Solar Eclipses in Your Future
(Updated May 3, 2024)

This page will keep you informed about upcoming solar eclipses of all types, partial, annular, total and hybrid, providing details of the phenomena, the weather prospects and more as we get closer to the key dates. Articles here will be from the experts, folks like Fred Espenak, Joe Rao, Jay Anderson and Dr. Ralph Chou.

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Get ready for August 12, 2026
The total solar eclipse of Apr 8, 2024 is over and it is time to start thinking about the next one. After two annular and partial solar eclipses in the next two years, we come to August 12, 2026 and the NEXT TOTAL SOLAR Eclipse. The path of totality crosses Greenland, Iceland, and the northern part of Spain. See diagram below. Note that if you choose not to travel for this one, locally you can see a tiny bite (about 20 % or so) out of the Sun around 1:30 pm EDT Aug 12.


If you are hoping to travel to Iceland and see aurora on the same trip, be aware that Iceland is much farther north than Owen Sound. Iceland is just a few degrees south of the Arctic Circle and there will not be many hours of true darkness during Icelandic summer. For ex. at Reykjavik (latitude 64°N), on Aug 12, sunset is at 8:53 pm and sunrise is at 4:09 am. The Sun's lowest point below the horizon is only about 10° and there is a long twilight. One estimate of the number of daylight hours in Iceland in late summer gives 18.5 hours (so 5.5 hours of darkness minus twilight time). You will be lucky to get 4 good dark hours of astronomical darkness at that time of year.

Yellowknife in the NWT which is about 2° latitude south of Reykjavik is only marginally better with respect to stargazing or aurora viewing in dark sky. You are lucky to get 5 good dark hours at this time of year.

What's to see at total solar eclipses?
Composite Image below from the Aug, 2017 eclipse illustrates what's to see -a beautiful corona around the Sun during totality and "diamond rings" immediately before and after. And yes, the world does go dark for a few minutes! It is the most eerie experience you will ever have in your life!


Composite image by John H. taken Aug 21, 2017 from Grand Island NE. The two diamond ring images were 1/250 s exposure, and corona was 1/40 second. ISO 200. TV NP101 refractor with Canon 60Da (eff. foc.len. 864 mm) f/8.6

Countdown to August 12, 2026

The next total solar eclipse happens just to the north of Canadian soil and if you are in the centre of the path of totality, you can experience 2 min 18 seconds of darkness. This is not a record by any means, and somewhat shorter than the Aug 21, 2017 total eclipse that many N. American's saw.

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Where to See the Next Total Solar Eclipse:
Next 10 years of total solar eclipses: Duration at max. provided
1. 2026, Aug 12: Greenland, Iceland, Spain (2 min 18s)
2. 2027, Aug 02: Gibralter, Egypt, Middle East. (6 min 23s!)
3. 2028, Jul 22: Australia (5 min 10s)
4. 2030, Nov 25: S.Africa, S. Australia (3 min 44s)
5. 2033, Mar 30: Alaska (2 min 37s)
6. 2034, Mar 20: Central Africa (4 min 9s)

What to Expect at Solar Eclipse (from the website of Fred Espenak Mr. Eclipse): Solar Eclipse for Beginners

Complete list of all solar and lunar eclipses from 2020 to 2030: (c/o Mr.Eclipse)

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Weather Forecasts:

Two expert forecasters Joe Rao and Jay Anderson provide detailed weather prospects along the entire tracks of upcoming eclipses.
As these become available click here: Joe Rao: Weather for August 12, 2026 Iceland Eclipse (coming soon).

For veteran forecaster Jay Anderson's site here: Weather for August 12, 2026 Iceland Eclipse

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A Total Solar Eclipse viewable "from home" is rare:
For any given spot on the Earth, the odds are pretty low of seeing a total solar eclipse if you are not prepared to travel any distance -the Belgian mathematical astronomer, Jean Meeus, calculated it to be about 1 chance in 375 years of seeing an eclipse from your backyard. This is just an average of course, and there are records of consecutive eclipses in a particular spot within a much shorter duration.
The April '24 eclipse and the previous N. American solar eclipse in August 2017, by coincidence, favoured a small region centred on Carbondale, Illinois, where the two tracks crossed with a mere 7 years time separation. After that, if the average holds, the next total eclipse is not due in Carbondale until 2399 AD (2024+375 years). However, statistics notwithstanding, there is a nice total eclipse about 300 kilometres to the south of Carbondale, only 21 years from now, on Aug 12, 2045. The track for that one passes from N. California, to Florida and then across the northern oceanside countries of S. America. That "Great North & South American Solar Eclipse" in 2045 is only (7796 days) from Apr 8, 2024 event! Hope to see you there.
Total Solar Eclipse Aug 12, 2045

Mr. Eclipse (Fred Espenak) has an excellent website which looks at future eclipses (as well as paper copies of his "Canons of Future Eclipses") at his website: Mr.Eclipse Do have a look and support "The Eclipse Guy!".

As eclipses get near, he provides interactive Google maps (like this one for the Apr 8, 2024 eclipse: https://www.eclipsewise.com/solar/SEgmapx/2001-2100.html ) If you click on a location on the google map, an info box appears with critical event times given to a fraction of a second for that location -a great planning aid.

Imaging a Solar Eclipse:

Image above is a crop from a shot taken through a TV NP101 refractor with Canon 60Da (eff. foc.len. 864 mm, f/8.6) exp. 1/8000 s, ISO 200.

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Hints from the Experts:
Solar Eclipse photography is expertly explained at Fred Espenak's Mr.Eclipse website here: Imaging

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AND: here is another excellent reference for imaging the solar eclipse (and more) from Photo Pills: Solar Eclipse Imaging

A SAFE Eclipse Viewer from a cereal box:
Get your kids/grandkids involved with making a pinhole projector to safely watch the solar eclipse coming April 8. There are many videos out there if you search "solar eclipse projector" or "cereal box solar viewer" . Here is one such: Cereal Box Viewer


Or if you prefer to download some written instructions,
click here Cereal Box Eclipse Projector

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Pinhole Solar Viewer (Canadian Space Agency)
Here are the instructions for a generic viewer from Canada's Space Agency. Any box will do, the longer the distance between pinhole and screen, the better. Solar pinhole viewer

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