SpaceSolar eclipses: the kinds, and how to watch safely
A solar eclipse happens when the Sun, the Moon and Earth line up, fully or partly, and the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth. The Moon's shadow then falls on part of Earth. This page describes the kinds of solar eclipse and the safety rule. It follows NASA's page on types of solar eclipses, read on 12 November 2026.
Total solar eclipse
In a total solar eclipse the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth and completely blocks the face of the Sun. Only people in the centre of the Moon's shadow see the eclipse as total. For those few minutes the sky darkens as at dawn or dusk.
Annular solar eclipse
An annular eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth while it is at or near its farthest point from Earth. Being farther away, the Moon looks smaller than the Sun and does not cover it completely. A bright ring of Sun stays visible round the dark Moon. "Annular" comes from the Latin word for a ring.
Partial solar eclipse
In a partial eclipse the Sun, Moon and Earth are not perfectly lined up. Only part of the Sun is covered, and it looks as if a bite has been taken out of it. People outside the central track of a total or annular eclipse see a partial one.
Hybrid solar eclipse
Because Earth's surface is curved, an eclipse can sometimes change between annular and total as the Moon's shadow moves across the globe. That is called a hybrid eclipse.
Why sizes match so closely
The Sun is far wider than the Moon, but it is also far more distant, so the two look almost the same size in our sky. Using NASA's fact sheet figures, the Moon is 3,475 km across and on average 384,000 km away, while Earth is on average 149.6 million km from the Sun. Small changes in the Moon's distance, from 363,000 km to 406,000 km, decide whether it can cover the Sun fully (total) or not quite (annular).
The safety rule
Never look at the Sun without proper protection. NASA's guidance is that, except during the brief moments of totality in a total solar eclipse, observers should always use eclipse glasses or another safe method, such as a pinhole projector. This applies to partial and annular eclipses and to the partial stages of a total one. Eclipse glasses are not the same as ordinary sunglasses.
A safe way for a class: the pinhole projector
- Make a small, clean hole in a sheet of card with a pin.
- Stand with your back to the Sun.
- Hold the card so that sunlight passes through the hole on to a second sheet of white paper held behind it.
- Look at the small image of the Sun on the paper, never through the hole at the Sun.
For the date and track of the next eclipse visible from where you live, use an official source such as NASA's eclipse pages or your national observatory. This site does not list eclipse dates.
See also the Sun, the Moon and phases of the Moon.
Source: NASA, read on 12 November 2026.