Types of eclipses, explained
A solar eclipse is the Moon’s shadow falling on Earth; a lunar eclipse is Earth’s shadow falling on the Moon. Whether you get darkness, a ring of fire or just a bite depends on distances you can play with below.
Total
The Moon covers the Sun’s entire bright disc and the corona appears. Only inside a path a few hundred km wide. 4 between 2026 and 2030.
Annular
The Moon is near its furthest point and looks too small, leaving a “ring of fire”. Filters stay on throughout. 4 between 2026 and 2030.
Partial
Only part of the Sun is covered. Seen over huge areas either side of every central path, and on its own when the shadow misses Earth. 4 partial-only eclipses in the period.
Hybrid
The umbra’s tip grazes Earth: total in the middle of the path, annular at its ends. Rare: none between 2026 and 2030 (the last was 20 April 2023).
Explainer: why some eclipses go dark and others leave a ring
Drag the sliders. The numbers are real; the drawing is not to scale (the Sun is far off to the left, and the gap between the shadow’s tip and the ground is exaggerated so you can see it). The cone is the Moon’s umbra, the region where the Sun is completely hidden.
Closest in early January, furthest in early July.
NASA calls this “gamma”. It is 0.142 for 2 August 2027.
annular Moon looks 98.8% of the Sun’s width
The umbra’s tip ends before it reaches Earth. The Moon looks slightly smaller than the Sun and leaves a bright ring: an annular eclipse.
Lunar eclipses: Earth’s shadow on the Moon
Earth casts a shadow too, much bigger than the Moon’s. When a full moon passes through it, everyone on the night side of the planet can watch. There are three kinds: penumbral, partial and total. 4 of the 12 lunar eclipses from 2026 to 2030 are total.
Explainer: move the Moon through Earth’s shadow
total The whole Moon is in the umbra. The only light reaching it has passed through Earth’s atmosphere, which filters out blue and leaves red: a blood moon.
Explainer: why there isn’t an eclipse every month
The Moon’s orbit is tilted 5.1° to Earth’s. Each bar is one new moon (orange) or full moon (pale) over about a year, showing how far above or below the Sun–Earth plane the Moon is. Only the ones close to the line become eclipses. Slide to change where the year starts relative to the orbit’s crossing points (the nodes).
4 solar and 2 lunar eclipses in this window. Eclipses cluster into two “eclipse seasons” about 173 days apart, when the Sun lines up with the nodes. A solar eclipse is usually paired with a lunar one two weeks earlier or later, like 12 and 28 August 2026. The seasons drift about 19 days earlier each year because the nodes slowly turn.
What they have in common
Both need the Sun, Earth and Moon in a straight line, which only happens at particular phases: a solar eclipse can only fall on a new moon, when the Moon is between us and the Sun, and a lunar eclipse only on a full moon, when it is on the far side of Earth. Why the Moon cycles through those phases at all is a neat puzzle of its own, and ahaboo’s narrated Moon-phases explainer untangles it.
That is also why they arrive in pairs. Two weeks after the total solar eclipse of 12 August 2026 came the partial lunar eclipse of 28 August 2026, in the same eclipse season.
Which is worth travelling for?
A total solar eclipse, without much debate. The difference between 99% and 100% coverage is the difference between a dim afternoon and seeing the corona, stars in the daytime and a 360° sunset. See the next total solar eclipse and the travel planner.
Questions
What are the types of solar eclipse?
Total (the Moon completely covers the Sun), annular (the Moon is too far away to cover it and leaves a ring of fire), partial (the Moon covers only part of the Sun) and hybrid (total along part of the path and annular along the rest).
What are the types of lunar eclipse?
Total (the whole Moon enters Earth’s dark umbra and turns red), partial (only part of it does) and penumbral (the Moon passes only through the faint outer shadow and dims slightly).
Why is an annular eclipse not total?
The Moon’s orbit is elliptical. Near apogee (its furthest point, about 406,700 km) it looks slightly smaller than the Sun, so its umbra ends in space before reaching Earth and a thin ring of Sun stays visible.
Why don’t eclipses happen every month?
The Moon’s orbit is tilted about 5° to Earth’s orbit around the Sun. At most new and full moons the Moon passes above or below the Sun–Earth line. Eclipses happen only when a new or full moon falls near one of the two points where the orbits cross.
How long does a total solar eclipse last?
Totality at any one place lasts from a few seconds up to about 7½ minutes. Between 2026 and 2030 the longest is 6 minutes 23 seconds on 2 August 2027. The partial phases before and after add one to one and a half hours on each side.
Distances and eclipse counts: NASA/GSFC eclipse predictions (F. Espenak). Next eclipse of each kind: annular, 6 February 2027.