Solar & Lunar Eclipses Visible from Johannesburg
Every eclipse in the 2024–2040 catalog that reaches Johannesburg (-26.2041°, 28.0473°), with contact times on the Africa/Johannesburg clock.
Checking the catalog against today's date…
Open the calculator at Johannesburg's coordinates26 of the 32 in the catalog are above the horizon here, 10 of them total. Times are Africa/Johannesburg, converted per eclipse.
Johannesburg's best-placed eclipse in the window is the total lunar eclipse of April 14, 2033, greatest at 9:12 PM GMT+2. The moon is fully inside Earth's shadow for 44m, and the whole eclipse happens with the moon up — 45° above the horizon at greatest eclipse.
| Date | From Johannesburg | Local times | Moon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, September 18, 2024 Partial lunar eclipse | Partial The eclipse is still under way at moonset — the moon sets at about 6:05 AM, during the penumbral shading. The rest of it happens below Johannesburg's horizon. | 4:44 AM GMT+2 greatest eclipse Umbral 3:52 AM – 5:36 AM | 18° up at greatest |
| Friday, March 14, 2025 Total lunar eclipse | Partial The eclipse is still under way at moonset — the moon sets at about 6:12 AM, during the penumbral shading. The rest of it happens below Johannesburg's horizon. | 8:59 AM GMT+2 greatest eclipse Totality 8:25 AM – 9:33 AM | below the horizon at greatest 1h 8m total |
| Sunday, September 7, 2025 Total lunar eclipse | Total The whole eclipse is above Johannesburg's horizon, from first contact to last. | 8:11 PM GMT+2 greatest eclipse Totality 7:30 PM – 8:52 PM | 31° up at greatest 1h 22m total |
| Friday, August 28, 2026 Partial lunar eclipse | Partial The eclipse is still under way at moonset — the moon sets at about 6:28 AM, during the partial phase. The rest of it happens below Johannesburg's horizon. | 6:14 AM GMT+2 greatest eclipse Umbral 5:07 AM – 7:21 AM | 3° up at greatest |
| Sunday, February 21, 2027 Penumbral lunar eclipse | Penumbral The whole eclipse is above Johannesburg's horizon, from first contact to last. | 1:13 AM GMT+2 greatest eclipse | 51° up at greatest |
| Wednesday, January 12, 2028 Partial lunar eclipse | Partial The eclipse is still under way at moonset — the moon sets at about 5:30 AM, during the partial phase. The rest of it happens below Johannesburg's horizon. | 6:13 AM GMT+2 greatest eclipse Umbral 5:17 AM – 7:09 AM | below the horizon at greatest |
| Thursday, July 6, 2028 Partial lunar eclipse | Partial The whole eclipse is above Johannesburg's horizon, from first contact to last. | 8:20 PM GMT+2 greatest eclipse Umbral 7:12 PM – 9:28 PM | 37° up at greatest |
| Sunday, December 31, 2028 Total lunar eclipse | Partial The eclipse begins below the horizon — the moon rises over Johannesburg at about 6:59 PM, already in totality. Everything before that happens while the moon is down. | 6:52 PM GMT+2 greatest eclipse Totality 6:15 PM – 7:29 PM | below the horizon at greatest 1h 14m total |
| Tuesday, June 26, 2029 Total lunar eclipse | Total The eclipse is still under way at moonset — the moon sets at about 6:59 AM, during the penumbral shading. The rest of it happens below Johannesburg's horizon. | 5:22 AM GMT+2 greatest eclipse Totality 4:31 AM – 6:13 AM | 20° up at greatest 1h 42m total |
| Friday, December 21, 2029 Total lunar eclipse | Total The whole eclipse is above Johannesburg's horizon, from first contact to last. | 12:41 AM GMT+2 greatest eclipse Totality 12:12 AM – 1:10 AM | 40° up at greatest 58m total |
| Saturday, June 15, 2030 Partial lunar eclipse | Partial The whole eclipse is above Johannesburg's horizon, from first contact to last. | 8:33 PM GMT+2 greatest eclipse Umbral 7:23 PM – 9:43 PM | 41° up at greatest |
| Tuesday, December 10, 2030 Total lunar eclipse | Total The whole eclipse is above Johannesburg's horizon, from first contact to last. | 12:27 AM GMT+2 greatest eclipse Totality 12:10 AM – 12:44 AM | 40° up at greatest 34m total |
| Wednesday, May 7, 2031 Penumbral lunar eclipse | Penumbral The eclipse is still under way at moonset — the moon sets at about 6:38 AM, during the penumbral shading. The rest of it happens below Johannesburg's horizon. | 5:51 AM GMT+2 greatest eclipse | 10° up at greatest |
