2024 Total Solar Eclipse

On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse moved across North America, passing over Mexico, United States, and Canada.

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8

April

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A woman looks up at the sky while wearing eclipse glasses.

Learn how to safely view the solar eclipse.

A map of the contiguous U.S. shows the path of the 2024 total solar eclipse stretching on a narrow band from Texas to Maine.

Explore where to watch the eclipse.

Two women sit at a desk outside. The desk is decorated with art that represents an annular eclipse. There are people and a camera recording them. In the background are mountains.

Join NASA's eclipse broadcast to see the eclipse across the path.

The wispy solar corona shines brightly behind the dark disk of the Moon during a total solar eclipse

See what it's like to experience a total solar eclipse.

The Sun and its atmosphere, shown in a red, gray, and gold layers taken by NASA spacecraft

Dive into how scientists will study this eclipse.

An illustrative poster shows the black silhouettes of five people of different heights wearing red eclipse glasses and looking at a total solar eclipse. One person points toward the eclipse. The eclipse is represented as a black disk surrounded by concentric circles of yellow and orange with white, orange, and red rays. Several spheres appear around the eclipse. At the bottom are the words “Through the eyes of NASA” and the NASA logo appears in the upper right.

Download activities, posters, and more for the solar eclipse.

On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse moved across North America, passing over Mexico, the United States, and Canada. A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the Sun. The sky will darken as if it were dawn or dusk.

Safety is the number one priority when viewing a total solar eclipse. Be sure you're familiar with when you need to wear specialized eye protection designed for solar viewing by reviewing these safety guidelines.

This 3D visualization of the 2024 total eclipse is built with real science data, and shows the shadow of the Moon on Earth.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/VTAD

Safety

Except during the brief total phase of a total solar eclipse, when the Moon completely blocks the Sun’s bright face, it is not safe to look directly at the Sun without specialized eye protection for solar viewing.

Viewing any part of the bright Sun through a camera lens, binoculars, or a telescope without a special-purpose solar filter secured over the front of the optics will instantly cause severe eye injury.

When watching the partial phases of the solar eclipse directly with your eyes, which happens before and after totality, you must look through safe solar viewing glasses (“eclipse glasses”) or a safe handheld solar viewer at all times. You can also use an indirect viewing method, such as a pinhole projector.​

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People viewing a solar eclipse while wearing safety glasses
Employees and visitors at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory stopped to watch the solar eclipse on Aug. 21, 2017.
Credit: NASA/Josh Krohn

What to Expect

The April 8, 2024, eclipse was a total solar eclipse. It was the last total solar eclipse visible from the contiguous United States until 2044.

A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the Sun. People viewing the eclipse from locations where the Moon’s shadow completely covers the Sun — known as the path of totality — will experience a total solar eclipse. The sky will darken, as if it were dawn or dusk. Weather permitting, people along the path of totality will see the Sun’s corona, or outer atmosphere, which is usually obscured by the bright face of the Sun.

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The night sky over a city, showing the progression of a solar eclipse in a line across the sky, with totality in the middle of the line
This composite image shows the progression of a total solar eclipse over Madras, Oregon, on Monday, Aug. 21, 2017.
Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

Where & When

The April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse began over the South Pacific Ocean and crossed North America, passing over Mexico, the United States, and Canada.

Weather permitting, the first location in continental North America that experienced totality was Mexico’s Pacific coast at around 11:07 a.m. PDT.

The path of the eclipse continued from Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, and traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. The eclipse entered Canada in Southern Ontario, and continued through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. The eclipse exited continental North America on the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada, at 5:16 p.m. NDT.

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A map of the contiguous U.S. shows the path of the 2024 total solar eclipse stretching on a narrow band from Texas to Maine.
The 2024 total solar eclipse path crosses from Mexico, through the United States from Texas to Maine, and up through Canada.
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

Contribute to NASA Science!

On April 8, 2024, participants both in and outside the eclipse path joined NASA to learn more about our Sun and Earth and the effects of a total solar eclipse.

From cell phone apps to use on April 8 to recording the sounds of the eclipse, there are opportunities for anyone to get involved with studying this celestial event.

Join a Project
Against a landscape of a flat field and mountains, several people look toward the sky while wearing eclipse glasses. One woman looks through a telecope.
A group of people use solar viewing glasses and a solar safe telescope to watch the annular eclipse of October 14, 2023, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
NASA/Abbey Interrante
Featured Story

The April 8 Total Solar Eclipse: Through the Eyes of NASA

On April 8, 2024, the Moon’s shadow swept across North America, treating millions to a breathtaking view of a total…

Read the Story
Against a black background, the total solar eclipse. It is a black circle surrounded by white, wispy streams of light that flow away from the black circle in every direction.

Quick Facts

A composite image showing mountains above a lake and blue sky. In the sky is a total eclipse, progressing from a full Sun, to totality, and back to a full Sun again.

After the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, the next total solar eclipse that can be seen from the contiguous United States will be on Aug. 23, 2044.

A purple Moon with a bright white, wispy solar atmosphere billowing out around it. It fills the red and purple background.

We can’t normally see the corona ­– the Sun’s outer atmosphere – because the Sun’s surface below it is so much brighter. But during a total solar eclipse, the corona becomes visible, offering unique opportunities to study it.

Three people stand, wearing eclipse glasses, smiling.

When the Moon completely blocks the visible surface of the Sun during a total solar eclipse, viewers can remove their eclipse glasses. A total solar eclipse is the only type of solar eclipse where eclipse glasses can be momentarily removed.

The progression of a total solar eclipse against a dark sky.

When a solar eclipse reaches totality, nocturnal wildlife sometimes wakes up, thinking that it’s nighttime, and non-nocturnal wildlife might think it’s time to head to sleep!