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Coming Soon? A Solar Eclipse Near You

Use the interactive map below to find the next solar spectacular in your region

Editor’s Note (2/5/24): On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will be visible from parts of the U.S., Mexico and Canada. This will be the last opportunity to see the phenomenon in the contiguous U.S. and Canada until 2044.

A solar eclipse darkens some region of Earth roughly every six months. Excitement is high for the August 21 total eclipse, which will cast a band of complete blackness across the U.S. from Oregon to South Carolina. If you live too far away to see it, don’t despair—another eclipse may be coming your way soon (see map). It may be one of several varieties, in which the moon blocks part or all of the sun (see diagrams). Whatever the flavor, the event provides a dramatic show worth experiencing. —Mark Fischetti

Credit: Jen Christiansen

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Swipe or scroll down within the text panel (with mouse, trackpad, or using arrows on keyboard) to reveal more options. Click on region name to select, then scroll down in your browser to view the globe.

Credit: Jan Willem Tulp; Source: Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA GSFC Emeritus 

Jan Willem Tulp is an independent data experience designer from The Netherlands. He designs creative data visualizations for a wide variety of clients. You can find his work at http://tulpinteractive.com.

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Mark Fischetti has been a senior editor at Scientific American for 17 years and has covered sustainability issues, including climate, weather, environment, energy, food, water, biodiversity, population, and more. He assigns and edits feature articles, commentaries and news by journalists and scientists and also writes in those formats. He edits History, the magazine's department looking at science advances throughout time. He was founding managing editor of two spinoff magazines: Scientific American Mind and Scientific American Earth 3.0. His 2001 freelance article for the magazine, "Drowning New Orleans," predicted the widespread disaster that a storm like Hurricane Katrina would impose on the city. His video What Happens to Your Body after You Die?, has more than 12 million views on YouTube. Fischetti has written freelance articles for the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, Smithsonian, Technology Review, Fast Company, and many others. He co-authored the book Weaving the Web with Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, which tells the real story of how the Web was created. He also co-authored The New Killer Diseases with microbiologist Elinor Levy. Fischetti is a former managing editor of IEEE Spectrum Magazine and of Family Business Magazine. He has a physics degree and has twice served as the Attaway Fellow in Civic Culture at Centenary College of Louisiana, which awarded him an honorary doctorate. In 2021 he received the American Geophysical Union's Robert C. Cowen Award for Sustained Achievement in Science Journalism, which celebrates a career of outstanding reporting on the Earth and space sciences. He has appeared on NBC's Meet the Press, CNN, the History Channel, NPR News and many news radio stations. Follow Fischetti on X (formerly Twitter) @markfischetti

More by Mark Fischetti