As much of North America prepares for the upcoming total solar eclipse next week, I thought it would be fun to share some images from the recent (and not-so-recent) past of previous eclipses—annular, partial, and total—from around the world. Also pictured are some of the many observers sharing this fleeting experience, “witnessing the planetary version of a lightning strike,” together in stadiums, parks, and beaches.
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Young people watch the rare sight of a partial solar eclipse at sunset, as seen from Manila Bay, Philippines, on January 26, 2009. #
Gil Nartea / AFP / Getty Read more -
On April 8, 1921, people gaze upward to view a partial solar eclipse in Paris. #
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A total solar eclipse, seen above Svalbard, Longyearbyen, Norway, on March 20, 2015 #
Jon Olav Nesvold / NTB Scanpix / AFP / Getty Read more -
People watch the solar eclipse at Saluki Stadium on the campus of Southern Illinois University on August 21, 2017, in Carbondale, Illinois. #
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This photograph taken on October 25, 2022, shows a view of a partial solar eclipse visible behind a bird on a tree in Istanbul. #
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As the moon crossed between the Sun and Earth during the annular eclipse on October 14, 2023, its shadow darkened skies across North America, as seen from an orbiting NASA satellite. #
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People take photos with their smartphones as they watch an annular solar eclipse on Jabal Arba in Al Hufuf, in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, on December 26, 2019. #
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On August 21, 2017, Shenandoah National Park hosted the Night Sky Festival to watch as a partial solar eclipse was visible overhead. #
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The "ring of fire" effect caused during the annular eclipse of the sun over Albuquerque, New Mexico, on October 14, 2023 #
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Students of the Jennings School District view a solar eclipse on August 21, 2017, in St. Louis. #
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A partial solar eclipse is seen behind the centuries-old Raghunath Hindu temple in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, on October 25, 2022. #
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The sun rises next to the Statue of Liberty during an annular eclipse on June 10, 2021, in New York City. #
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Crescent-shaped shadows are pictured on a sidewalk as light passes through tree leaves during a partial solar eclipse in Oklahoma City on August 21, 2017. #
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A woman observes an annular solar eclipse at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, in Mexico City, on October 14, 2023. #
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The sun's corona becomes visible during a total solar eclipse. #
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Friends watch an eclipse together on a Menan Butte in Menan, Idaho, on August 21, 2017. #
Natalie Behring / Getty Read more -
A partial solar eclipse is seen above Manama, Bahrain, on December 26, 2019. #
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Visitors to Shenandoah National Park look at images of the eclipsed sun seen through the holes of a colander on August 21, 2017. The tiny holes behave like pinhole lenses, showing the outline of the eclipsed sun on the ground. #
Mary O'Neill / National Park Service Read more -
Spectators line the beach to view a total solar eclipse on November 14, 2012, in Palm Cove, Australia. #
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The International Space Station is seen in silhouette as it transits the sun at roughly five miles a second during a partial solar eclipse, viewed from Ross Lake, Northern Cascades National Park, Washington, on August 21, 2017. #
Bill Ingalls / NASA Read more -
People watch a total solar eclipse at Yonsei University in Seoul, on July 22, 2009. #
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A view of the total solar eclipse from a commercial flight, seen while overflying La Serena, Chile, on July 2, 2019. #
Ariel Marinkovic / AFP / Getty Read more -
The moon passes in front of the sun during a partial solar eclipse, as seen over Manila Bay, Philippines, on January 26, 2009. #
Romeo Ranoco / Reuters Read more -
The enthusiasts Tanner Person (right) and Josh Bliek, both from Vacaville, California, watch a total solar eclipse while standing atop Carroll Rim Trail at Painted Hills, a unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, near Mitchell, Oregon, on August 21, 2017. #
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