Topline
Just two weeks after last night’s “blood moon” total lunar eclipse a partial solar eclipse will be visible across parts of the U.S., Canada, Europe, Africa and Russia. While not as dramatic as the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, seen across North America, the event will nevertheless be a unique event, with the rare chance to witness a partially eclipsed “horned sunrise” from parts of northeast U.S. and Canada.
Key Facts
The partial solar eclipse on March 29, 2025, will be visible from eastern Canada, the northeastern U.S., northwestern Europe, western Africa and northwest Russia. The greatest eclipse, with 93% of the sun covered, will occur over northern Quebec in Canada.
In the U.S., being farther northeast will mean a deeper and longer eclipse, with Washington D.C. seeing only 1% and northern Maine 86%, with Boston experiencing about 50%.
For those in the northeastern U.S. and parts of Canada, the eclipse will already be underway as the sun rises. In locations on the U.S. East Coast and eastern Quebec in Canada, the sun will appear as a crescent just above the horizon. This rare sight is sometimes called a “horned sun” because two points of the sun will be visible separately as it rises (clear skies allowing).
Observers in Europe and Africa will see the eclipse later in the day, with different levels of obscuration based on their location. Iceland will see 70%, London 30%, Paris 23% and Berlin 15%. An eclipsed sunset will be seen from a remote area of Siberia in Russia. Exact timings for any location can be found on Timeanddate.com’s Eclipse Calculator.
Understanding The Partial Solar Eclipse
Unlike a total solar eclipse, a partial eclipse occurs when the moon only covers a portion of the Sun’s disk. This happens when the alignment of the Sun, Moon, and Earth is slightly off center, preventing totality. While partial eclipses don’t create the brief darkness of total eclipses, they still require eye protection, as even a small sliver of exposed Sun can cause eye damage.
How A Solar Eclipse Relates To A Lunar Eclipse
This partial solar eclipse will come just two weeks after the total lunar eclipse of March 13-14, 2025. That’s because lunar and solar eclipses happen in cycles. When a full moon moves through Earth’s shadow during a lunar eclipse, it is precisely aligned with the Earth and the sun. That alignment — called synergy — is still precise enough two weeks later for a new moon to cause a solar eclipse (or vice versa). This pattern repeats during every “eclipse season,” which occurs twice per calendar year.
Background
Solar eclipses occur when the moon passes between Earth and the Sun, casting a shadow on the planet. Because the moon’s orbit is slightly tilted relative to Earth’s, eclipses do not happen every month. When a solar eclipse does occur, the type — total, annular or partial — depends on how precisely the moon aligns with the sun and the observer’s location on Earth. The March 29, 2025, solar eclipse is classed as a deep partial eclipse, according to EarthSky.
