How rare are solar eclipses?

A little perspective on why it might be worth your time to experience the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse.

Posted 2:10 a.m. Mar 23 — Updated 2:10 a.m. Mar 23

Tony Rice

, NASA Ambassador

As April 8, 2024 draws closer, you might be considering a road trip to experience the total solar eclipse stretching from Texas to Maine. Or maybe you are even wondering if it's worth hunting for solar eclipse glasses.

The Carolinas will experience this as a partial eclipse, with about 72% of the Sun covered by the Moon in Wilmington, 86% in Boone, and around 80% in Raleigh and Durham. You'll need eye protection to see the eclipse wherever your are.

There really isn't that big of a difference in experiences between 70-ish% 80-ish% obscuration (the word astronomers use to describe how much of the Sun is obscured by the Moon), outside of getting out from under cloudy conditions, regional road trips aren't really worth it.

Did we just have one in 2017?

A solar eclipse occurs somewhere on Earth about every 5-6 months like the otal eclipse path that passed through western tip of North Carolina less than 7 years ago.

But these are very localized events. Most happen over the 71% of Earth's surface that is covered by water You've got to be in the extremely narrow path to experience totality.

They are also extremely variable.

The width of an eclipse path depends on how close the Moon is to the Earth, which varies by about 28,000 miles throughout a month.

The August 21, 2017 eclipse was about 71 miles wide, April 8, 2024's is about 115 miles wide. the annular eclipse path stretching from Charlotte to Greensboro on May 30, 1984 was less than 5 miles wide). The path of an annular eclipse in 1771 BCE was nearly 500 miles wide stretching from Augusta, Georgia to Baltimore, Maryland.

Outside those paths, you're going to see a partial eclipse and even those only come up about every 2 years for most locations.

The next partial eclipse visible from the Carolinas will be on August 12, 2026 but will barely be noticeable with less than 1% of the Sun covered by the Moon, 2028's will only be 5% obscured, 2029's about a 1/3 of the Sun obscured.

Letting the eclipse come to you

If you aren't up for a road trip in April, or for the August 12, 2045 total solar eclipse which will stretch from Northern California across down through Florida (including across the Kennedy Space Center and Disney World).

But if you insist on waiting for the eclipse path to come to you, it will be a 50+ year wait. The total solar eclipse on May 11, 2078 will pass through Charlote, Raleigh, and the Outer Banks, Fayetteville is particularly well placed near the centerline of the eclipse where more than 5 minutes of totality will be possible.