Eclipse Calculator
Every solar and lunar eclipse you can see from here in the next ten years — contact times in your local time, computed from the ephemeris.
Eclipses for
Solar eclipses
Lunar eclipses
Every solar eclipse, worldwide, for the next fifteen years
Where the greatest eclipse falls, how long totality (or the ring) lasts there, and how wide the path is — open any of them on the map.
How to read it
The simulator under each eclipse draws the two discs as you'll see them — zenith up, so what's on the right in the picture is on the right in your viewfinder. Drag the slider from first to last contact. C1–C4 are the four contacts of a solar eclipse: the Moon first touches the Sun's disc, totality (or the ring) begins, ends, and the Moon leaves. Magnitude is the fraction of the Sun's diameter covered at maximum (over 1 means total); obscuration is the fraction of its area. For lunar eclipses U1–U4 are the umbral contacts and P1/P4 the faint penumbral ones — you'll notice the shading from about U1. Times come straight from the Sun and Moon positions for your exact spot (parallax included), not from a table, so they hold for any place on Earth. Expect them within about ten seconds of the almanacs.
FAQ
- Do I need a filter?
- For every partial phase, yes — a proper solar filter on the lens and solar glasses for your eyes. Only during totality (between C2 and C3) is it safe to shoot and look unfiltered. Lunar eclipses need nothing.
- Why does the Sun's height matter?
- An eclipse low in the sky lets you put a landscape under it — that's the picture. Use the planner to find where it sits over your foreground at C2.
- Which lens?
- The Sun and Moon are half a degree across: at 400 mm on full frame the disc is about 4 mm on the sensor, at 800 mm about 8 mm. For the corona, a little wider than you think. The field of view calculator shows the framing.