When are the eclipses in 2027? The short answer
There are five eclipses in 2027: an annular solar eclipse on February 6, a total solar eclipse on August 2, and three penumbral lunar eclipses on February 20, July 18 and August 17. August 2 is the one people will travel for, with up to 6 minutes 23 seconds of totality in Egypt. All three lunar eclipses are penumbral, a faint shading on the full Moon that is often hard to notice. Times below are UTC, for the moment of greatest eclipse.
| Eclipse (greatest, UTC) | Sign · where it can be seen |
|---|---|
| Feb 6, 15:59: annular solar eclipse | Sun 17°37′ Aquarius · South America, South Atlantic, parts of Africa |
| Feb 20, 23:12: penumbral lunar eclipse | Moon 1°58′ Virgo · UK and Türkiye, Moon high in the sky |
| Jul 18, 16:02: penumbral lunar eclipse | Moon 25°57′ Capricorn · very shallow, not visible from London, New York or Türkiye |
| Aug 2, 10:07: total solar eclipse | Sun 9°55′ Leo · total from Spain to Somalia, partial in the UK |
| Aug 17, 07:13: penumbral lunar eclipse | Moon 24°04′ Aquarius · the Americas, including New York |
Neither solar eclipse can be seen from New York. From London, only August 2 shows anything: a partial eclipse with about 42% of the Sun covered at 10:00 BST.
Why eclipses come in seasons: the Moon’s orbit is tilted slightly against the ecliptic, the Sun’s path across our sky, and crosses it at two points called the lunar nodes. A solar eclipse happens when a new Moon falls near a node and passes in front of the Sun. A lunar eclipse happens when a full Moon falls near a node and passes through Earth’s shadow. The Sun lines up with the nodes roughly twice a year, so 2027’s eclipses come in two clusters, about two weeks apart: February 6 and 20, then July 18, August 2 and August 17.
Where is the August 2, 2027 total solar eclipse visible?
The path of totality crosses Gibraltar and southern Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Somalia. Inside that band the Moon covers the Sun completely and the sky darkens. Totality is longest in southern Egypt near Luxor: 6 minutes 23 seconds, according to NASA’s eclipse catalogue. No total solar eclipse visible from land lasts longer until 2114. The only European land in the path is at its western end, in Gibraltar and the south of Spain, where totality is shorter.
Greatest eclipse is at about 10:07 UTC. Outside the band the eclipse is partial. From London the maximum comes at 10:00 BST (09:00 UTC) on a Monday morning, with about 42% of the Sun covered. Through eclipse glasses that is a clear dent in the Sun, yet the daylight changes so little that anyone not looking for it will probably miss it. New York sees nothing of this eclipse. Further south and east the dent grows, to about 71% of the Sun covered in İzmir on Türkiye’s Aegean coast.
How do you watch the 2027 eclipses safely?
Never look at the Sun during a partial eclipse, or during any partial phase, without certified solar eclipse glasses (ISO 12312-2) or a proper solar filter. Sunglasses are not enough, however dark they are. That includes the whole partial eclipse in London, the partial phases on either side of totality, and all of the February 6 annular eclipse, whose bright ring of Sun can still damage your eyes.
Binoculars, telescopes and camera lenses need a solar filter fitted over the front. Looking through an unfiltered telescope or binoculars while wearing eclipse glasses does not protect you, because the optics concentrate the light. The simplest safe method needs no glasses: stand with your back to the Sun and let sunlight fall through a small hole in a card onto paper, and you’ll see a small image of the eclipsed Sun. The gaps between tree leaves do the same, scattering little crescents across the pavement.
Only inside the path of totality, during the minutes when the Sun is completely covered, is it safe to take the glasses off. Put them back on as soon as the first bright edge returns. The lunar eclipses are safe to watch with the naked eye, and binoculars help with the faint penumbral shading.
What does each 2027 eclipse ask?
February 6: annular solar eclipse at 17°37′ Aquarius
Greatest eclipse is at 15:59 UTC on Saturday, February 6. At an annular eclipse the Moon is too far from Earth to cover the Sun fully and leaves a bright ring, seen this time mainly from South America, the South Atlantic and parts of Africa. Nothing is visible from London or New York.
