Solar and Lunar Eclipses 2026–2045: What the US Can See and How to Watch Safely

The most talked-about eclipse of 2026 happened on August 12, when the Moon's shadow raced from the Arctic across Greenland and Iceland to Spain. Most Americans saw at most a partial bite out of the Sun that afternoon, and many saw nothing at all. If you are wondering when the next solar eclipse visible from the US is, the honest answer is that partial solar eclipses come every year or two, but the next total solar eclipse anywhere in the country is in Alaska in 2033, and the lower 48 has to wait until August 23, 2044. Lunar eclipses, which anyone on the night side of Earth can see, come much more often. This part of our Night Sky Guide recaps 2026, lists the eclipses ahead and explains how to watch them safely.

The August 12, 2026, total solar eclipse

According to NASA, the total eclipse of August 12, 2026, swept across Greenland, Iceland, northern Russia, the Atlantic Ocean, Spain and a small corner of Portugal. For most people in the path, totality lasted less than two minutes, and even near the center of the path in Greenland, Russia and the North Atlantic it stayed under two and a half minutes. In Spain the Sun was fully eclipsed in the late evening, shortly before sunset; NASA's table lists totality in Reykjavík from 5:48 to 5:49 p.m. local time and in León, Spain, from 8:28 to 8:30 p.m.

For the United States it was a partial eclipse. NASA said a partial eclipse would be visible across parts of the northern US from Alaska to North Carolina. In Alaska it started and ended in the morning; in the northern contiguous states it began around midday and lingered into mid-afternoon farther east.

City	Partial began	Maximum	Sun covered	Partial ended
Fairbanks, Alaska	7:37 a.m.	8:27 a.m.	37%	9:18 a.m.
Anchorage, Alaska	7:36 a.m.	8:21 a.m.	28%	9:09 a.m.
Bangor, Maine	12:54 p.m.	1:53 p.m.	24%	2:49 p.m.
Portland, Maine	12:57 p.m.	1:53 p.m.	19%	2:27 p.m.
Boston, Massachusetts	1:01 p.m.	1:55 p.m.	16%	2:46 p.m.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	1:11 p.m.	1:53 p.m.	7%	2:35 p.m.
Washington, D.C.	1:17 p.m.	1:53 p.m.	4%	2:27 p.m.
Detroit, Michigan	1:03 p.m.	1:36 p.m.	3%	2:08 p.m.

Times are local (Alaska Daylight Time in Alaska, Eastern Daylight Time elsewhere), from NASA's eclipse page. People who searched "when was the last solar eclipse" in the fall of 2026 were usually looking for this one.

Solar eclipses ahead: 2027 to 2030

NASA's future eclipses list gives two solar eclipses in 2027, neither of them a good show from the US:

• February 6, 2027 – annular: visible in parts of South America and Africa, including Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria, with a partial eclipse over large areas of the Southern Hemisphere.
• August 2, 2027 – total: totality crosses southern Spain, North Africa (including Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt), Saudi Arabia and Yemen. NASA says a partial eclipse will be visible in most of Europe, much of Africa, the Middle East, eastern Canada and northern Maine in the US.

Looking further ahead, timeanddate.com's list of eclipses visible in the United States shows these solar eclipses through 2030, each seen as partial from at least part of the country:

Date	Global type	As seen from the US
Aug 2, 2027	Total	Partial (northern Maine)
Jan 26, 2028	Annular	Partial
Jan 14, 2029	Partial	Partial
Jun 12, 2029	Partial	Partial
Jun 1, 2030	Annular	Partial

How much of the Sun is covered, and whether the eclipse is visible at all, varies a lot by location for each of these; check a local eclipse map closer to the date.

When is the next total solar eclipse in the USA?

The 2024 total eclipse spoiled a generation of American eclipse watchers, and the next ones are a long way off:

Date	Type	Where in the US
Mar 30, 2033	Total	Alaska
Jun 21, 2039	Annular	Next annular eclipse visible in the US
Aug 23, 2044	Total	Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota
Aug 12, 2045	Total	Coast to coast, from California to Florida

The 2033 and 2039 dates come from timeanddate.com's US list. For 2044, CBS News reported, citing NASA, that totality will be visible from just three states – Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota – and that the August 12, 2045, eclipse will start in California and move east to end in Florida, similar to 2017, before crossing Haiti, the Dominican Republic and northern South America.

