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Last Post 10/7/2009 11:41 AM by Kris Sigsbee

solar eclipses

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10/6/2009 8:24 AM
Mark S (Fx) Why do so many solar eclipses happen over other geographical parts of the world, like the far east, or the pacific ocean, and not north america? When will there be another eclipse we can see from the US?

Tags: Next Solar Eclipse, Saros Cycle

Kris Sigsbee

Basic Member

Posts:415

10/7/2009 11:41 AM
Hi Mark, It sure does seem like eclipses are visible more often over other parts of the world, but that's because the United States only represents about 2% of the Earth's surface area. Solar eclipses are visible only to observers in a very narrow strip on the Earth's surface called an eclipse path. The date and location of the eclipse path varies with regular cycles of different lengths - the Saros cycle and the Inex cycle. Right now, we are not in a part of these cycles where solar eclipses are visible over the United States. The next solar eclipse visible from parts of North America will be on May 20, 2012. This will actually be an annular eclipse. The next total solar eclipse visible over the United States will be August 21, 2017. You can learn more about the cycles used to predict eclipses here: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa....s/SEperiodicity.html You can read more about where the next solar eclipse will occur here: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa....de/SEdecade2011.html On the other hand, a lunar eclipse is visible to any observers on the night side of the Earth during the eclipse. Because of this, it is a lot easier to observe a lunar eclipse than a solar eclipse.