The next eclipse is a annular solar eclipse on February 6 at 3:59 PM, at 17°37′ Aquarius, 129 days from now. Where it can be seen: annular path: southern South America, southern Atlantic. Partial: Africa, Antarctica, South America.
Three bodies in one line, and for a few minutes the oldest light we have goes strange.
An eclipse happens when the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon fall into a single line. At a New Moon the Moon stands between us and the Sun and can cover it; at a Full Moon the Earth stands between the Sun and the Moon and can shadow her. Most months neither happens, because the Moon’s orbit is tilted about five degrees to the Sun’s path and she passes above or below the line. Only when a New or Full Moon falls near one of the two crossing points, the nodes, is the line true, and then the light is interrupted. This is why eclipses come in seasons, roughly every six months, when the Sun is near a node, and why they come in pairs or occasionally threes within a season. Moondark names the minute of greatest eclipse, the degree, the node, how much of the light is covered, and where on Earth it can be seen, because an eclipse is the one event in this app that depends on where the reader is standing.
Astrologers have read eclipses as turning points for as long as there have been records, and the readings have softened over the millennia from omen to emphasis. The modern tradition treats a solar eclipse as a New Moon with the volume turned up, a beginning that arrives whether or not one is ready, and a lunar eclipse as a Full Moon with the volume up, a revelation or a release that cannot be put off. The degree the eclipse falls on is read as sensitive for months afterward, and the node it falls near colors it: near the North Node, the eclipse is said to open a door; near the South, to close one. The tradition’s oldest practical advice is to watch rather than act during the two weeks between a season’s eclipses, and to let the dust settle before deciding what the season meant.
Antarctica; partial: southern Africa, southern South America, Indian Ocean.
Total Lunar Eclipse
12°51′ Virgo
South
100 percent
Total: Asia, Australia, Pacific, Americas. Partial phase visible from Europe and Africa at moonset.
Total Solar Eclipse
20°02′ Leo
South
100 percent
Total path: Greenland, Iceland, northern Spain. Partial: Europe, north Asia, north/west Africa, much of North America.
Partial Lunar Eclipse
4°51′ Pisces
North
97 percent
Visible across Americas, Europe, Africa, west Asia. Deep partial—96.6% of Moon enters umbra.
Annular Solar Eclipse
17°37′ Aquarius
North
86 percent
Annular path: southern South America, southern Atlantic. Partial: Africa, Antarctica, South America.
Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
1°58′ Virgo
South
0 percent
Penumbral, very faint. Visible from Americas, Europe, Africa, west Asia.
Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
25°57′ Capricorn
North
0 percent
Penumbral, extremely faint (essentially invisible to the naked eye). Visible from Asia, Australia, Pacific.
Total Solar Eclipse
9°55′ Leo
South
100 percent
Total path: Spain, north Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt), Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Somalia. Partial: Europe, Africa, Middle East, India.
Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
24°04′ Aquarius
North
0 percent
Penumbral, faint. Visible from Australia, Pacific, Antarctica.
Partial Lunar Eclipse
21°33′ Cancer
South
3 percent
Very shallow partial—only 2.7% of Moon enters umbra. Visible from Americas, Europe, Africa.
Annular Solar Eclipse
6°10′ Aquarius
North
85 percent
Annular path: Galápagos, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Suriname, French Guiana, Atlantic, Spain, Portugal. Partial: Americas, west Africa, Europe.
Partial Lunar Eclipse
15°15′ Capricorn
North
33 percent
Partial—33% of Moon enters umbra. Visible from Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia.
Total Solar Eclipse
29°50′ Cancer
South
100 percent
Total path: Australia (Sydney), New Zealand. Partial: south Asia, Australia, Indian Ocean, Antarctica.
Total Lunar Eclipse
10°34′ Cancer
South
100 percent
Total: Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia. Partial phases: Americas at moonrise/moonset.
Partial Solar Eclipse
24°49′ Capricorn
North
0 percent
Partial only (no totality anywhere on Earth). Visible from northern North America, Greenland, north Atlantic.
Partial Solar Eclipse
21°29′ Gemini
South
0 percent
Partial only. Visible from northern Europe, north Asia, Arctic, north North America.
Total Lunar Eclipse
4°49′ Capricorn
North
100 percent
Total: Americas, Europe, Africa, west Asia. One of the longest totalities of the 21st century (1h 42m).
Partial Solar Eclipse
19°37′ Cancer
South
0 percent
Partial only. Visible from southern South America, southern Atlantic.
Partial Solar Eclipse
13°45′ Sagittarius
North
0 percent
Partial only. Visible from southern South America, southern Africa, Antarctica, southern Atlantic.
Total Lunar Eclipse
29°18′ Gemini
South
100 percent
Total: Americas, Europe, Africa, west Asia. Mid-totality favors Atlantic basin.