How to watch a solar eclipse safely

NASA's eclipse safety guidance comes down to a few rules:

• Use certified solar viewers. Eclipse glasses or handheld viewers should meet the ISO 12312-2 standard. The American Astronomical Society explains the standard and how to spot compliant viewers on its ISO certification page.
• Keep them on for the whole partial phase. During a partial or annular eclipse, some of the Sun is always uncovered, so glasses stay on from start to finish.
• Totality is the exception. NASA says you can view the eclipse directly only when the Moon completely blocks the Sun's bright face; you will know it is safe when you can no longer see any part of the Sun through eclipse glasses. As soon as the bright Sun reappears, put the glasses back on.
• Filters go in front of optics. Cameras, binoculars and telescopes need their own solar filters attached to the Sun-facing end. NASA says eclipse glasses are not a substitute for these filters, notes that solar filters must be attached to the front of any telescope, binoculars or camera lens, and recommends seeking expert advice before using a solar filter with any optical device.
• Indirect viewing is always safe. A pinhole projector – a small hole in an index card – projects an image of the Sun onto a surface; stand with the Sun at your back. Leaves on trees act as natural pinholes and project crescents onto the ground.

Total, annular, partial and hybrid: the types of solar eclipse

Whether a solar eclipse is total or annular depends on the Moon's distance. Its orbit is slightly elliptical, so its apparent size changes during the month (the same effect that makes some full moons "supermoons," as explained in our full moon calendar).

• Total: the Moon is close enough to cover the Sun's bright face completely. Along a narrow path, the sky darkens, the temperature drops and the Sun's outer atmosphere, the corona, appears – the only time it can be seen with the naked eye.
• Annular: the Moon is farther away and too small to cover the Sun, leaving a bright "ring of fire." Eye protection is needed the whole time.
• Partial: the Moon covers only part of the Sun. Everyone outside the central path of a total or annular eclipse sees a partial one, and some eclipses are partial everywhere.
• Hybrid: a rare eclipse that shifts between annular and total along its path because of the curvature of Earth.

For viewers, the practical difference is simple: only the brief totality of a total eclipse is safe to look at without filters. Even 99% coverage, as Madrid saw on August 12, 2026, according to NASA's table, leaves enough of the Sun exposed to damage your eyes.

Lunar eclipses: easier to see, safe to watch

A lunar eclipse happens when Earth's shadow falls on a full moon. Unlike a solar eclipse, it can be seen from the entire night side of Earth and requires no eye protection. There are three kinds: total (the Moon passes completely into Earth's dark inner shadow and often turns coppery red), partial (only part of the Moon enters the inner shadow) and penumbral (the Moon passes only through the faint outer shadow, a subtle dimming that is easy to miss).

2026 brought two good ones for North America. On March 3, 2026, a total lunar eclipse was visible across the continent, shown in NASA's visibility map; The Old Farmer's Almanac lists totality from 6:04 to 7:02 a.m. EST. On the night of August 27–28, NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio described a deep partial lunar eclipse with the Americas centrally located; timeanddate.com put it at 96.2% and timed the partial phase from 10:33 p.m. EDT on August 27 to 1:51 a.m. EDT on August 28.

Date	Type	Visibility
Feb 20–21, 2027	Penumbral	Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia (NASA)
Aug 16–17, 2027	Penumbral	Americas and other regions (NASA)
Jan 12, 2028	Partial	Visible from the US
Jul 6, 2028	Partial (penumbral from the US)	Visible from the US
Dec 31, 2028	Total	Visible from the US
Jun 26, 2029	Total	Visible from the US
Dec 20, 2029	Total	Visible from the US

The 2028 and 2029 entries come from timeanddate.com's list of eclipses visible in the US. "Visible from the US" means at least part of the eclipse can be seen from somewhere in the country; how much depends on whether the Moon is above your horizon at the time.

Lunar eclipse vs. solar eclipse

	Solar eclipse	Lunar eclipse
What happens	The Moon passes between the Sun and Earth	Earth passes between the Sun and Moon
Moon phase	New moon	Full moon
Where visible	Narrow path (total/annular) and a wider partial zone	The whole night side of Earth
Duration of the main phase	Totality lasts minutes at most	Totality can last over an hour
Eye protection	Required except during totality	Not needed

Because eclipses can only happen at new or full moon, our full moon calendar lists them next to the relevant moons. The August 2, 2027, solar eclipse falls on the new moon of that day.

Planning an eclipse trip

For the August 2, 2027, total eclipse, the nearest destinations for Americans are southern Spain and North Africa. Lessons from 2026 apply: the eclipse in Spain occurred low in the evening sky, and cloud statistics and the horizon matter as much as the path. Book early, pick a site with a clear view toward the Sun's position at eclipse time, and have a backup location within driving distance. For photographing an eclipse, a camera needs a solar filter for every partial phase; the filter comes off only during totality. The same tripod you use for aurora photography works well, and if you are traveling in winter for an eclipse or the aurora, check our guide to where to see the northern lights as well.

Closer to home, the next sky events are free and need no travel: the Geminid meteor shower on December 13–14, 2026, and the December 23 supermoon. Golden light before and after an eclipse is covered in golden hour and blue hour.

Cover photo: NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center / NASA/Carla Thomas, Wikimedia Commons (public domain).