We're halfway between the April 2024 and August 2026 total solar eclipses: Here's why we're excited
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There may be no total solar eclipse this year, but June 10, 2025, is a landmark event of sorts for eclipse chasers worldwide — the halfway point between the last and the next totalities.
It's 429 days — just over 14 months — since April 8, 2024's "Great American Eclipse" across North America and 429 days until the next total solar eclipse on August 12, 2026, over Greenland, Iceland and Spain.
Related: Eclipse at sea: Best cruises for the total solar eclipse 2026
For some devotees of what's often called "nature's greatest event," it's a moment to reflect on and relive a landmark eclipse now in the rearview mirror. About 50 million people experienced the last total solar eclipse in Mexico, 15 U.S. states and southeastern Canada. It was, as expected by many, an event with mixed weather. Texas, which had the best odds of a clear sky, had clouds to varying degrees, with the clearest weather in the supposedly cloudiest regions of Indiana, Ohio, upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine in the U.S., and Quebec and New Brunswick in Canada.
It was even cloudy over northern Mexico, but some had the right kind of sea legs. "We had to sail a considerable distance away from the coast to find a spot where it would be clear at eclipse time, and when the eclipse began in a clear blue sky, I got a rush of excitement as I realized we were going to see the entire spectacle," Rick Fienberg at the American Astronomical Society's Solar Eclipse Task Force, told Space.com. During totality, he noticed two parallel contrails in the sky close to the eclipse. "I realized they were from the two NASA research planes that were chasing totality about 40,000 feet above us [and] when I swung my binoculars to them, I could see the jets themselves," Fienberg continued.
Thoughts are now firmly fixed on the next total solar eclipse on August 12, 2026, which will see eclipse chasers head to the fjords of eastern Greenland in cruise ships, to remote parts of western Iceland and to northern Spain. The total solar eclipse on August 12, 2026, will have a maximum totality of 2 minutes and 18 seconds and be mainland Europe's first since 1999.
Eclipse cartographer Michael Zeiler at GreatAmericanEclipse.com and EclipseAtlas.com, who was clouded out in Texas, has plans in place. "I am in great anticipation of the return of nature's greatest sight," Zeiler told Space.com. "Total solar eclipses are guaranteed to take you to beautiful remote locations on Earth, and in 2026, Greenland is high on my bucket list."
Bucket list locations abound across the path. "I don't think the tourism industry realizes what they are about to experience because we haven't had a total solar eclipse visible from Iceland since the summer of 1954," Sævar Helgi Bragason, an astronomy and science communicator at Eclipse2026.is and IcelandAtNight.is told Space.com, who's been preparing since 2015. "I've spent the better part of last year and this year increasing awareness with the general public, giving talks and having countless meetings with municipalities, tour companies, even the minister of justice and members of the parliament," he says. "It's finally paying off [but] we still have a long way to go." He's hoping Iceland's unique charms appeal to eclipse chasers, adding: "You could witness the eclipse from a geothermal pool or surrounded by incredible volcanic landscapes — and Icelanders know how to throw a good party!"
For Spain, there's been a much longer wait for what will be a very special totality. "It's the first total solar eclipse visible from mainland Spain in over 120 years, and it's taking place in my home country," Dan Zafra, an astrophotographer at CaptureTheAtlas.com, told Space.com. "It's a rare opportunity not just for Spaniards but for eclipse chasers and photographers worldwide to witness totality in a stunning and accessible European setting."
As eclipse chasers on cruise ships in Greenland experience totality, the sun and moon will be about 25 degrees above the northwestern horizon. However, once the path has crossed northern Spain, it will be close to sunset. Fienberg will be on a cruise ship in the western Mediterranean Sea between the coast of mainland Spain and Mallorca, one of the Balearic Islands. "We'll have a little more than 1½ minutes of totality with the sun about 3½ degrees above the horizon just before sundown," said Fienberg. "Then we'll see the thin crescent sun appear to sink into the sea. The entire spectacle should be quite dramatic."
Since any one place on Earth experiences totality on average once every 36 years, according to NASA, eclipse chasing typically demands travel. "Once you've seen the dramatic beauty of a total solar eclipse, you might well get the bug to travel the world to see more," Zeiler said. "Life is short, and travel to far-away destinations will be so rewarding in so many ways."
The 2026 total solar eclipse will be followed one lunar year later on August 2, 2027, when a maximum totality of 6 minutes and 23 seconds will be seen from Egypt, with Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Somalia also in the path. Another lunar year will see a 5-minute and 10-second totality on July 22, 2028, in Australia, with New Zealand getting totality close to sunset.
To the uninitiated, the passion of eclipse chasers leaves many confused. Perhaps that's because photos of totality typically fail to do the majesty of the event justice. Seeing the solar corona with the naked eye is a moment to savor, but there's much more to it than visuals." You don't just see a total solar eclipse. You feel it as the air cools and the wind changes speed and direction. You hear it in the cheers and cries of those around you and the sounds of insects and birds behaving as they do at sunset," said Fienberg. "It's among the most awesome experiences you can have on this planet — right up there with falling in love."
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