2024 is an exciting year for skywatchers as a breathtaking spectacle from the cosmos is in store. The upcoming year will witness two Solar Eclipse and a Lunar Eclipse.
While a Solar Eclipse or a Surya Grahan occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, casting the Moon’s shadow on Earth, a Lunar Eclipse or Chandra Grahan occurs when the Sun casts Earth’s shadow onto the Moon. During the Eclipse, the Earth must be physically between the Sun and Moon, with all three bodies lying on the same orbit plane.
Solar Eclipse 2024
The first solar eclipse of 2024 falls on April 8. It will be a Complete Sun based Shroud. It will start over the South Pacific Sea and cross North America, ignoring Mexico, the US, and Canada. In the meantime, the Halfway Sun-based Overshadowing will happen in Costa Rica, Cuba, Aruba, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, French Polynesia, and Jamaica among others. The Drik Panchang specifies the Sutak period and timings here.
Timings And Date Of Solar Eclipse
Eclipse start time -3:42 pm (UTC)
Eclipse end time -4:36 pm (UTC)
Maximum Eclipse – 6:17 pm (UTC)
The second Surya Grahan is on October 2. It will be an Annular Solar Eclipse. An Annular Solar Eclipse, or a ring of fire solar eclipse, occurs as the New Moon moves in front of the Sun but does not cover the Sun’s disk completely.
Lunar Eclipse 2024
The first eclipse of 2024 falls on Walk 25. It will be a Penumbral Lunar Shroud. The Penumbra is the outer part of the Earth’s shadow, where the Earth appears to cover some of the Sun’s disk but not all of it, where the Moon passes through during a Penumbral Lunar Eclipse. It will be visible in a lot of Europe, North and East Asia, North America, South America, the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Arctic, and Antarctica, among other places.
The second Eclipse will be on September 18. It will be a Partial Lunar Eclipse. It will be visible in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, and North/West North America.
Timings And Date
Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 3:38 pm (UTC)
Partial Lunar Eclipse: 4:46 pm (UTC)
Full Lunar Eclipse: 6:03 pm (UTC)
Maximum Lunar Eclipse: 6:32 pm (UTC)