WASHINGTON, USA — Washington state missed out on the path of totality for the 2024 solar eclipse - but thankfully, the next few to hit North America will be more visible in the Pacific Northwest.
The catch? The closest one is still a few decades away.
The next solar eclipse to hit North America at all will occur in August 2044, according to Timeanddate.com. The path of totality is mainly in Canada, but will also hit Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.
Washington will much have better visibility than it did during the eclipse this year, where the moon covered just 20% of the sun. During the 2044 solar eclipse, the sun will be almost completely obscured by the moon, with 95% obstruction in Seattle.
An eclipse occurs when the moon orbits between the sun and the earth, casting a shadow across part of the earth's surface. The center of the shadow (where the sun is completely obscured by the moon) is called the umbra, and the outer shadow is called the penumbra, which is where the sun is partially obscured.
The umbra for the 2044 eclipse will be quite a bit wider than it was in 2024. This year's path of totality was only 115 miles in width, while the umbra for the 2044 eclipse will cover a 281-mile-wide distance, according to calculations by NASA.
An eclipse in 2078 will also be visible in Washington, but only to a very small degree. Timeanddate.com lists that Seattle will only see 6% obscuration of the sun by the moon. The path of totality for that eclipse crosses through Mexico, Louisiana, Alabama Georgia, South and North Carolina.
The eclipse happening in 2099 will grant better coverage in the state of Washington, but not quite as good as the 2044 eclipse. Seattle will see 87% obscuration with cities in the far north of the state seeing as much as 92% of the sun covered by the moon.