Solar and lunar eclipses 2063

Why eclipses happen when they do

The Moon's orbit is tilted about 5 degrees to the plane of Earth's orbit, so at most New and Full Moons the Moon passes a little above or below the line between Sun and Earth. The two points where the Moon's orbit crosses that plane are the lunar nodes, which astrology calls the North Node and the South Node. Only when a New or Full Moon happens near a node do Sun, Earth and Moon line up closely enough for a shadow to fall.

The Sun reaches the nodal axis about every 173 days, and the few weeks around each crossing form an eclipse season, a window of roughly five weeks in which at least one solar and one lunar eclipse take place. That is why a year holds four to seven eclipses, at least two of them solar. The nodes themselves slowly move backwards through the zodiac, completing a full circle in about 18.6 years, so eclipses stay on one pair of opposite signs for about a year and a half before shifting to the neighbouring pair.

Eclipses also repeat in families. After a Saros period of about 18 years, 11 days and 8 hours (223 synodic months), Sun, Moon and node return to almost the same arrangement and a very similar eclipse occurs. The extra eight hours mean Earth has turned a third further, so the next eclipse in the series is seen about 120 degrees of longitude to the west.

How the eclipse list is calculated

For each year the site finds every solar and lunar eclipse and gives the moment of greatest eclipse in UT (converted to your time zone), the type, and the sign and degree. Solar eclipses are total when the Moon covers the whole Sun, annular when the Moon is too far away and leaves a bright ring, hybrid when the eclipse changes between the two along its path, and partial when only part of the Sun is covered. Lunar eclipses are total when the whole Moon enters Earth's dark umbra, partial when only part of it does, and penumbral when it passes only through the faint outer shadow, which can be hard to notice. The 2063 page also groups the eclipses into seasons and names the sign axis of each.

Visibility depends on where you stand. A lunar eclipse can be seen from the whole night side of Earth, while a total or annular solar eclipse is visible only from a narrow path, with a partial eclipse over a wider region around it. With a reference location set, the site shows whether the eclipse is visible there, the local maximum and the start and end you can actually see, how much of the Sun is covered, how high the Sun or Moon stands, and whether it rises or sets while the eclipse is in progress.

Never look at a solar eclipse without proper eye protection. Ordinary sunglasses do not protect your eyes; use certified eclipse glasses or a solar viewer, or project the image through a pinhole. Only during totality itself is it safe to look with the naked eye. A lunar eclipse is safe to watch directly.

How to read an eclipse astrologically

Start with the axis rather than the single eclipse: the pair of signs the nodes occupy describes a theme that develops over a year and a half. Then find the house in your birth chart where the eclipse degree falls; that is the area of life most often linked with change during that period. An eclipse within a few degrees of a natal planet or angle is usually given the most weight. Solar eclipses near the North Node are traditionally read as openings, eclipses near the South Node as releases.