Eclipse Finder

When is the next eclipse, can you see it from here, and how much gets covered? Drag the time and watch the Moon’s shadow cross the real Earth.

From this place

Your sky

Contact times

This eclipse

Eclipses by year

    About this tool

    Every solar-eclipse time is computed in your browser from NASA’s Besselian elements: the Moon’s shadow axis is placed on the fundamental plane, your place is turned into geocentric coordinates on the flattened Earth, and the first, second, third and last contacts are found by iteration. The shipped code is checked against every city row of Japan’s National Astronomical Observatory (2011–2026): partial contacts within 12 s, annular and total contacts within 15 s, magnitude within 0.002. Times assume sea level and ignore the lunar limb profile, which matters by a few seconds near the edge of the path.

    Lunar eclipses use NASA’s catalogue: greatest eclipse is the published instant, and the other contacts are half the published penumbral, partial and total durations either side of it. Japan’s observatory (and some planetaria) enlarge Earth’s shadow slightly more, so their begin and end times can be 15–40 s earlier or later (minutes for a grazing eclipse); the time of greatest eclipse agrees. Penumbral-only eclipses are labelled as barely noticeable. Whether the Moon is up is computed with a modest Moon position, good to about a minute for moonrise and moonset.

    An eclipse is an instant, so the clock is stated: the Traditional Chinese page uses UTC+8, the Japanese page UTC+9 as the observatory does, and the English page your own device’s time zone, with the place’s local time added when it differs. Contacts past midnight carry their own date. The catalogue covers 1901–2100, both kinds over the same span; for eclipses after about 2050 the unknown future length of the day shifts the path east or west by tens of kilometres.

    Credits: eclipse predictions by Fred Espenak and Jean Meeus, NASA GSFC (Five Millennium Catalogs of Solar and Lunar Eclipses). Earth: NASA Earth Observatory Blue Marble (Reto Stöckli). Moon: NASA SVS CGI Moon Kit (LRO). NASA material is acknowledged here and does not imply NASA endorsement. This tool answers geometry only — when, where, what time, how much — and carries no astrology, omens or fortune content, and no weather forecast.

    Quick guide

    Use cases, answers, and nearby tools

    Compact below-tool notes that help first-run users and repeated visitors move faster without changing the main interface.

    Chinese search: 下一次日食 什麼時候、下次月食 台灣 看得到嗎、月全食 時間 台北、日全食 路徑、日偏食 食分

    Japanese search: 次の日食 いつ、次の皆既月食 東京、日食 見える 地域、皆既日食 2027、金環日食 時刻

    How to use

    Run a clean first pass

    1. Open the page: it lands on the next eclipse after now, with the verdict and times for your default place right above the globe.
    2. Drag the timeline (or the shadow dot on the globe) and the Moon’s shadow moves across the real Earth while Your Sky and the contact table follow.
    3. Change the place by city, coordinates or a tap on the globe, and press “Next one I can see” to jump to the next eclipse that is really visible from there.

    Examples

    Real jobs this page helps with

    • Can I see the next lunar eclipse?Open the default page and read the contact times for your place in your own time zone, and whether the Moon is up at the time.
    • The 2 August 2027 total eclipsePick 2027-08-02 and scrub from start to end: the umbra crosses Gibraltar, North Africa, Luxor and Arabia, and Luxor sees totality with the corona.
    • Annular at Nagoya, partial at ToyamaPick 2012-05-20 (21 May in Japan) and switch between Nagoya and Toyama at maximum: one shows a complete ring, the other a thin crescent.
    • Tokyo’s eclipse that ends at sunsetPick 2019-12-26 for Tokyo: the Sun sets before the eclipse ends, so the table finishes with “eclipse in progress at sunset” and no last contact.

    FAQ

    What people usually want to know

    When is the next solar and lunar eclipse, and can I see it?

    The tool opens on the first eclipse after now — solar or lunar, whichever comes first — and states whether it is visible from your default place, at what time and how deeply. “Next one I can see” jumps to the next eclipse that is visible from your place. Everything is computed on the fly, not read from a fixed date table.

    How accurate are the times?

    Solar eclipse times are computed in your browser from NASA’s Besselian elements (Espenak and Meeus). A built-in audit compares the shipped code with every city row published by Japan’s National Astronomical Observatory for 2011–2026: partial contacts and maximum within 12 s, annular and total contacts within 15 s, magnitude within 0.002. Times assume sea level and ignore the lunar limb profile, so they can differ by a few seconds near the edge of the path.

    Why do lunar eclipse start and end times differ between sources?

    Agencies enlarge Earth’s shadow slightly to mimic the atmosphere, and by different amounts. This tool uses NASA’s catalogue; Japan’s observatory uses a somewhat larger shadow, so its begin and end times can be 15–40 s earlier or later (minutes for a grazing eclipse). The time of greatest eclipse agrees. The page says so plainly.

    How do I watch a solar eclipse safely?

    Never look at the Sun without a certified solar filter (ISO 12312-2). Sunglasses, smoked glass and exposed film are not safe. Only the brief total phase of a total eclipse may be viewed directly — put the filter back the moment any Sun reappears. Lunar eclipses are completely safe to watch with the naked eye.

    What does this tool not do?

    It answers geometry only: when, where it is visible, at what time and how much is covered. It does not cover eclipses before 1901 or after 2100, transits and occultations (different events), or weather, and it contains no astrology, omens or fortune content.