--- title: The Last Total Solar Eclipse - History and Facts description: A total solar eclipse is crossing the US on August 21, 2017. Here's when the last one took place canonical: https://time.com/4909098/last-total-solar-eclipse-of-the-sun/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-21T16:31:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:05:33.236Z article:section: Science og:title: When Was the Last Total Solar Eclipse? og:description: Before the Great American Eclipse on Aug. 21 og:url: https://time.com/4909098/last-total-solar-eclipse-of-the-sun/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8104bce4ac8ea22f/6988da7a7cdbac80bad59ace/eclipse-july-22-2009.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3800 og:image:height: 2138 og:image:alt: Japan - Solar Eclipse og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: When Was the Last Total Solar Eclipse? twitter:description: Before the Great American Eclipse on Aug. 21 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8104bce4ac8ea22f/6988da7a7cdbac80bad59ace/eclipse-july-22-2009.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # When Was the Last Total Solar Eclipse? > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Future Proof: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Future Proof is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Making sense of the climate and energy economy. Future Proof examines the forces transforming energy and climate, and what those changes mean for business, technology, policy and the global economy. Senior correspondent Justin Worland goes beyond traditional climate coverage to connect the energy transition to the bigger decisions reshaping companies, markets and society. 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It reaches 40,000 subscribers with a 34.2% open rate and a 2.1% click rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Aug 21, 2017 4:31 PM UTC  A total solar eclipse is observed in the Pacific Ocean Iwoujima Island near Japan at 11.36 am on July 22,2009. A total solar eclipse is observed in the Pacific Ocean Iwoujima Island near Japan at 11.36 am on July 22,2009. Noboru Hashimoto—Corbis/Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Aug 21, 2017 4:31 PM UTC A [total solar eclipse](http://time.com/4874900/total-solar-eclipse-how-watch-online/) crossing the U.S. from coast to coast is [drawing the attention of millions of Americans](http://time.com/4908595/total-solar-eclipse-lost-productivity/) on Aug. 21, but when was the last [total solar eclipse](http://time.com/4834676/total-solar-eclipse-2017-rare/)? The answer depends on where you are. It’s been a while since America has seen a total solar eclipse, but Earth as a whole sees one about once every 18 months. Here’s what you need to know: ## Last Total Solar Eclipse in the U.S. It’s been more than three decades since the total solar eclipse of Feb. 26, 1979, which crossed through Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and North Dakota, before heading north to Canada, [according to NASA](https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/when-was-last-solar-eclipse-seen-contiguous-united-states-and-when-will-next-one-happen). That’s the last time the contiguous U.S. has seen a total solar eclipse, until the one on Aug. 21, 2017. **_NEXT:_** [**_Watch the Whole Total Solar Eclipse in 4 Minutes_**](http://time.com/4900280/total-solar-eclipse-2017-video-watch/) ## Last Total Solar Eclipse Abroad The last time a total solar eclipse crossed Earth was March 9, 2016\. The total eclipse traversed parts of Indonesia, including Sumatra, Borneo and Sulawesi, while viewers in Australia and parts of south Asia and east Asia were able to see a partial eclipse, [according to NASA](https://web.archive.org/web/20080805092726/http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov:80/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2016Mar09Tgoogle.html). If you miss Monday’s eclipse, here’s a list of [all the upcoming total solar eclipses](http://time.com/4897581/total-solar-eclipse-years-next/) over the next 50 years. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4909098/last-total-solar-eclipse-of-the-sun/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4909098/last-total-solar-eclipse-of-the-sun/"},"headline":"When Was the Last Total Solar Eclipse?","datePublished":"2017-08-21T16:31:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:05:33.236Z","description":"Before the Great American Eclipse on Aug. 21","url":"https://time.com/4909098/last-total-solar-eclipse-of-the-sun/","keywords":["Eclipse","onetime","space 2017"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8104bce4ac8ea22f/6988da7a7cdbac80bad59ace/eclipse-july-22-2009.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8104bce4ac8ea22f/6988da7a7cdbac80bad59ace/eclipse-july-22-2009.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Japan - Solar Eclipse","caption":"Japan - Solar Eclipse","creditText":"Noboru Hashimoto—Corbis/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/eclipse/","name":"Eclipse"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4909098/last-total-solar-eclipse-of-the-sun/","name":"When Was the Last Total Solar Eclipse?"}}]}] ```