Earth  Sun  Planets and Moons  ID: 5073

The 2023 and 2024 Solar Eclipses: Map and Data

The map was updated on March 15, 2023, to correct times in Mexico along the total eclipse path.

This map illustrates the paths of the Moon’s shadow across the U.S. during two upcoming solar eclipses. On October 14, 2023, an annular solar eclipse will cross North, Central, and South America creating a path of annularity. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth while at its farthest point from Earth. Because the Moon is farther away from Earth, it does not completely block the Sun. This will create a “ring of fire” effect in the sky for those standing in the path of annularity. On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will cross North and Central America creating a path of totality. During a total solar eclipse, the Moon completely blocks the Sun while it passes between the Sun and Earth. The sky will darken as if it were dawn or dusk and those standing in the path of totality may see the Sun’s outer atmosphere (the corona) if weather permits.

Making the Map

This map uses datasets from several NASA missions. The eclipse data were calculated by visualizer Ernie Wright using elevation information from SRTM, lunar topography from LRO, and planetary positions from the JPL DE421 ephemeris. The lead visualizer, Michala Garrison, used Earth imagery from NASA’s Blue Marble Next Generation to create the terrain map. Likewise, nighttime Earth imagery from NASA’s Black Marble were used along the path of the 2024 total solar eclipse.

Reading the Map

The dark paths across the map are where the largest area of the Sun will be covered by the Moon. People in these paths will experience either an annular or total solar eclipse. Inside these dark eclipse paths are irregular ovals that delineate the Moon’s shadow on the Earth’s surface. For an annular solar eclipse, these ovals are called the antumbra and together make up the path of annularity. For a total solar eclipse, the ovals are called the umbra and create the path of totality. On the map, the ovals contain times inside corresponding to the shape of the Moon’s shadow cast at that time during the eclipse.

Also within the dark paths are duration contours. These delineate the length of time annularity or totality will last. The closer to the center of the solar eclipse path, the longer it will last. For the annular path, times range from a few seconds on the outer edge to a maximum of around 4.5 minutes in the center. For the total path, times range up to 4 minutes.

Outside the eclipse paths, the map displays contours of obscuration, or percentage of the Sun’s area covered by the Moon. Readers can trace the lines to percents printed along the left and top of map for the 2023 annular solar eclipse and along the right and bottom for the 2024 total solar eclipse. Notice how the 2024 total solar eclipse has a higher maximum percentage because the Moon will completely cover the Sun’s surface.

Learn more about the map here. View an up-close tour of the map here.

Download Eclipse Data


2023 Annular Eclipse Data: 2023eclipse_shapefiles.zip / 2023eclipse_kml.zip

2024 Total Solar Eclipse Data: 2024eclipse_shapefiles.zip / 2024eclipse_kml.zip

Each .zip file above contains the following files:

  • center A high-resolution polyline tracing the path of the shadow center. Region limited.

  • duration Isocontours of maximum total or annular duration, at 30-second intervals.

  • ppath “Penumbra path,” contours of maximum partial obscuration (area of the Sun covered by the Moon) at 5% intervals.

  • ppath01 “Penumbra path,” contours of maximum partial obscuration (area of the Sun covered by the Moon) at 1% intervals.

  • umbra_hi High resolution umbra (or antumbra) polygons, at 1-second intervals. Region limited.

  • umbra_lo Lower resolution umbra (or antumbra) polygons, at 10-second intervals. Global.

  • upath_hi High resolution path shape. Region limited.

  • upath_lo Lower resolution path shape. Global.

More Map Versions

 

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Visualization Credits

Michala Garrison (SSAI): Lead Visualizer
Ernie Wright (USRA): Visualizer
Michael S. Kirk (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Carolyn Ng: Scientist
Shannon Reed (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Project Manager
Laurence Schuler (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Technical Support
Ian Jones (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Technical Support
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5073

Data Used:
Terra and Aqua/MODIS/Blue Marble: Next Generation also referred to as: BMNG
Credit:
The Blue Marble data is courtesy of Reto Stockli (NASA/GSFC).
LRO/LOLA/Digital Elevation Map also referred to as: DEM
JPL DE421 also referred to as: DE421
Ephemeris - NASA/JPL
LRO/SELENE/LOLA/TC/DIgital Elevation Model also referred to as: SLDEM2015
Model
A digital elevation model of the Moon derived from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter and the SELENE Terrain Camera. See the description in Icarus. The data is here.
Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Black Marble: Next Generation also referred to as: Black Marble
NASA/NOAA
Credit:
NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens, using Suomi NPP VIIRS data from Miguel Román, NASA GSFC.
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

Keywords:
SVS >> Moon
SVS >> Solar Eclipse
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions
SVS >> Hyperwall
SVS >> Eclipse
SVS >> Heliophysics
NASA Science >> Earth
NASA Science >> Sun
NASA Science >> Planets and Moons
SVS >> Map

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0