Sorry, There Will Be No Solar Eclipse on 2nd August, 2025
You will need to wait until August 2027
If you spent any time on social media lately, you may have seen rather breathless messages claiming that “the whole world will go dark for 6 minutes on August 2 in a solar eclipse that happens once in a century”.
However, the claims in these messages are misleading. There will be no solar eclipse on August 2nd 2025.
There WILL be an eclipse like the one described on August 2nd, 2027. A report about the eclipse on Space.com notes:
An eclipse of epic proportions will occur on Aug. 2, 2027 across North Africa it will be the longest totality on land since 1991 and until 2114.
The information in the circulating messages is technically correct. But, because the year of the event was omitted from at least some of the posts, many recipients naturally assume that “August 2nd” referred to the current year.
Note also that many posts about the upcoming eclipse DO correctly specify 2027 as the year when the event will occur. Others have been subsequently corrected after commentators pointed out the error.
Another article on Space.com explains:
What's likely fueling the confusion is a genuinely spectacular event coming up on Aug. 2, 2027, which we've been rightly calling the "eclipse of the century." On that day, the moon will completely block the sun for up to 6 minutes and 22 seconds, delivering the longest period of totality on land in the 21st century
The August 2027 total solar eclipse will be visible across parts of Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
Examples of the circulating messages:
