2024 the Next Total Solar Eclipse USA, and Other Future Solar Eclipses

Solar eclipses are neat because, despite the large scale and infrequency, they are incredibly predictable.  While the 2017 total solar eclipse was touted as a once-in-a-lifetime event, that's probably only true for people who are VERY old.  Here's the schedule for solar eclipses visible from the US within a large portions of living people's lifetimes:

October 14, 2023 - Annular eclipse visible in a very similar path to the recent eclipse

April 8th, 2024 - Just a year later, a TOTAL ECLIPSE like the 2017 one will occur with the path of totality passing through a line starting in Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana, and passing all the way up along the border of Canada and states like New York, Vermont and other New England states.

In the United States, totality will be visible through the states of Texas (including parts of San Antonio, Austin, and Fort Worth and all of Arlington, Dallas, Killeen, Temple, Texarkana, Tyler and Waco), Oklahoma, Arkansas (including Hot Springs, Jonesboro, and Little Rock), Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana (including Bloomington, Evansville, Indianapolis, Muncie, Terre Haute, and Vincennes), a very small area of Michigan, Ohio (including Akron, Dayton, Lima, Toledo, Cleveland, Warren, Newton Falls and Austintown), Pennsylvania (including Erie), Upstate New York (including Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, the Adirondacks, Potsdam, and Plattsburgh), and northern Vermont (including Burlington), New Hampshire, and Maine with the line of totality going almost directly over the state's highest point Mount Katahdin. The largest city entirely in the path will be Dallas, Texas. It will be the 2nd total eclipse visible from the central United States in just 7 years, coming after the August 21, 2017 eclipse. The cities of Benton, Carbondale, Chester, Harrisburg, Marion, and Metropolis in Illinois; Cape Girardeau, Farmington, and Perryville in Missouri, as well as Paducah, Kentucky, will be within the intersection of the paths of totality of both the 2017 and 2024 eclipses, therefore earning the rare distinction of being witness to two total solar eclipses in 7 years.  -- Wikipedia

March 30th, 2033 - Another total eclipse, but don't expect to see much outside of  Northern Alaska.  This eclipse is on the list strictly because of a technicality.

June 21st, 2039 - Another Alaska technicality, but this is only an Annular.

August 23rd, 2044 - This is a total eclipse for the Canucks and a select few US States.  This is one of the few times it will payoff to live in Montana and parts of North Dakota.

August 12th, 2045 - This is another total eclipse with an almost identical path to the 2017 total eclipse, just a couple hundred miles south.  Truly the first similar eclipse matching the magnitude of the 2017 and 2024 eclipses.

February 5th, 2046 - An annular eclipse briefly visible to the American Northwest

June 11th, 2048 - Another annular eclipse beginning around Oklahoma and traveling up through Canada briefly passing Chicago.  This eclipse is more of an event for Europe, with the greatest eclipse occurring near Iceland.


Moral of the story is that if you missed the 2017 eclipse, unless you're in hospice, you'll probably get another chance in just 7 years.  Now would be a good time to buy those special glasses before they sell out for the 2024 eclipse.  If you're lucky, you might just get them at a nice discount.