A solar eclipse is a new Moon, and in astrology it reads as a beginning. Aquarius is the sign of friends, groups and the future you plan with other people, so the start here tends to be about where you belong. It might be a running club you’ve been meaning to try for a year, or a friend group that reorganises itself after someone moves away.
February 20: penumbral lunar eclipse at 1°58′ Virgo
Greatest eclipse is at 23:12 UTC on Saturday, February 20, also 23:12 in London, where the Moon is high in the sky, as it is over Türkiye. In New York the Moon has only just risen at that moment (18:12 EST), so it sits low in the east.
The full Moon is in Virgo, opposite the Sun in Pisces. Virgo covers routines, work habits and looking after your body, Pisces rest and letting go. A lunar eclipse is read as a culmination, the point where something has run its course, and here that is often a routine that stopped working weeks ago: the 6 a.m. alarm you snooze every day, or the evening class you pay for and never attend. Astrologers tend to give penumbral eclipses less weight, so treat this one as a quiet nudge to drop one habit.
July 18: penumbral lunar eclipse at 25°57′ Capricorn
Greatest eclipse is at 16:02 UTC on Sunday, July 18, and it is very shallow. At that moment, 17:02 BST in London and 12:02 EDT in New York, the Moon is below the horizon in both cities, as it is in Türkiye.
The Moon is in Capricorn and the Sun in Cancer, the axis of work against home and family, and this is the lightest eclipse of the year. If it shows up at all, look for it in the pull between the two: the job that keeps taking your summer weekends, or the family visit you keep moving to “after this project”.
August 2: total solar eclipse at 9°55′ Leo
This is the headline eclipse of 2027, with greatest eclipse at about 10:07 UTC on Monday, August 2. Where to see it is covered above.
Leo is the sign of self-expression, creativity, romance, children and the courage to be seen. A total solar eclipse is the strongest kind of new Moon, so astrologers read it as a real start in whatever you make or show of yourself. Picture the drawings you’ve only ever shown two friends, a first open-mic night, or a relationship that goes public. It also answers the February eclipse in Aquarius, its opposite sign. February asked where you belong. August asks what you bring.
August 17: penumbral lunar eclipse at 24°04′ Aquarius
Greatest eclipse is at 07:13 UTC on Tuesday, August 17. It can be seen from the Americas: in New York the Moon is up at 03:13 EDT, before dawn. In the UK the Moon has already set by 08:13 BST, and in Türkiye it is daytime.
The Moon is in Aquarius and the Sun in Leo, the same axis as both solar eclipses, so this one closes the season. Coming two weeks after the total eclipse, it reads as the first check on what August 2 started, and on how that fits with your friends and commitments. Say you started a course on August 2: it needs Thursday evenings, and Thursday evenings have belonged to five-a-side for years.
Do the 2027 eclipses overlap with Mercury retrograde?
Three of them do. The February 6 eclipse falls in the pre-shadow of the first Mercury retrograde of 2027, three days before Mercury stations retrograde on February 9. The February 20 lunar eclipse falls inside that retrograde, which runs to March 3, and the July 18 eclipse lands in the post-shadow of the second one, which ends on July 19. The August eclipses are clear of it.
In astrology that makes February a month of review, better suited to finishing and rethinking than to signing in a hurry. Nothing needs to be cancelled.
See your complete chart in Euphia
Reading about astrology is one thing. Seeing your own chart, calculated for your exact birth time and place, is another.
What do eclipses mean in astrology?
In astrology an eclipse is a new or full Moon with extra weight: a turning point in the part of your chart where it falls, read over the months that follow. A solar eclipse is a new Moon, so astrologers read it as a beginning. A lunar eclipse is a full Moon, read as a culmination or an ending: something peaks, finishes, or becomes clear enough to decide on.
Eclipses follow the lunar nodes, which drift slowly backwards through the zodiac, so for a while eclipses keep returning to the same pair of opposite signs. In 2026 and 2027 that pair is Leo and Aquarius. Leo is about the self, what you create and where you want to be seen. Aquarius is about the group, your friends and the causes you share. The axis asks how much room your own spark gets in the groups you belong to, and how much the group gets from you.
Astrologers usually read an eclipse over months, often watching the house it falls in until the next eclipse season, about six months later. A start on August 2 might first appear as a stray idea in a notes app and only become a plan by late autumn. Nothing needs to be postponed for an eclipse. Some astrologers simply like to spend the day itself observing and start new things a few days later, once the picture is clearer.
How do you see where the 2027 eclipses fall in your chart?
Find the house of your birth chart that holds each eclipse degree; in astrology, that is the area of life where the start or the ending lands. Put your birth date, time and place into the birth chart calculator, then look up these five degrees:
- February 6, solar: 17°37′ Aquarius
- February 20, lunar: 1°58′ Virgo
- July 18, lunar: 25°57′ Capricorn
- August 2, solar: 9°55′ Leo
- August 17, lunar: 24°04′ Aquarius
If 9°55′ Leo falls in your 10th house, the August start reads as a career matter. In the 5th it points to creativity, romance or children, in the 7th to a partnership, in the 4th to home and family. Leo and Aquarius are opposite signs, so the two solar eclipses usually land in opposite houses and the year’s story runs between them: home and career, say, or partner and self. The guide on how to read your birth chart explains each house.
Astrologers expect an eclipse within a few degrees of a natal planet, or of your rising sign, to feel more personal. Without a birth time the calculator leaves out the houses, but the planet check still works.
As each eclipse arrives, the Transits tab in the Euphia app shows it under Now, This Week and This Month, read against your own birth chart.
Eclipses 2027: frequently asked questions
There are five. An annular solar eclipse on February 6 (15:59 UTC), a penumbral lunar eclipse on February 20 (23:12 UTC), another penumbral lunar eclipse on July 18 (16:02 UTC), a total solar eclipse on August 2 (10:07 UTC) and a third penumbral lunar eclipse on August 17 (07:13 UTC). The times are for greatest eclipse.
The path of totality crosses Gibraltar and southern Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Somalia. Totality lasts longest in southern Egypt near Luxor, 6 minutes 23 seconds according to NASA’s eclipse catalogue. No total solar eclipse visible from land lasts longer until 2114.
From the UK it is partial. In London about 42% of the Sun is covered at the maximum, at 10:00 BST (09:00 UTC) on the morning of Monday, August 2. From New York the eclipse is not visible at all.
The solar eclipses fall at 17°37′ Aquarius on February 6 and 9°55′ Leo on August 2, on the Leo and Aquarius axis that eclipses work through in 2026 and 2027. The lunar eclipses put the Moon at 1°58′ Virgo on February 20, 25°57′ Capricorn on July 18 and 24°04′ Aquarius on August 17.
Only with certified solar eclipse glasses (ISO 12312-2) or a proper solar filter. Never look at the Sun during a partial eclipse, or during any partial phase, without them, and ordinary sunglasses are not enough. Binoculars, telescopes and camera lenses need a solar filter over the front. The lunar eclipses are safe to watch with the naked eye.
Make your birth chart with your birth date, time and place, then find the houses holding 17°37′ Aquarius and 9°55′ Leo, plus 1°58′ Virgo, 25°57′ Capricorn and 24°04′ Aquarius for the lunar eclipses. In astrology, the house is the part of life where the turning point lands. Euphia’s Transits tab shows each eclipse against your own chart.
Your chart has more to say
What you just read is one thread of a larger pattern. Your rising sign, Moon, Venus and Mars tell a story that belongs only to you, and Euphia reads it with you, gently and honestly.
Free to use on Google Play · optional Pro for deeper readings
About this article: Written by the Euphia team. Eclipse times, the Sun’s and Moon’s positions and the local coverage figures were computed with the open-source Astronomy Engine library (geocentric, apparent positions, tropical zodiac) and rounded to the minute. The path of totality and the 6 minutes 23 seconds of totality come from NASA’s eclipse catalogue.