If photos of the dazzling “ring of fire” that danced across the skies of South America on Wednesday (2) sparked eclipse fever, skywatchers won’t have to wait long for more celestial spectacles, some already reserved for next year.
While there won’t be another “ring of fire” event until 2026, opportunities to observe the Moon obscuring part of the Sun’s surface are close at hand.
The eclipse that occurred on Wednesday was classified as annular, which occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun. In this case, it is near or at the furthest point in its orbit from our planet, so it cannot completely block the sun as it does during a total solar eclipse. However, the alignment allows the moon to block most of the sun, creating the stunning “ring of fire” effect.
Two partial solar eclipses will occur in 2025. This type happens when the Moon moves between the Sun and Earth without being perfectly aligned, causing the Moon to partially obscure the Sun and form a crescent shape.
The first next year will take place on March 29 and will be visible in a portion of the northeastern United States and Canada, as well as in Greenland, Iceland and parts of Europe and northwestern Africa.
The second will take place six months later, on September 21, but only a few lucky nations in Oceania — including New Zealand, Fiji and a small part of Australia — and Antarctica will be able to see the spectacle.
An annular solar eclipse will occur on February 17, 2026. The full display will only be visible from Antarctica, but a partial eclipse will still be seen off the main path from southern Africa and South America, according to NASA.
Finally, a total solar eclipse — like the one that drew millions of viewers across North America this April — will once again grace the skies on August 12, 2026. A total solar eclipse is very different from a partial eclipse or a ring of fire event, as the moon completely covers the sun, casting a shadow that plunges a swath of the Earth into darkness for a few minutes.
The path of totality will cross Greenland, Iceland, Russia, Spain and a small part of Portugal, while a partial eclipse will be visible in parts of Europe, Africa and North America.
To witness any of these solar eclipse events, be sure to use certified eclipse glasses or a portable solar viewer to protect your eyes from the sun’s harmful rays and observe the event safely. If you don’t have these, you can use a telescope, binoculars or camera that has a special solar filter on the front, which acts in the same way as eclipse glasses.
But don’t look through any optical device — camera lens, telescope, binoculars — while using eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer. The sun’s rays can still burn through the filter of glasses or the viewer, given how concentrated they can be through an optical device, and can cause serious eye damage.
Total solar eclipse dates around the world
For travelers wanting to see more of these events, below are the dates of other upcoming total solar eclipses and where their paths will cross:
- July 22, 2028: Australia and New Zealand
- November 25, 2030: Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Lesotho, Australia
- March 20, 2034: Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China
- September 2, 2035: China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan
- July 13, 2037: Australia and New Zealand
- December 26, 2038: Australia and New Zealand
- April 30, 2041: Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia
- April 20, 2042: Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Philippines
- April 9, 2043: Russia
This content was originally published in When are the next solar eclipses? Check it out on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
Charles Grill is a tech-savvy writer with over 3 years of experience in the field. He writes on a variety of technology-related topics and has a strong focus on the latest advancements in the industry. He is connected with several online news websites and is currently contributing to a technology-focused platform.
