Solar
Total solar eclipse · 2 August 2027
Totality over southern Spain, Gibraltar and North Africa, and more than six minutes near Luxor.
Events
Solar and lunar eclipses 2027–2030
The highlights for Europe are the total solar eclipse of 2 August 2027 over southern Spain and the total lunar eclipses of 31 December 2028 (low, at moonrise) and 20 December 2029 (high in the evening sky). Check any eclipse from your own place below.
Highlights for Europe
Lunar
Total lunar eclipse · 31 December 2028
A New Year's Eve eclipse: low in the east at moonrise from Western Europe, well placed from Asia and Australia.
Lunar
Total lunar eclipse · 20 December 2029
The best lunar eclipse for Europe in years: the Moon stands high in the evening sky during totality.
Check every eclipse from your place
Type a town or use your location. We calculate for each eclipse whether you can see it and how high the Moon or Sun stands. Nothing is stored.
All eclipses until 2030
| Date | Eclipse | Duration | Best seen from | From London | From your place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 February 2027 | Solar · annular | – | Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, West Africa | Not visible | |
| 20 February 2027 | Lunar · penumbral | 4 h 2 min | Europe, Africa, western Asia | Moon 46° high | |
| 18 July 2027 | Lunar · penumbral | 26 min | Asia, Australia | Moon below the horizon | |
| 2 August 2027 | Solar · total | – | Southern Spain, North Africa, Egypt, Arabia | 42% of the Sun covered | |
| 17 August 2027 | Lunar · penumbral | 3 h 40 min | The Americas | Moon below the horizon | |
| 12 January 2028 | Lunar · partial | 58 min | The Americas, Europe, Africa | Moon 35° high | |
| 26 January 2028 | Solar · annular | – | Northern South America, Portugal and Spain at sunset | Not visible | |
| 6 July 2028 | Lunar · partial | 2 h 22 min | Asia, Australia | Moon below the horizon | |
| 22 July 2028 | Solar · total | – | Australia, New Zealand | Not visible | |
| 31 December 2028 | Lunar · total | 3 h 30 min | Asia, Australia, Europe at moonrise | Moon 7° high | |
| 14 January 2029 | Solar · partial | – | North America | Not visible | |
| 12 June 2029 | Solar · partial | – | Arctic regions | Not visible | |
| 26 June 2029 | Lunar · total | 3 h 40 min | The Americas, Europe and Africa at moonset | Moon 3° high | |
| 11 July 2029 | Solar · partial | – | Southern South America | Not visible | |
| 5 December 2029 | Solar · partial | – | Southern South America, Antarctica | Not visible | |
| 20 December 2029 | Lunar · total | 3 h 34 min | Europe, Africa, Asia | Moon 58° high | |
| 1 June 2030 | Solar · annular | – | North Africa, Greece, Turkey, Russia | 48% of the Sun covered | |
| 15 June 2030 | Lunar · partial | 2 h 26 min | Asia, Australia | Moon below the horizon | |
| 25 November 2030 | Solar · total | – | Southern Africa, Indian Ocean, Australia | Not visible | |
| 9 December 2030 | Lunar · penumbral | 4 h 40 min | Europe, Africa, Asia | Moon 56° high |
Why a lunar eclipse lasts so long
A solar eclipse is over in a few minutes because the Moon's shadow on Earth is a small spot racing across the ground. A lunar eclipse works the other way round: the Moon moves into the shadow of the Earth, and that shadow is huge.
At the Moon's distance the dark core of Earth's shadow (the umbra) is about 9,000 km wide, roughly 2.7 times the Moon's diameter. The Moon moves along its orbit at about 1 km per second, which is about its own width per hour. Crossing the shadow therefore takes hours.
The partial phase, from the first bite to the last, lasts up to about 3 h 40 min. Totality lasts longest when the Moon passes through the middle of the shadow: up to about 1 h 46 min. When it skims the edge, as on 20 December 2029, totality is shorter.
The Moon turns red during totality because Earth's atmosphere bends a little sunlight into the shadow. That light has passed through every sunrise and sunset on Earth at once, so the blue is filtered out. Everyone on the night side of Earth sees the same eclipse at the same moment.
Photographing eclipses with a smart telescope
The Moon is about half a degree across, the same size as the Sun, so it fits in the frame of most smart telescopes. A lunar eclipse needs no filter at all: it is safe to look at and to photograph.
The whole Moon fits with room to spare in the native frame of: Seestar S30, Seestar S30 Pro, Seestar S50, Seestar S50 Pro, DWARF mini, DWARF 3, Vespera II, Vespera 3, Vespera Pro 2, Origin Mark II.
- During totality the Moon is thousands of times fainter than a full Moon: use longer exposures or the telescope's lunar mode with manual exposure.
- Take a picture every few minutes for a sequence from the first bite to the red totality and back.
- Penumbral eclipses only dim the Moon slightly; they are hard to see even in photos.
Solar eclipses need a certified solar filter for every partial phase. See the 2027 page for eye safety and times. Times, map and tips for 2027 →
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