| Sunday, April 25, 2032 Total lunar eclipse | Partial The eclipse begins below the horizon — the moon rises over Johannesburg at about 5:38 PM, already in totality. Everything before that happens while the moon is down. | 5:13 PM GMT+2 greatest eclipse Totality 4:38 PM – 5:48 PM | below the horizon at greatest 1h 10m total |
| Monday, October 18, 2032 Total lunar eclipse | Total The eclipse begins below the horizon — the moon rises over Johannesburg at about 6:12 PM, already in the penumbral shading. Everything before that happens while the moon is down. | 9:02 PM GMT+2 greatest eclipse Totality 8:26 PM – 9:38 PM | 35° up at greatest 1h 12m total |
| Thursday, April 14, 2033 Total lunar eclipse | Total The whole eclipse is above Johannesburg's horizon, from first contact to last. | 9:12 PM GMT+2 greatest eclipse Totality 8:50 PM – 9:34 PM | 45° up at greatest 44m total |
| Monday, April 3, 2034 Partial lunar eclipse | Partial The whole eclipse is above Johannesburg's horizon, from first contact to last. | 9:47 PM GMT+2 greatest eclipse Umbral 8:36 PM – 10:58 PM | 50° up at greatest |
| Thursday, September 28, 2034 Partial lunar eclipse | Partial The eclipse is still under way at moonset — the moon sets at about 5:54 AM, during the penumbral shading. The rest of it happens below Johannesburg's horizon. | 4:45 AM GMT+2 greatest eclipse Umbral 3:38 AM – 5:52 AM | 16° up at greatest |
| Monday, September 17, 2035 Total lunar eclipse | Total The eclipse is still under way at moonset — the moon sets at about 6:07 AM, during the penumbral shading. The rest of it happens below Johannesburg's horizon. | 4:32 AM GMT+2 greatest eclipse Totality 3:46 AM – 5:18 AM | 21° up at greatest 1h 32m total |
| Wednesday, March 12, 2036 Total lunar eclipse | Total The eclipse is still under way at moonset — the moon sets at about 6:11 AM, during the penumbral shading. The rest of it happens below Johannesburg's horizon. | 4:47 AM GMT+2 greatest eclipse Totality 4:01 AM – 5:33 AM | 19° up at greatest 1h 32m total |
| Monday, July 27, 2037 Total lunar eclipse | Partial The eclipse is still under way at moonset — the moon sets at about 6:53 AM, during totality. The rest of it happens below Johannesburg's horizon. | 7:29 AM GMT+2 greatest eclipse Totality 6:39 AM – 8:19 AM | below the horizon at greatest 1h 40m total |
| Thursday, January 21, 2038 Total lunar eclipse | Partial The eclipse is still under way at moonset — the moon sets at about 5:37 AM, during the partial phase. The rest of it happens below Johannesburg's horizon. | 7:02 AM GMT+2 greatest eclipse Totality 6:23 AM – 7:41 AM | below the horizon at greatest 1h 18m total |
| Monday, January 10, 2039 Total lunar eclipse | Total The eclipse is still under way at moonset — the moon sets at about 5:29 AM, during the penumbral shading. The rest of it happens below Johannesburg's horizon. | 3:27 AM GMT+2 greatest eclipse Totality 2:50 AM – 4:04 AM | 23° up at greatest 1h 14m total |
| Thursday, July 7, 2039 Partial lunar eclipse | Partial The whole eclipse is above Johannesburg's horizon, from first contact to last. | 9:04 PM GMT+2 greatest eclipse Umbral 7:58 PM – 10:10 PM | 47° up at greatest |
| Saturday, May 26, 2040 Total lunar eclipse | Total The whole eclipse is above Johannesburg's horizon, from first contact to last. | 3:45 AM GMT+2 greatest eclipse Totality 3:04 AM – 4:26 AM | 40° up at greatest 1h 22m total |
| Sunday, November 18, 2040 Penumbral lunar eclipse | Penumbral The whole eclipse is above Johannesburg's horizon, from first contact to last. | 9:02 PM GMT+2 greatest eclipse | 28° up at greatest |
Reading the table. Greatest eclipse is one instant worldwide, printed on Johannesburg's clock — the zone abbreviation is resolved for that date, so it changes across the window wherever the clocks do. From Johannesburg is what the horizon leaves: a total eclipse the moon sets during is a partial one here, and the note beside it says which phase was under way. Durations are the eclipse's own, worldwide.
