A rare eclipse rarely seen right
Though solar eclipses usually occur twice every year and in exceptionally rare cases take place up to five times per year, rarely are they witnessed as total eclipses. The reason for this is that most people don’t see the eclipse along the path of totality, defined as the narrow strip along the Earth from which an observer’s perspective puts the new moon fully across the Sun’s light.
Partial eclipses, annular eclipses, & total solar eclipses
Most solar eclipses are seen as partial eclipses, which are as they sound: The Moon only partially blocks the light reaching Earth from the Sun, regardless of where the eclipse is observed. But it also happens that, even if you’re in the path of totality, the Moon’s elliptical orbit distances it so far from Earth that the Sun’s light is still perfectly visible around the Moon’s curvature.
Further solar eclipse facts
Total solar eclipses occur somewhere on Earth only about every 18 months, recur only every several hundred years at a given location, and last just a few minutes. In those rare years when more eclipses take place, still no more than two total eclipses can happen in any given year. If this sounds like your shade of adventure, check out our total eclipse cruises. Not only will you have the chance to see this astounding celestial event in person, but you’ll see it in one of Earth’s most astounding locations: the polar regions.