How Many Solar Eclipses Will You Be Able to See In Your Lifetime?
Total solar eclipses, when our view of the Sun is completely blocked out by the Moon, are highly anticipated events. The one appearing over much of the U.S. on August 21 may end up becoming the most-viewed celestial event in history. If you miss this summer's, though, will you ever see another? Denise Lu at The Washington Post can tell you just how many other chances you'll get.
Just put your birth year into the Post's eclipse calculator, and it will tell you how many total solar eclipses have yet to occur worldwide before you reach 100 (assuming that you live to be exactly 100). In the graphic below, the orange line is the path of this summer's total solar eclipse. The purple lines represent future eclipses. The darker the line, the sooner it will occur.
Though solar eclipses are relatively common worldwide, that doesn't mean they're easy to view. A total solar eclipse hasn't been visible in the contiguous United States since 1979, and the next time a total solar eclipse will pass over the entire country will be in 2045. Personally, the eclipse calculator tells me I have 50 left in my lifetime, but I'll need to move to Asia to see most of them, and unless I get on a boat and chase eclipse trajectories across the ocean, I'm bound to miss a few.
Throughout history, eclipses have proved to be powerful phenomena, and not just because looking at them can damage your eyes. In 585 BCE, a solar eclipse that occurred in the middle of a Greek battle prompted the end of a six-year war. Soldiers saw the sudden darkness in the middle of the day as a sign that they should cease their fighting.
Find out how many eclipses you have left on The Washington Post.