Yes — 2 of the 34 solar eclipses catalogued between 2024 and 2040 bring the moon's shadow over Johannesburg: November 25, 2030, May 21, 2031. How deep each one goes is a different question: the path of totality is only a few hundred kilometres wide, and this site's model tracks where the shadow falls, not how much of the sun it covers there. The closest it comes otherwise is Saturday, January 17, 2037: the shadow's footprint does cover Johannesburg at greatest eclipse, but the sun is below the horizon here at that moment — so anything Johannesburg gets from it is whatever is left as the sun crosses the horizon, which is past where this model stops.
| Date | Greatest eclipse | Sun over Johannesburg | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday, November 25, 2030 Total solar eclipse | 8:51 AM GMT+2 worldwide instant | 48° above the horizon | 867 km from the point of greatest eclipse |
| Wednesday, May 21, 2031 Annular solar eclipse | 9:16 AM GMT+2 worldwide instant | 28° above the horizon | 1,813 km from the point of greatest eclipse |
A solar eclipse is only safe to look at through ISO 12312-2 filters, except during the totality of a total eclipse. For the path of totality over Johannesburg, use NASA's eclipse site — path width is the one thing this page does not model.
Eclipse dates and contact times come from the NASA/Espenak catalog, and everything local to Johannesburg — whether the moon or sun is above the horizon, how high it stands, what the horizon cuts off — is computed for -26.2041°, 28.0473° and converted to Africa/Johannesburg. Nothing on this page is stamped with a build date: an eclipse is a catalogued instant, so where the shadow fell and how high the moon stood over Johannesburg are as fixed for 2024 as for 2040. Only the "next eclipse" panel at the top reads the clock, and it does so in your browser.
What the horizon decides. A lunar eclipse is visible from wherever the moon is up, which is half the planet — but an eclipse runs for hours and can straddle moonrise or moonset, and then only part of it is Johannesburg's. That is why each row carries the moon's altitude at greatest eclipse and, where it matters, which phase was under way as the moon crossed the horizon. An eclipse 70° up is overhead and unmistakable; the same eclipse a few degrees up is behind whatever Johannesburg has on its skyline.
Where this page stops. A solar eclipse row says that the moon's shadow reaches Johannesburg at the instant of greatest eclipse, and how high the sun stands here when it does. It does not say how much of the sun is covered: the path of totality is a couple of hundred kilometres wide against a footprint thousands of kilometres across, and this site models the footprint, not the path. Nor does it count a shallow partial from a shadow that sweeps past Johannesburg before or after that instant — so the 2 solar dates listed here are a floor, not a total.
Safe viewing. A lunar eclipse is safe to watch with the naked eye, binoculars, or a telescope — it is only the full moon, dimmed. A solar eclipse is not: outside the brief totality of a total eclipse, looking at the sun needs ISO 12312-2 filters, and sunglasses are not filters. For the exact path of a solar eclipse over Johannesburg, use NASA's eclipse site, whose maps carry the path width this page's model does not model.
When is the next lunar eclipse visible from Johannesburg?
The panel at the top of this page names it, counting from today in your browser. The table below is the full record instead: all 26 lunar eclipses between 2024 and 2040 that are above Johannesburg's horizon, with contact times already converted to Africa/Johannesburg. 10 of them are total from here.
Will a solar eclipse be visible from Johannesburg?
Yes — 2 of the 34 solar eclipses catalogued between 2024 and 2040 bring the moon's shadow over Johannesburg: November 25, 2030, May 21, 2031. How deep each one goes is a different question: the path of totality is only a few hundred kilometres wide, and this site's model tracks where the shadow falls, not how much of the sun it covers there. The closest it comes otherwise is Saturday, January 17, 2037: the shadow's footprint does cover Johannesburg at greatest eclipse, but the sun is below the horizon here at that moment — so anything Johannesburg gets from it is whatever is left as the sun crosses the horizon, which is past where this model stops.
What time does the eclipse start in Johannesburg?
Every time on this page is Johannesburg local time, converted per eclipse rather than once for the page — the window spans 16 years, so the same zone reads differently in January and July and the abbreviation beside each row says which applies. A lunar eclipse begins with the faint penumbral shading (P1), bites into the disc at first umbral contact (U1) and, if it is total, goes fully dark at U2.
Why does Johannesburg see more lunar eclipses than solar ones?
Earth's shadow at the moon's distance is far larger than the moon's shadow on Earth, and a lunar eclipse is visible from the entire night side of the planet at once — so Johannesburg catches 26 of the 32 lunar eclipses in the window, and only 2 of the 34 solar ones. A solar eclipse throws a shadow a few thousand kilometres across at most, and its darkest part a few hundred; miss that footprint by an hour of Earth's rotation and there is nothing to see from Johannesburg at all.