Total eclipse — North Africa & Middle East
The shadow returns to skies neighbouring the 2027 track — Egypt's second totality in seven years.
📍 Visible from where you are right now — computed in your browser
bearing · altitude · rise time · best time tonight
The moment of Total eclipse — North Africa & Middle East: https://nowsky.org/e/solar-eclipse-2034 — opens at the right place and time, replayable, no login.
Available views: Orbit ✓ · Sky ✓
The story
On 20 March 2034 the shadow of totality crosses Nigeria, Chad and Sudan, then southern Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iran on its way to Afghanistan — a path through skies neighbouring the Luxor eclipse of August 2027, seven years later. Egypt gets the rare fortune of two total eclipses in one generation.
Maximum duration is about 4 minutes 9 seconds — long again. The path is up to about 160 km wide, and the prime sites are the area around Aswan and the upper Nile in southern Egypt, western Saudi Arabia and central Iran. For travellers who saw Luxor in 2027 the region is familiar, and the "Egypt double" — both eclipses — is set to be the talk of eclipse tourism.
The difference between desert weather in August and March is the issue. March is the season of the khamsin sandstorms in Egypt, so cloudy skies are likelier than at Luxor in August, and spring cloud is the variable on the Saudi interior and the Iranian plateau. If 2027 was a sure sky, 2034 is an eclipse that needs a weather strategy.
It will be the "second chance" eclipse for those who missed 2027. The sky view replay previews the alignment near Aswan; Cairo lies outside the path and sees only a deep partial eclipse.
Why it matters
The 2027 and 2034 eclipses belong to different Saros series — 2027 to Saros 136 (following the 2009 Shanghai eclipse), 2034 to Saros 130. Long eclipses from different series crossing the same region seven years apart is coincidence, and a region seeing two totalities of over four minutes happens perhaps once a century.
The Middle Eastern path arrives on the observing foundation laid by 2027. If eclipse-tourism infrastructure and amateur astronomy in Egypt and Saudi Arabia took root in 2027, 2034 is the second harvest.
2034 is predicted to fall near solar minimum (the end of Cycle 25 and start of Cycle 26). A neat, equatorially stretched minimum corona is expected — a fine contrast with the maximum-era coronas of the 2024 and 2027 eclipses.
How to watch
Choose the 2034 eclipse in the sky view's event list to replay totality near Aswan around local noon on 20 March — the black Sun and corona high in the sky. Set the location to Cairo to confirm only a partial eclipse, or move to Riyadh or Isfahan for their timings.
The orbit view's event replay shows the Moon's shadow cone running from Africa through the Middle East into Central Asia; placed beside the event of 2 August 2027, the closeness of the two paths over southern Egypt is clear.
The previous eclipse of the same Saros 130 series was the Indonesian eclipse of 9 March 2016, and the next is 30 March 2052 over Mexico and the southern United States.
See this for yourself — open that sky at that moment · replay the moment in the orbit view
Background
The African leg crosses northern Nigeria, Chad and Sudan, and access and security concerns mean most expeditions are expected to concentrate on the Egyptian, Saudi and Iranian sections. The path continues through Afghanistan into western China before ending at sunset.
Aswan in southern Egypt has more than 300 clear days a year, but March is the start of the khamsin season. The area near Medina in western Saudi Arabia and the Yazd desert in central Iran are being considered as alternatives.
2034 falls between the Alaskan eclipse of 2033 and the East Asian eclipse of September 2035 — three consecutive years with total eclipses, but with paths split among the Arctic, the Middle East and East Asia, so seeing all three means three expeditions.
20 March 2034 is also the equinox. An equinox eclipse has the Sun on the celestial equator, when day and night are equal everywhere on Earth, and with the path running at low latitudes the Sun stands high at totality — near Aswan more than 60° up close to noon, favourable for observing the corona. The Svalbard eclipse of 20 March 2015 was also an equinox eclipse but at high latitude with a low Sun; 2034 is the opposite case.
FAQ
How long is totality?
About 4 minutes 9 seconds at most.
Is it visible from Cairo?
Cairo is outside the path and sees only a deep partial eclipse; totality runs through southern Egypt around Aswan.
How does it differ from 2027?
A different Saros series, a March sandstorm season, and a solar-minimum corona expected.
What about the weather?
Cloudier odds than Luxor in August; March is khamsin season, so a weather strategy is needed.
Related
- Total solar eclipse of August 2027
- Total eclipse — Alaska (2033)
- Total eclipse — brushing Korea (2035)
- The Sun — object index
- The Moon — object index
Times and figures are approximate — verify with official sources when planning travel. Simulation uses J2000 mean elements.