When is the next full solar eclipse

This year Earth will experience two partial solar eclipses. The next solar eclipse will occur on Oct. 25 and will be visible from parts of Europe, western Asia and northeast Africa. The first solar eclipse of 2022 occurred on Apr. 30. 

The next total solar eclipse will occur on Apr. 8, 2024, and is known as "The Great American Solar Eclipse" as will be visible throughout North and Central America. 

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon is positioned between Earth and the sun and casts a shadow over Earth. They can only occur during the phase of the new moon and make for an interesting skywatching target. 

Related: Lunar eclipses 2022: When, where & how to see them 

Daisy joined Space.com in Feb. 2022. Before that, she worked as a staff writer for our sister publication All About Space magazine. Daisy has written numerous articles and guides for notable skywatching events including the Perseid meteor shower and the next solar eclipse.

Types of solar eclipse

There are four types of solar eclipses depending on how the sun, moon and Earth are aligned at the time of the event. A solar eclipse always occurs about two weeks before or after a lunar eclipse.  

1. Total solar eclipse: The sun is fully obscured by the moon. 
2. Partial solar eclipse: The moon doesn't fully block the sun so only a portion of the sun is obscured. Here the moon appears to take a "bite" out of the sun.
3. Annular solar eclipse: The moon is centered in front of the sun but doesn't cover the entirety of the surface (as seen in a total solar eclipse). A "ring of fire" shines around the moon. 
4. Hybrid solar eclipse: The rarest solar eclipse is a combination of a total and annular eclipse (sometimes known as an A-T eclipse) and is produced when the moon's shadow moves across Earth, it starts as one type of eclipse and transitions to another. 

According to the educational website SpaceEdge Academy (opens in new tab), 28% of solar eclipses are total, 35% are partial, 32% are annular and only 5% are hybrid.  

Apr. 30 partial solar eclipse

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The first partial solar eclipse of 2022 occurred on Apr. 30 and swept across the southeast Pacific and southern South America.  

The partial solar eclipse began at 1.45 p.m. EST (18:45 UTC), the greatest point of total solar eclipse occurred at 3.41 p.m. EST (20:41 UTC) and ended at 5:37 p.m. EST (22:37 UTC) at the last location to see the partial eclipse according to timeanddate (opens in new tab).

Related: The 1st solar eclipse of 2022 is stunning in these satellite views

Oct. 25 partial solar eclipse

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The second partial solar eclipse of the year will occur on Oct. 25 and should be visible from Europe, western Asia and northeast Africa. From near sunrise in Iceland to near sunset in western India, the partial solar eclipse will be widely seen. 

Those wishing to see the moon take the biggest "bite" out of the sun's disk will have to venture some 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) to the east-northeast of Moscow in the West Siberian Plain where 82% of the sun's area will be covered, according to Sky and Telescope. 

Nevertheless, there are still plenty of good partial solar eclipse viewing opportunities across Europe, the Middle East, western Asia and northeast Africa.

What time is the Oct. 25 solar eclipse?

The first location to see the partial solar eclipse begin is at 3.58 a.m. EST (08:58 UTC), the greatest point of total solar eclipse occurs at 6 a.m. EST (11:00 UTC) and it will end at 8:02 a.m. EST (13:02 UTC) at the last location to see the partial eclipse according to timeanddate (opens in new tab).

Below is a timetable for the partial solar eclipse on Oct. 25 (all times local), featuring data from timeanddate.

Timetable for the partial solar eclipse on Oct. 25 (All times local)

Future solar eclipses

After Oct. 25, 2022, we will not experience another solar eclipse until a rare hybrid solar eclipse on Apr. 20, 2023. Portions of the eclipse will be visible in SE Asia, E Indies, Australia, the Philippines and New Zealand while the hybrid eclipse will be visible in Indonesia, Australia, and Papua New Guinea. 

The next total solar eclipse will occur on Apr. 8, 2024, and has been dubbed "The Great American Solar Eclipse" as it will be visible throughout North and Central America. It will start in Mexico, cross into Texas then heads northeast into the Ohio River Valley, upstate New York, Quebec, Canada and New England, finally exiting the continent through the Canadian Maritimes. 

The maximum duration of totality will last as long as 4 minutes and 26 seconds (over southwest Texas). That's 135 seconds longer than the US average and 40 percent longer than the maximum duration of the 2017 eclipse. 

The "Great American Eclipse" isn't the only solar eclipse to look forward to, here is a list of upcoming solar eclipses according to NASA (opens in new tab).

Future solar eclipses

How to view the sun safely

NEVER look at the sun with binoculars, a telescope or your unaided eye without special protection. Astrophotographers and astronomers use special filters to safely observe the sun during solar eclipses or other sun phenomena. Here's our guide on how to observe the sun safely. 

Solar eclipse viewing tips:

To safely observe the sun or watch an eclipse, you need special protective eyewear or eclipse glasses. Basic sunglasses, even those with UV protection, will not sufficiently protect your eyes. If you're planning to document the eclipse with any photo equipment, there are special solar filters you can add to make sure the remaining ring of sunlight doesn't take a toll on your vision. 

The safest way to observe an eclipse is indirectly by using a pinhole camera that you can make easily at home. 

If you must document one of these events, a simple, wide-angle snap should capture the moment, even if you're using your smartphone camera. 

Editor's Note: If you snap an amazing solar eclipse photo and would like to share it with Space.com's readers, send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to  (opens in new tab).

Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) and on Facebook (opens in new tab). 

Additional resources

Want to look further ahead? You can find a concise summary of solar eclipses through to 2030 on NASA’s eclipse website (opens in new tab). Read more about solar and lunar eclipses on Eclipse Wise (opens in new tab) — a website dedicated to predictions of eclipses. Learn about eclipses on other planets with this short article from Cornell University’s astronomy department (opens in new tab).  

Bibliography

April 30, 2022 partial solar eclipse. timeanddate. Retrieved October 7, 2022, from https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/2022-april-30 (opens in new tab)

Beatty, J. K. (2022, January 21). Solar and lunar eclipses in 2022. Sky & Telescope. Retrieved October 7, 2022, from https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/solar-and-lunar-eclipses-in-2022/ (opens in new tab)

NASA. Solar eclipses: 2021 - 2030. NASA. Retrieved October 7, 2022, from https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEdecade/SEdecade2021.html (opens in new tab)

October 25, 2022 partial solar eclipse. timeanddate. Retrieved October 7, 2022, from https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/2022-october-25 (opens in new tab) 

Path table for Oct. 25 partial solar eclipse (opens in new tab). NASA 

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Daisy Dobrijevic joined Space.com in February 2022 as a reference writer having previously worked for our sister publication All About Space magazine as a staff writer. Before joining us, Daisy completed an editorial internship with the BBC Sky at Night Magazine and worked at the National Space Centre in Leicester, U.K., where she enjoyed communicating space science to the public. In 2021, Daisy completed a PhD in plant physiology and also holds a Master's in Environmental Science, she is currently based in Nottingham, U.K.