Solar eclipses of the 21st Century

There are 224 solar eclipses within the 21st century. Of these, 68 are total solar eclipses, 73 are annular solar eclipses, 7 are hybrids of total and annular solar eclipses, and 77 are partial solar eclipses.

The longest total solar eclipse of this century was that of July 22, 2009 which at the point of greatest eclipse was 6 minutes and 38 seconds. The longest annular solar eclipse of this century was that of January 15, 2010 with a maximum duration of 11 minutes and 8 seconds.

Fred Espenak of eclipsewise.com and Michael Zeiler of greatamericaneclipse.com have collaborated to produce a series of animated GIF images that depict the motion of every solar eclipse in the 21st century.

You’ll find these GIFs, organized by decades, at these links.

www.greatamericaneclipse.com/solar-eclipses-from-2001-to-2010
www.greatamericaneclipse.com/solar-eclipses-from-2011-to-2020
www.greatamericaneclipse.com/solar-eclipses-from-2021-to-2030
www.greatamericaneclipse.com/solar-eclipses-from-2031-to-2040
www.greatamericaneclipse.com/solar-eclipses-from-2041-to-2050
www.greatamericaneclipse.com/solar-eclipses-from-2051-to-2060
www.greatamericaneclipse.com/solar-eclipses-from-2061-to-2070
www.greatamericaneclipse.com/solar-eclipses-from-2071-to-2080
www.greatamericaneclipse.com/solar-eclipses-from-2081-to-2090
www.greatamericaneclipse.com/solar-eclipses-from-2091-to-2100

These maps show all the total and annular solar eclipses of each decade of the 21st century. Click on each map to view their full size.

This diagram represents all 224 solar eclipses in a spiral calendar format. The eclipse dates progress from 2000 at the outermost band to the year 2100 at the innermost band. The curves joining the eclipses indicate periodic cycles of eclipses known as the Saros. Eclipse paths in each Saros cycle share similar shapes with slightly increasing or decreasing durations. Eclipses within a Saros cycle are separated by 18 years, 11 days, and 8 hours. For more information on the Saros, visit http://www.eclipsewise.com/solar/SEhelp/SEsaros.html

Click to enlarge