know and do when planning your next solar eclipse trip

Why chase solar eclipses? - Why I chase total solar eclipse all over the world

Eclipse calendar - Calendar of forthcoming total, annular, hybrid and partial solar eclipses

Martigny - Amphitheatres and Erotic Rodin - Travelogue from a trip to Martigny in Canton Valais for the Erotic Rodin Exhibition

2017 solar eclipse - getting to Idaho - Overview information about getting to Idaho

2017 solar eclipse - getting to Wyoming - Overview information about how to get to Wyoming

Chile Tourism - Official website of the Chile National Tourism Service

Northern Territory - Official website of Northern Territory Tourism

Queensland Tourism - Official website of Tourism Queensland

Svalbard - Official website of the Svalbard archipelago

Tourism Australia - Official website of Tourism Australia

Visit Faroe Islands - Official website of the Faroe Islands Tourist Board

Wyoming Office of Tourism - Official website of the Wyoming Office of Tourism

About Mark Sukhija

Mark Sukhija is a travel and wine blogger, photographer, tourism researcher, hat-touting, white-shirt-wearing, New Zealand fantatic and eclipse chaser. Aside from at least annual visits to New Zealand, Mark has seen eclipses in South Australia (2002), Libya (2006), China (2009) and Queensland (2012). After twelve years in Switzerland, Mark moved back to London in 2012. You can follow Mark on Twitter or Facebook