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# Why Seeing A Total Solar Eclipse Is So Rare

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/X6t8RKE9.m3u8" -->
## Video: Why Seeing A Total Solar Eclipse Is So Rare

[Watch (HLS stream): Why Seeing A Total Solar Eclipse Is So Rare](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/X6t8RKE9.m3u8) (1:28)

![Why Seeing A Total Solar Eclipse Is So Rare](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/X6t8RKE9/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2017-06-29. TIME's Jeff Kluger explains the phenomenon of a total solar eclipse._


---

Jul 27, 2023 10:03 PM UTC

---

## More From This Series

[All Videos](https://time.com/video/)

[See the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse Along the Path of Totality](/video/h9bPQGNP/)

### See the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse Along the Path of Totality

[Watch: 2024 Total Solar Eclipse Totality in Arkansas](/video/qwbRfU2l/)

### Watch: 2024 Total Solar Eclipse Totality in Arkansas

[Watch: The 2024 Total Solar Eclipse](/video/tqjUO7Kp/):37

### Watch: The 2024 Total Solar Eclipse

---


## Transcript

Total solar eclipses occur when the moon passes directly between the Earth and the sun, blocking solar light. They're exceedingly rare. The last one to touch the US was in 1979. On average, they happen where you live once every 375 years. The sun is about 400 times larger than the moon, but the sun is also 400 times farther away so the two bodies appear about the same size to us on Earth. The moon orbits the Earth once each month, so why doesn't the moon shadow the Earth causing an eclipse with each pass? Partly because the moon's orbit is tilted slightly, which causes its shadow to miss the Earth most of the time.

Another reason is if a moon's orbit is elliptical. For much of its orbit the moon is farther away from Earth and appears too small to block out the sun completely Those eclipses are called annular. Only when the eclipse occurs at the moon's closest approach is a visible total eclipse possible even then the narrow band of totality usually tracks over water or away from population centers that's why this total solar eclipse is so special. As it cuts a path of darkness across the US this August 21st, it could be the most viewed total eclipse in history, and for many the experience of a lifetime

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