(CNN) — If Wednesday’s total solar eclipse sparked your excitement for viewing a stellar spectacle, pull on your traveling boots and start booking accommodations.
A multitude of total solar eclipses will occur across far-flung locales over the next decade — and next year’s celestial event promises to be one of the best yet.
A total solar eclipse occurring on August 2, 2027, is “the one to be at because it will actually be the longest eclipse in the remainder of our lifetimes,” said Dr. Ryan French, solar astrophysicist at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, Colorado, and coauthor of “Little Book of Eclipses.”
Totality, or when the moon’s shadow completely blocks the sun’s face from view, will last up to more than six minutes.
The path of totality will cross southern Spain, Gibraltar, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen, according to the National Solar Observatory.
The eclipse will pass directly over the Valley of the Kings in Luxor and the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, as well as Mecca in Saudi Arabia, French said.
“Crucially, the weather in August all the way along the eclipse path is pretty much guaranteed to be sunny because a lot of it is desert,” French added.
Meanwhile, a partial eclipse, when only some of the sun’s light is blocked and it appears more like a crescent, will be visible from most of Europe, much of Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, as well as eastern Canada and northern Maine in North America, according to NASA.
The next total eclipse in the US
The United States will next glimpse a total solar eclipse on March 30, 2033, and even then the Russia-centric path includes only Alaska, with totality lasting 2 minutes and 37 seconds. A partial solar eclipse will shine over most of the country during that celestial event.
Much has been said about the fact that a total solar eclipse won’t be visible again from the contiguous United States until August 22, 2044, but during that eclipse totality will only occur over North Dakota and Montana.
The next total solar eclipse with a coast-to-coast path spanning the Lower 48 states will take place on August 12, 2045. The path of totality will arc over California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, with a partial eclipse visible across other states.
Eclipses around the world
Spain may have lucked out this year and next year regarding eclipse visibility, but other countries are about to get their turn, French said.
“Australia is getting a kind of unbelievable string of four total eclipses in 10 years starting in 2028, all passing through major cities,” he said.
French, who was able to witness Wednesday’s eclipse from Spain while celebrating his birthday, championed the idea of booking in advance — especially for accommodations.
“Eclipse paths are relatively narrow, so it tends to be hotels and accommodations that book out and get really expensive way sooner than the flights do,” French advised.
Here are some future eclipses worth traveling for:
July 22, 2028: Australia and New Zealand
November 25, 2030: Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Lesotho and Australia
March 20, 2034: Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and China
September 2, 2035: China, North and South Korea, and Japan
July 13, 2037: Australia and New Zealand
December 26, 2038: Australia and New Zealand
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