Annular Solar Eclipse of January 26, 2028

The ring of fire crosses Ecuador, northern Peru, southern Colombia, northern Brazil, French Guiana and Suriname, then the Atlantic, reaching Madeira, southern Portugal, southern Spain and northern Morocco near sunset. A partial eclipse covers most of South America, the Caribbean, West Africa and southwestern Europe.

Where the ring goes

The antumbra comes ashore over the Galapagos and Ecuador, clips northern Peru and southern Colombia, crosses the Amazon basin through northern Brazil, exits South America over French Guiana and Suriname, then spans the Atlantic to end over Madeira, southern Iberia and northern Morocco, where the ring hangs just above the horizon at sunset.

For an interactive map of the track open our Eclipse Explorer, or take the Eclipse Control Center, which gives your distance and bearing to the nearest stretch of the path over land, your own contact times to the second, and a live view of the shadow crossing Earth.

Timeline at the point of greatest eclipse

These contact times apply at the single point where the eclipse is deepest; along the rest of the track they shift by minutes to hours. The location panel below computes them for your own coordinates.

Central durations here are computed at the point of greatest eclipse with the engine's standard solar and lunar radii; published limb-corrected path maxima can differ by a few seconds.

What an annular solar eclipse is

In an annular eclipse the Moon passes squarely in front of the Sun but sits too far from Earth to cover it completely, leaving a brilliant ring of Sun, the famous ring of fire, around the Moon's silhouette. Because some direct sunlight always remains, the sky never darkens the way it does in a total eclipse, and eye protection is required from start to finish.

Eye safety is not optional

Looking at the Sun without proper protection damages the retina painlessly and permanently. For every partial phase of a solar eclipse, and for the whole of an annular eclipse, you need eclipse glasses that meet the ISO 12312-2 standard, or a pinhole projector, or a solar filter fitted to the FRONT of any binoculars or telescope. Sunglasses, smoked glass, exposed film and stacked filters are not safe, no matter how dark.

The single exception: during the minutes of totality in a total solar eclipse, when the Moon completely covers the Sun, it is safe and unforgettable to look with the naked eye. The instant the first sliver of Sun returns, the glasses go back on.

Frequently asked questions

When is the annular solar eclipse of January 2028?

Greatest eclipse comes on January 26, 2028 at 15:07 UTC. What you see, and when, depends on where you stand; use the location panel on this page for your own local timeline.

Where will the January 2028 solar eclipse be visible?

The ring of fire crosses Ecuador, northern Peru, southern Colombia, northern Brazil, French Guiana and Suriname, then the Atlantic, reaching Madeira, southern Portugal, southern Spain and northern Morocco near sunset. A partial eclipse covers most of South America, the Caribbean, West Africa and southwestern Europe.

Do I need eclipse glasses for this eclipse?

Yes, for the entire eclipse. Even at maximum, a blinding ring of Sun remains visible, so there is never a safe moment to look without ISO 12312-2 eclipse glasses or a projection method.

What is a Saros series?

Eclipses repeat in families called Saros series: 6,585.3 days (about 18 years 11 days) after any eclipse, the Sun, Moon and lunar nodes return to nearly the same geometry and produce a near-copy shifted a third of the way around Earth. This eclipse belongs to Saros series 141. Our Saros cycle profile explains the whole mechanism.

Keep exploring: the Eclipse Control Center for a live console on this eclipse as it happens, the Eclipse Explorer for any date and location, our Saros cycle profile for why eclipses repeat, its longer partners the inex and the exeligmos that together sort every eclipse into families, the eclipse year of 346 days that sets the rhythm of eclipse seasons, and how eclipses work from first principles.

Other eclipses on the calendar

Every eclipse below is engine-verified against the same catalog, so the times are directly comparable.