Northern Hemisphere Gets More Solar Eclipses

A Veritasium team journeyed to Burgos, Spain, to witness and film the region's first total solar eclipse in over a century, scheduled for 2026. Their ambitious goal was to capture this celestial event from the edge of space, a challenging endeavor undertaken in collaboration with NASA.

The Northern Hemisphere consistently experiences approximately 15% more total solar eclipses than the Southern Hemisphere. This phenomenon is attributed to the Moon's elliptical orbit, which causes its apparent size to vary by up to 30%, and the Earth's elliptical orbit, making the Sun appear 7% smaller in July. The alignment of the Northern Hemisphere's summer with the period when the Sun appears smaller increases the likelihood of total eclipses in that region. "Notice that the Northern Hemisphere consistently gets more eclipses, about 15% more than the Southern Hemisphere."

The current disparity in eclipse frequency between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres is not permanent. Due to Earth's axis precession and orbital shifts, this trend is projected to reverse over millennia. Consequently, in approximately 9,500 years, the Southern Hemisphere will begin to receive more total solar eclipses. "In about 9500 years, it will be the Southern Hemisphere that gets more total solar eclipses."

There is never a year without at least two solar eclipses, though up to five can occur annually. This is because the Moon's orbit is tilted about five degrees relative to the Earth-Sun plane, meaning most times the Moon passes in front of the Sun, it is not at the correct height to cast a shadow on Earth. However, there are specific 34-day windows, known as eclipse seasons, during which eclipses are possible. "The moon's orbit is tilted about five degrees out of the Earth sun plane. So most times the moon passes in front of the sun It's at the wrong height to cast a shadow on Earth."

An eclipse season spans 34 days, and a new moon occurs approximately every 29.5 days. This temporal relationship ensures that a new moon is mathematically guaranteed to fall within at least one eclipse season window. Therefore, every year will have at least one eclipse. "The eclipse season is 34 days, but a new moon happens every 29.5 days. So you can't go through an eclipse season without the new moon happening at least once."

Due to the gradual drift of eclipse seasons around Earth's orbit, it is possible for multiple partial eclipses to occur within a single season. This seasonal shifting allows for the rare occurrence of up to five solar eclipses in a single calendar year. "You can get two in a single eclipse season... So you can get up to five."

Every solar eclipse is invariably accompanied by a lunar eclipse, occurring either approximately two weeks before or two weeks after the solar event. This pairing happens when Earth positions itself between the Sun and the Moon, causing the Moon to pass through Earth's shadow. "every time there is a solar eclipse, it is accompanied by a lunar eclipse either two weeks before or after."

During the partial phases of a solar eclipse, the Sun appears yellowish or reddish-orange when viewed through a camera, which is attributed to the use of specialized solar filters. However, during the moment of totality, when the filter is either removed or bypassed, the Sun's corona appears distinctly white. "The most common with those filters, it's that kind of reddish orange color... But then it's dim enough that we can look right at it during totality. And so you see white."

NASA is deploying a mission involving a 70-year-old Cold War era bomber plane to chase the solar eclipse and extend the duration of totality. This strategy aims to surpass the approximate 2 minutes and 18 seconds typically observed from the ground. In a notable historical precedent, a Concorde aircraft in 1973 managed to achieve an impressive 74 minutes of totality by flying along the eclipse path. "NASA's launching another eclipse mission, one mounted on a 70 year old Cold War era bomber plane. They're trying to chase the totality for as long as they can"

During the total solar eclipse of August 18, 1868, French astronomer Jules Janssen traveled to India to observe solar prominences, a part of the Sun usually obscured by its brightness. Through prismatic analysis, he identified a distinct spectral band that did not correspond to any known element on Earth. Two months later, English astronomer Norman Lockyer independently observed the same spectral line and named the new element 'helium,' after Helios, the Greek god of the Sun. "On the total eclipse of the 18th of August, 1868, French astronomer Jules Janssen went to India to look at a part of the sun that's normally outshone from observation, the prominences... One of them matched no element known on Earth. Two months later, the English astronomer Norman Lockyer saw the same line. He called it helium"

In pinhole projections, light rays cross at the aperture, causing images to appear reversed on the other side. This means that the top of the sun projects to the bottom, and the left side flips to the right. Consequently, during an eclipse, the crescent shapes projected onto the ground point in the opposite direction compared to the actual crescents visible in the sky. "Everything crosses at the hole and it comes out on the other side reversed, which means that during an eclipse, the crescents on the ground point the opposite way to the crescents in the sky."

Just moments before totality, faint, moving shadows, sometimes referred to as 'snake shadows' due to their serpentine movement, can appear on the ground. These elusive phenomena are notoriously difficult to capture on camera or even witness clearly. There is ongoing debate among observers regarding the precise visual reality and nature of these observed bands. "They're sometimes called snake shadows because of how they move."

The leading scientific theory posits that shadow bands result from narrow beams of light passing through multiple layers of air with varying temperatures and densities. This phenomenon is comparable to the twinkling of stars, where light is refracted as it traverses Earth's atmosphere. Despite this prevailing theory, the exact mechanisms behind shadow bands remain a subject of ongoing scientific mystery. "The leading theory is that these narrow beams of light pass through many layers of air, of varying temperature and densities."

The actual topology of the Moon's surface plays a significant role in influencing shadow bands. The irregular features of the lunar landscape create multiple point sources of light as the last rays of the sun pass through valleys and over mountains. These overlapping shadows from various sources are believed to amplify the visibility of the faint shadow bands observed on Earth. "the other thing that is coming into effect there, was the actual topology of the moon itself."

During a total solar eclipse, observers witness the spectacular solar corona and can sometimes spot bright solar flares. A striking '360-degree sunset' effect envelops the horizon, creating an ethereal ambiance. The experience often evokes an intense, emotional reaction from witnesses. "Oh my God, you can see the corona. And look at that, like, really bright spot on the left."

Witnessing a total solar eclipse in person is often described as a cataclysmic and profoundly moving experience. The event evokes an intense sense of excitement, wonder, and sometimes an overwhelming emotional response from observers. "Looking at it in person, it is kind of cataclysmic. You gotta cry."

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The Veritasium team successfully flew a collection of stickers to an altitude of 92,000 feet, approximately 30 kilometers, reaching the edge of space. These unique stickers are being offered to Patreon members as a special reward for their support. "So we've taken a bunch of stickers and we flew them to the edge of space."