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How, Where, When to See Solar Eclipses in 2023, 2024 US

By September 29, 2023No Comments5 Mins Read0 Views

A “ring of fire” solar eclipse is occurring over the western United States, from Oregon to Texas, on October 14.

Image of a diamond ring during a total solar eclipse. — Solar eclipses are rare and stunning events.

If you’re in the eastern half of the country, don’t fret. You’ll be treated to a total solar eclipse in April 2024.

Two women in red shirts wearing square eclipse glasses look up in the sunlight. — NASA employees use protective glasses to view a partial solar eclipse.

NASA released a detailed map showing the paths of those two eclipses. Let’s walk through the best US locations for watching them.

Map shows two belts representing paths of solar eclipses crossing the US. — A map showing where the moon’s shadow will cross the US during the 2023 annular solar eclipse and 2024 total solar eclipse.

We’ll start with October 14, 2023, when the moon will pass in front of the sun while it’s at its farthest point from Earth.

stages of a solar eclipse show the moon slowly passing in front of the sun to totally cover it in shadow — The moon moves in front of the sun for a solar eclipse.

Since the moon appears smaller, it won’t completely cover the sun. It will leave a “ring of fire” around its shadow. This is called an annular solar eclipse.

annular solar eclipse where dark circle of the moon's shadow covers the center of the sun with a ring of solar plasma peeking out around it — An annular solar eclipse as seen by Japan’s Hinode spacecraft.

From Portland, Seattle, or the San Francisco Bay Area, your closest option is Eugene or Klamath Falls in Oregon. Inside the oval, the eclipse occurs at the noted time.

zoomed shot of nasa map shows eclipse shadow running through southwestern Oregon, northern Nevada, and the northeastern tip of California in October 2023 — The eclipse appears first in southwestern Oregon at 9:20 a.m. Pacific Time.

The lines on the NASA map indicate how long the eclipse will last. The outermost lines along the path show where the eclipse will last a minute or two. On the innermost lines it will last 4 1/2 minutes.

lines running down the eclipse's path in nasa map read 3 min to 4.5 min — The lines on the map indicate how long the eclipse will last in different places.

Purple and yellow lines cutting across the map also show where you can see a partial eclipse outside the paths of the moon’s full shadow.

Download a high-resolution version of the map to follow those lines on NASA’s website.

If you want a desert eclipse experience, the “path of annularity” passes right through northeastern Nevada and southern Utah.

zoomed shot of nasa map shows eclipse shadow running through northern Nevada and Utah in October 2023 — The eclipse will appear in northeastern Nevada at 9:25 a.m. Pacific Time.

In Santa Fe or Albuquerque? You’re in luck! The eclipse will pass right over you, as well as the UFO-famous Roswell, New Mexico.

zoomed shot of nasa map shows eclipse shadow running diagonally through New Mexico from the northwest corner to the southeast corner in October 2023 — The eclipse will appear in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at 10:35 a.m. Mountain Time.

San Antonio might be the luckiest city of all. The annular eclipse will last four minutes there. The following year, residents can drive just to the northwest to see the total eclipse.

zoomed shot of nasa map shows 2023 eclipse shadow running through Texas from northwest to southeast and 2024 total solar eclipse shadow running from southwest to northeast with the two eclipse paths meeting near San Antonio — The eclipse will appear in San Antonio at 11:55 a.m. Central Time.

In that total solar eclipse, on April 8, 2024, the moon will be close enough to Earth to completely block out the sun in a brief moment of “totality.”

total solar eclipse shows dark circle of moon's shadow with purple ring around it where the sun is hiding

That eclipse will be visible only to a large swath of the US and parts of Mexico and Canada.

globe with intersecting purple and yellow lines showing where two eclipses will move over the americas — The full paths of the 2023 annular eclipse (in yellow and black) and the 2024 total eclipse (in purple and black). Shaded bands (yellow for the annular eclipse and purple for the total eclipse) also show where a partial eclipse can be seen.

It will be the last total solar eclipse to be visible from the contiguous US until 2044. The eclipse will begin near San Antonio and then move to Austin and Dallas.

zoomed shot of nasa map shows eclipse shadow running through Austin, Fort Worth, and Dallas, Texas, in October 2023 — The total solar eclipse will appear in Dallas at 1:45 p.m. Central Time.

Then the eclipse will cast its shadow over Arkansas and southeastern Missouri.

zoomed shot of nasa map shows eclipse shadow running through Arkansas west to northeast, then the southeastern tip of Missouri, then southern Illinois in October 2023 — The eclipse will appear in Little Rock, Arkansas, at about 1:50 p.m. Central Time.

The rest of the Midwest can flock to southern Illinois, Indianapolis, or Cleveland to get into the path of totality.

zoomed shot of nasa map shows eclipse shadow running through southern Illinois, central Indiana, and northern Ohio in October 2023 — The eclipse will appear in Indianapolis just before 3:10 p.m. Eastern Time and then in Cleveland at 3:15 p.m. ET.

Much of the northeast can get its eclipse fix by driving to upstate New York.

zoomed shot of nasa map shows eclipse shadow over northern New York state and Lake Ontario in October 2023 — The eclipse will appear in Buffalo, New York, at 3:20 p.m. Eastern Time.

Everyone’s last chance to see a total solar eclipse in the US for another 20 years will be late afternoon in northern Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

zoomed shot of nasa map shows eclipse shadow over northern Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine into New Brunswick in October 2023 — The eclipse will move through Maine and exit the US by 3:35 p.m. Eastern Time.

No matter where you are or which eclipse you’re watching, don’t forget to protect your eyes. Happy viewing!

seven children wearing solar eclipse glasses look up at the sky — Children using special glasses to look into the sky during a partial solar eclipse outside the Planetario in Madrid.

Correction: April 5, 2023 — An earlier version of this story misstated where people would be able to see both the annular eclipse and the total eclipse. It’s San Antonio, Texas, not San Antonio, New Mexico.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on April 5, 2023.

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