As much of North America prepares for the upcoming total solar eclipse next week, I thought it would be fun to share some images from the recent (and not-so-recent) past of previous eclipses—annular, partial, and total—from around the world. Also pictured are some of the many observers sharing this fleeting experience, “witnessing the planetary version of a lightning strike,” together in stadiums, parks, and beaches.
A Tour Through Solar Eclipses of the Past
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![Two people sit on rocks overlooking water, with a partly-eclipsed sun setting in the distance.]()
Read moreYoung people watch the rare sight of a partial solar eclipse at sunset, as seen from Manila Bay, Philippines, on January 26, 2009. #
Gil Nartea / AFP / Getty -
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![Several people stand on a small roundabout in a city street in 1921, looking up toward the sun, holding bits of dark glass over their eyes.]()
Read moreOn April 8, 1921, people gaze upward to view a partial solar eclipse in Paris. #
Adoc-Photos / Corbis / Getty -
![The bright corona of the sun radiates out from the black circle made by the moon as it passes in front of the sun, seen above a snowy mountain.]()
Read moreA total solar eclipse, seen above Svalbard, Longyearbyen, Norway, on March 20, 2015 #
Jon Olav Nesvold / NTB Scanpix / AFP / Getty -
![Many people in a stadium, most wearing eclipse glasses, look upward.]()
Read morePeople watch the solar eclipse at Saluki Stadium on the campus of Southern Illinois University on August 21, 2017, in Carbondale, Illinois. #
Scott Olson / Getty -
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![A bird, silhouetted in front of a partly-eclipsed sun]()
Read moreThis photograph taken on October 25, 2022, shows a view of a partial solar eclipse visible behind a bird on a tree in Istanbul. #
Ozan Kose / AFP / Getty -
![A view of the entire Earth from space, with most of North America darkened by a shadow.]()
Read moreAs the moon crossed between the Sun and Earth during the annular eclipse on October 14, 2023, its shadow darkened skies across North America, as seen from an orbiting NASA satellite. #
DSCOVR EPIC team / NASA -
![Several people hold up their phones to take pictures of an eclipse, the distant sun appearing like a bright ring, partly blocked by the passing moon.]()
Read morePeople take photos with their smartphones as they watch an annular solar eclipse on Jabal Arba in Al Hufuf, in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, on December 26, 2019. #
Hamad I Mohammed / Reuters -
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![A group of five park rangers wearing eclipse glasses look skyward and raise their arms playfully.]()
Read moreOn August 21, 2017, Shenandoah National Park hosted the Night Sky Festival to watch as a partial solar eclipse was visible overhead. #
Mary O'Neill / National Park Service -
![The sun, eclipsed by the moon, looking like a thin circle in a dark sky]()
Read moreThe "ring of fire" effect caused during the annular eclipse of the sun over Albuquerque, New Mexico, on October 14, 2023 #
Patrick T. Fallon / AFP / Getty -
![Young people wearing eclipse glasses and paper-plate masks view an eclipse.]()
Read moreStudents of the Jennings School District view a solar eclipse on August 21, 2017, in St. Louis. #
Jeff Curry / Getty for Mastercard -
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![A partly eclipsed sun, seen behind a temple at sunset, appearing somewhat like a pair of red horns on the horizon]()
Read moreA partial solar eclipse is seen behind the centuries-old Raghunath Hindu temple in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, on October 25, 2022. #
Mukhtar Khan / AP -
![A partly-eclipsed sun, seen behind the Statue of Liberty.]()
Read moreThe sun rises next to the Statue of Liberty during an annular eclipse on June 10, 2021, in New York City. #
Gary Hershorn / Getty -
![Many small overlapping crescents of light, seen on a sidewalk beneath a tree, miniature images of the partly-eclipsed sun above]()
Read moreCrescent-shaped shadows are pictured on a sidewalk as light passes through tree leaves during a partial solar eclipse in Oklahoma City on August 21, 2017. #
Sue Ogrocki / AP -
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![A person looks skyward while wearing a decorated welder's mask.]()
Read moreA woman observes an annular solar eclipse at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, in Mexico City, on October 14, 2023. #
Daniel Cardenas / Anadolu / Getty -
![Bright rays of light appear to radiate from a dark circle, as the passing moon darkens the entire sun, leaving only the outher rays of its corona visible.]()
Read moreThe sun's corona becomes visible during a total solar eclipse. #
Harun Mehmedinovic / 500px / Getty -
![A small group of people lay across each other's laps on rocky ground, wearing eclipse glasses, looking up.]()
Read moreFriends watch an eclipse together on a Menan Butte in Menan, Idaho, on August 21, 2017. #
Natalie Behring / Getty -
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![Light from a partly-eclipsed sun shines off the ocean's surface.]()
Read moreA partial solar eclipse is seen above Manama, Bahrain, on December 26, 2019. #
Ayman Yaqoob / Anadolu / Getty -
![The shadow of a colander, displaying many overlapping crescents—images of a partly-eclipsed sun seen through its many holes.]()
Read moreVisitors to Shenandoah National Park look at images of the eclipsed sun seen through the holes of a colander on August 21, 2017. The tiny holes behave like pinhole lenses, showing the outline of the eclipsed sun on the ground. #
Mary O'Neill / National Park Service -
![Hundreds of people stand and sit along a beach, looking toward the sun.]()
Read moreSpectators line the beach to view a total solar eclipse on November 14, 2012, in Palm Cove, Australia. #
Ian Hitchcock / Getty -
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![The tiny outline of the International Space Station is seen in silhouette in front of a partly-eclipsed sun.]()
Read moreThe International Space Station is seen in silhouette as it transits the sun at roughly five miles a second during a partial solar eclipse, viewed from Ross Lake, Northern Cascades National Park, Washington, on August 21, 2017. #
Bill Ingalls / NASA -
![Young people look up toward the sun, wearing eclipse glasses.]()
Read morePeople watch a total solar eclipse at Yonsei University in Seoul, on July 22, 2009. #
Chung Sung-Jun / Getty -
![The eclipsed sun appears like a small circle in a darkened sky above a strip of clouds and the horizon, seen from an aircraft window.]()
Read moreA view of the total solar eclipse from a commercial flight, seen while overflying La Serena, Chile, on July 2, 2019. #
Ariel Marinkovic / AFP / Getty -
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![The partly-eclipsed sun, shaped like a crescent, sets over the ocean, seen near a fishing boat.]()
Read moreThe moon passes in front of the sun during a partial solar eclipse, as seen over Manila Bay, Philippines, on January 26, 2009. #
Romeo Ranoco / Reuters -
![Two people stand on a rocky outcrop, looking up toward the eclipsed sun.]()
Read moreThe enthusiasts Tanner Person (right) and Josh Bliek, both from Vacaville, California, watch a total solar eclipse while standing atop Carroll Rim Trail at Painted Hills, a unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, near Mitchell, Oregon, on August 21, 2017. #
Adrees Latif / Reuters
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