When is there going to be an eclipse this year or next?

Question

When is there going to be an eclipse this year or next?

Answer 1

oct 30 2008

Answer 2

I hear October this year, don't know the day.

Answer 3

Hi Danny!

There are always at least two eclipses of the sun and two of the moon each and every year.  This year was no exception.  They each happened in February and August, the most recent being a partial eclipse of the moon on August 16th.

There absolutely will be no eclipse in October, however.  It is a physical impossibility.

The next eclipse will be in January.  There's an annular eclipse of the sun from Africa to Indonesia on January 26th.  Following that, an even grander total eclipse of the sun will be seen in India and China July 22, 2009.  That eclipse, in which the best views will be from the Blue River valley and Shanghai, China, will be the longest total eclipse in the entire 21st Century.

There are also three very shallow lunar eclipses in February, July and August next year, but they are so slight that you wouldn't be able to see any of the eclipses without professional instruments.