DETAILS OF TOTAL ECLIPSES OF THE SUN FOR THE NEXT 40 YEARS:
If one of your hobbies is planning future vacations around eclipse chasing, below is a tabulation of some valuable information that you may rely upon for the rest of your life. Unlike other aspects of your vacation, these eclipses WILL take place precisely at the place designated and at the time predicted (to the tenth of a second). No one will (or can) deIay them or cancel them. If taking Eclipse Vacations is not currently one of your hobbies, give it some consideration. It saves you the aggravation of figuring out where to go on vacation!
There are 24 total eclipses of the sun that will occur in the upcoming 40 years of your life. Of these, a few are “No Go” that are over the north or south pole, or over very dangerous and hostile countries, but most are quite reasonable. What is meant by reasonable?? Well, it means they are in a location that is accessible to ordinary means of travel, they occur in a reasonable weather season (not where it is 15 below zero), they are not sunrise or sunset eclipses where the sun is very near the horizon, and that they can be observed in a country that is not unstable or dangerous to tourists. Some of the eclipses are quite special in that they offer a great eclipse in warm weather with a high sun and in a great vacation spot. The 2001 total eclipse in Zambia in June near Victoria Falls was an example of this. What a great time our entire group of five couples had in chasing that eclipse and viewing Victoria Falls and the Chobe National Wildlife Park. The upcoming eclipses of 2017, 2020, 2027, 2028, 2030, 2035, 2038, 2045 and 2046 offer such great eclipse vacations. They will allow you to visit Australia, South Africa, Japan, the United States, Chile and Argentina, Luxor in Egypt and the Okavango Delta in Botswana. What more could you ask?
For the United States, the two best total solar eclipses of the 21st century will occur in 2017 and 2045. Both will be spectacular summer eclipses through the heart of the country from coast-to-coast, with the 2045 eclipse getting the nod as the most spectacular because it is over 6 minutes in duration instead of the 2½ minutes in 2017. Australia similarly has two fine eclipses that occur in 2028 and 2037, with the 2028 eclipse passing over Sydney, which is precisely on the centerline! You can fly into Sydney, experience the total eclipse anywhere near Sydney, then tour Australia. If New Zealand is your interest, then the 2038 eclipse is for you! It is in December on the day after Christmas (you may be off work for a week or two to be able to do it). This is their summer, so if you live in the northern hemisphere it may be nice to escape the cold. And good news for this eclipse … it will be high in the sky and can be viewed from either the south island or the north island of New Zealand. Get to Wellington on the North Island and the eclipse path is just north of there, or, if more convenient, fly into Christchurch and go to the northernmost point of the south island to view it.
If you have a yearning for an African safari trip, the eclipses of 2030 and 2046 offer the chance to visit the Okavango Delta or Chobe National Park in Bostwana (both are phenomenal) or to visit Kruger National Park in South Africa. If you desire to visit the great Andes national parks in Chile, the 2020 eclipse is for you. You can fly into Santiago during their summer, observe a great total eclipse at Villarrica (which currently has an active volcano spewing lava … better now than then!), then tour the Chilean national parks. The 2041 eclipse will allow you to visit Mt. Kilimanjaro, Ngorongoro crater and the Serengeti National Park, then go a little north to northwest Kenya to view the eclipse. Why worry about anything more than five years from now, you say? Good question. Perhaps you would like to do some world traveling when you retire, and would like to have a wish list for that time.
INFORMATION FOR PLANNING YOUR ECLIPSE VACATION
UPCOMING TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSES FOR THE NEXT 40 YEARS – 2016 THRU 2056
YEAR DATE LOCATION TO VIEW ECLIPSE LENGTH COMMENT ON ECLIPSE
2016 Mar 09 Sumat-Indonesia-w of Hawaii 4m 09s Always Clouds near Equator
2017 Aug 21 Continental United States 2m 40s From Oregon to S. Carolina
2019 July 02 Chile and Argentina 2m 36s Sunset; During their Winter
2020 Dec 14 Chile and Argentina 2m 09s Mid-day; During their Summer
2024 Apr 08 Mexico and United States 4m 11s Mazatlan best; Texas OK
2026 Aug 12 Over Greenland and Iceland 2m 18s West Coast of Iceland OK
2027 Aug 02 North Africa and Egypt 6m 23s Long Eclipse over Luxor
2028 July 22 The Middle of Australia 5m 10s Goes Directly over Sydney!
2030 Nov 25 South Africa 3m 44s Just South of Kruger Park
2033 Mar 30 Northern Alaska 2m 37s For Hardy Eclipse Chasers
2034 Mar 20 Equatorial Africa 4m 09s Through Dangerous Region
2035 Sep 02 Northern China and Japan 2m 54s Japan’s West Coast Best
2037 July 13 The Middle of Australia 3m 58s North of Perth to Brisbane
2038 Dec 26 S. Australia – New Zealand 2m 18s New Zealand-their Summer
2039 Dec 15 Antarctic Only 1m 51s As Inaccessible as any!
2041 Apr 30 Angola,Congo,Uganda,Kenya 1m 51s Unstable Region; Kenya Best
2042 Apr 20 Philippine Islands 4m 51s View from Ligao City in Albay
2044 Aug 23 North. Canada; Arctic Ocean 2m 04s Summer, not too accessible
2045 Aug 12 Continental United States 6m 06s Best USA Eclipse of Century!
2046 Aug 02 Botswana and South Africa 4m 51s Chobe or Kruger Parks
2048 Dec 05 Chile and Argentina 3m 28s Even better than 2020 Eclipse
2052 Mar 30 Mexico and northern Florida 4m 08s Mexico is best; Florida is OK
2053 Sep 12 Morocco, Libya, Egypt 3m 04s View in Egypt near Luxor
2055 July 24 Southern South Africa only 3m 17s North of Capetown on Coast