2024 Solar Eclipse Wows Millions; Next Chance is 2044
The 2024 total solar eclipse offered a once-in-a-lifetime light show as it swept from Texas to Maine. The next solar eclipse will happen in 2044.
The total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8—the astronomical event that fluttered over North America—won’t return to this part of the world for nearly two decades.
According to Time and Date, a solar eclipse occurs on average every 18 months, although on some occasions these can occur less than a year apart. For reference, the last two solar eclipses both occurred less than a year ago. On April 20, 2023 there was a hybrid solar eclipse that passed through Southeast Asia and Australia and on October 14, 2023 there was an annular solar eclipse that passed through North, Central and South America.
Although these astronomical events are constantly experienced, their locations become very far from the human eye in remote places such as the middle of the oceans. If a total solar eclipse is already a high-profile event, the rarity of the path of the phenomenon on April 8 – Mexico, the US and Canada – stole the spotlight both in news headlines and on social networks.
According to NASA, the next total solar eclipse will occur on August 12, 2026. The astronomical phenomenon returns to North America, but it will only touch a small region. The eclipse will travel through Greenland, the Arctic, Iceland, and Spain.
The next total solar eclipse that will be highly visible from the US will occur on August 12, 2045. The path of totality of this phenomenon will travel through the states of California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida and will also be partially visible in other states.
Those residing in Washington state will also be able to see a small part of the path of the August 23, 2044 eclipse in Canada.
Prior to the eclipse on April 8, the United States experienced a total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017, whose path of totality included the states of Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
According to NASA, the next total solar eclipse to be seen in Mexico will occur on March 30, 2052 and its path of totality will cross the center of the country, but will be partially visible in other nearby areas. Some of the states on the path of totality are Jalisco, Guanajuato, Querétaro, and Veracruz.
Prior to the eclipse of April 8, the last total solar eclipse seen in Mexico was the one on July 11, 1991, which crossed Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, and Veracruz.
According to NASA, the next solar eclipse that will pass through Canada will be on March 30, 2033. However, it will take a very short route through the northern area in Nunavut. On August 23, 2044, there will be another total solar eclipse of greater prominence. This will concentrate to the west and pass through the territories of Alberta, a small portion of British Columbia, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories.
Prior to the eclipse on April 8, Canada experienced a total solar eclipse on August 1, 2008, which covered a small percentage of the territory of Nunavut. Previously, another of these was seen on February 26, 1979 that traveled through more populated areas, including Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and a small portion of Quebec.
For more information on upcoming solar eclipses and their history in North America, contact reporter Paula Soria via email [email protected].