The 2009 solar eclipse was a total solar eclipse, which occurs roughly every 18 months somewhere on Earth. However, the next total solar eclipse visible from the same location typically takes much longer, often hundreds of years.
The next predicted total solar eclipse after August 11, 1999, occurred on December 4, 2002, but it wasn't visible from a wide area. However, a more significant total solar eclipse visible over a larger region occurred on March 29, 2006.
a solar and lunar eclipse are similar because the Moon sort of a phase and only happens every thousand years. and is made of cheese
every 50 years
The next solar eclipse will be on July 11, 2010, and will be visible across a path from a little east of New Zealand eastward across the South Pacific Ocean. There are very few points of land in the way; a few atolls in French Polynesia, Easter Island, and the southern tip of South America. For those of us in the USA, the next total solar eclipse is still 7 years away, on August 21, 2017. That eclipse will be visible from Newport. Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina. You can look up all the eclipses from 2000 BC to 3000 AD at the NASA Eclipse Web Page.
it varies between years
Both solar eclipses and lunar eclipses are fairly common; there are 1-2 of each every year. ______________________________ Solar eclipses SEEM TO BE rare, because each one affects only a small area on the Earth. For example, the last total solar eclipse had a path across the south Pacific Ocean, including a few atolls in French Polynesia, Easter Island, and the southern tip of South America. If you live in a particular spot and never travel much, you might see one solar eclipse in your lifetime, and you might NOT. It would be rare for one place to see two total solar eclipses in one lifetime. (But not impossible; Carbondale, IL will have two total solar eclipses 8 years apart, in 2017 and 2024. ) On the other hand, if you live in Los Angeles, CA, the next total solar eclipse will be in about 500 years.
There is an annual solar eclipse expected in early May, 2012, visible primarily from the pacific ocean.
We would have what is called a "Total Solar Eclipse." The Most recent Total Solar Eclipse happened in 1487. The Next Total Solar Eclipse will happen in 2079. An interval of approx. 601 years. But for lack of better explanation, we would have a solar eclipse that we get annually.
I just missed this years! Total Eclipse of the Heart LOLTotal Solar EclipseAugust 21, 2017 - United States from Oregon to South CarolinaApril 8, 2024 - Mexico, United States and Canadafor times check online / varies by where you livecorrect me if I'm wrong w/the dates & yearsphotographermatt
Both solar and lunar eclipses generally occur 2 times a year. Some years you will have fewer, or more. For example, there will be NO solar eclipses at all during 2011! The maximum possible number of solar or lunar eclipses per year is five.
Over a period of a number of years, the numbers of both kinds are identical.During the 100 years of the 20th Century, there were 228 solar eclipses and229 lunar ones.But ... when a lunar eclipse does happen, you have a much greater chanceof seeing it than you have of seeing a solar eclipse when it happens.