What an eclipse is
A solar eclipse happens at a new moon, when the Moon passes in front of the Sun and its shadow falls on the Earth. Where the Moon covers the Sun completely the eclipse is total, and the sky goes dark for a few minutes; where the Moon is too far from the Earth to cover it, a ring of sunlight is left around it, an annular eclipse; everywhere else in the wider shadow the eclipse is partial. A lunar eclipse happens at a full moon, when the Moon passes through the Earth's shadow. In a total lunar eclipse the whole Moon is in the darkest part of the shadow, the umbra, and usually turns a coppery red; in a partial one only part of it is, and in a penumbral eclipse the Moon passes only through the outer shadow and just dims a little. The next total solar eclipse, on August 2, 2027, crosses southern Spain, North Africa and Arabia: see the 2027 eclipse path.
Why eclipses come in seasons
The Moon's orbit is tilted about 5° to the Sun's path, so most new and full moons pass above or below the Sun or the Earth's shadow. Eclipses happen only when a new or full moon falls near one of the two points where the orbits cross, the lunar nodes. The Sun passes each node once a year, so twice a year there is a window of about five weeks, an eclipse season, with a solar and a lunar eclipse about two weeks apart, sometimes three eclipses. There are between four and seven eclipses in a calendar year.
Eclipses in astrology
Astrologers treat eclipses as the most powerful new and full moons of the year:
- Solar eclipses are read as beginnings: something new starts, often suddenly.
- Lunar eclipses are read as endings and culminations: something comes to a head or is released.
- The node. An eclipse near the North Node is read as pointing toward growth and the future, one near the South Node toward release and the past.
- The sign and house. Where an eclipse falls in your birth chart, by house and by the planets it touches, is read as the part of life it stirs. Astrologers watch eclipses within a few degrees of a natal planet or angle most closely.
These are readings from tradition, for reflection rather than prediction. The table below gives the sign, degree and node of every eclipse from 2024 to 2030; the birth chart calculator shows where those degrees fall in your chart.
Watching safely
Never look at the Sun during a partial or annular eclipse without certified solar eclipse glasses (made to the ISO 12312-2 standard) or a solar filter; sunglasses are not enough. Only during the few minutes of totality, when the Moon covers the Sun completely, is it safe to look with the naked eye, and the glasses go back on as soon as the Sun reappears. Lunar eclipses are safe to watch with no protection at all.