Solar & Lunar Eclipses Visible from San José
Every eclipse in the 2024–2040 catalog that reaches San José (9.9281°, -84.0907°), with contact times on the America/Costa_Rica clock.
Checking the catalog against today's date…
Open the calculator at San José's coordinates22 of the 32 in the catalog are above the horizon here, 8 of them total. Times are America/Costa_Rica, converted per eclipse.
San José's best-placed eclipse in the window is the total lunar eclipse of January 20, 2038, greatest at 11:02 PM CST. The moon is fully inside Earth's shadow for 1h 18m, and the whole eclipse happens with the moon up — 75° above the horizon at greatest eclipse.
| Date | From San José | Local times | Moon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday, March 25, 2024 Penumbral lunar eclipse | Penumbral The whole eclipse is above San José's horizon, from first contact to last. | 1:13 AM CST greatest eclipse | 64° up at greatest |
| Tuesday, September 17, 2024 Partial lunar eclipse | Partial The whole eclipse is above San José's horizon, from first contact to last. | 8:44 PM CST greatest eclipse Umbral 7:52 PM – 9:36 PM | 47° up at greatest |
| Friday, March 14, 2025 Total lunar eclipse | Total The whole eclipse is above San José's horizon, from first contact to last. | 12:59 AM CST greatest eclipse Totality 12:25 AM – 1:33 AM | 70° up at greatest 1h 8m total |
| Tuesday, March 3, 2026 Total lunar eclipse | Partial The eclipse is still under way at moonset — the moon sets at about 5:52 AM, during totality. The rest of it happens below San José's horizon. | 5:33 AM CST greatest eclipse Totality 5:01 AM – 6:05 AM | 5° up at greatest 1h 4m total |
| Thursday, August 27, 2026 Partial lunar eclipse | Partial The whole eclipse is above San José's horizon, from first contact to last. | 10:14 PM CST greatest eclipse Umbral 9:07 PM – 11:21 PM | 61° up at greatest |
| Saturday, February 20, 2027 Penumbral lunar eclipse | Penumbral The eclipse begins below the horizon — the moon rises over San José at about 5:42 PM, already in the penumbral shading. Everything before that happens while the moon is down. | 5:13 PM CST greatest eclipse | below the horizon at greatest |
| Tuesday, August 17, 2027 Partial lunar eclipse | Partial The whole eclipse is above San José's horizon, from first contact to last. | 1:14 AM CST greatest eclipse Umbral 12:14 AM – 2:14 AM | 57° up at greatest |
| Tuesday, January 11, 2028 Partial lunar eclipse | Partial The whole eclipse is above San José's horizon, from first contact to last. | 10:13 PM CST greatest eclipse Umbral 9:17 PM – 11:09 PM | 65° up at greatest |
| Monday, June 25, 2029 Total lunar eclipse | Total The whole eclipse is above San José's horizon, from first contact to last. | 9:22 PM CST greatest eclipse Totality 8:31 PM – 10:13 PM | 43° up at greatest 1h 42m total |
| Thursday, December 20, 2029 Total lunar eclipse | Partial The eclipse begins below the horizon — the moon rises over San José at about 5:16 PM, already in the partial phase. Everything before that happens while the moon is down. | 4:41 PM CST greatest eclipse Totality 4:12 PM – 5:10 PM | below the horizon at greatest 58m total |
| Monday, December 9, 2030 Total lunar eclipse | Partial The eclipse begins below the horizon — the moon rises over San José at about 5:11 PM, already in the partial phase. Everything before that happens while the moon is down. | 4:27 PM CST greatest eclipse Totality 4:10 PM – 4:44 PM | below the horizon at greatest 34m total |
| Tuesday, May 6, 2031 Penumbral lunar eclipse | Penumbral The whole eclipse is above San José's horizon, from first contact to last. | 9:51 PM CST greatest eclipse | 53° up at greatest |
| Thursday, October 30, 2031 Partial lunar eclipse | Partial The whole eclipse is above San José's horizon, from first contact to last. | 1:44 AM CST greatest eclipse Umbral 12:39 AM – 2:49 AM | 55° up at greatest |
| Saturday, October 8, 2033 Total lunar eclipse | Partial The eclipse is still under way at moonset — the moon sets at about 5:28 AM, during totality. The rest of it happens below San José's horizon. | 4:54 AM CST greatest eclipse Totality 4:16 AM – 5:32 AM | 8° up at greatest 1h 16m total |
| Wednesday, September 27, 2034 Partial lunar eclipse | Partial The whole eclipse is above San José's horizon, from first contact to last. | 8:45 PM CST greatest eclipse Umbral 7:38 PM – 9:52 PM | 49° up at greatest |
| Sunday, September 16, 2035 Total lunar eclipse | Total The whole eclipse is above San José's horizon, from first contact to last. | 8:32 PM CST greatest eclipse Totality 7:46 PM – 9:18 PM | 44° up at greatest 1h 32m total |
| Tuesday, March 11, 2036 Total lunar eclipse | Total The whole eclipse is above San José's horizon, from first contact to last. | 8:47 PM CST greatest eclipse Totality 8:01 PM – 9:33 PM | 45° up at greatest 1h 32m total |
| Saturday, January 31, 2037 Partial lunar eclipse | Partial The whole eclipse is above San José's horizon, from first contact to last. | 2:59 AM CST greatest eclipse Umbral 1:51 AM – 4:07 AM | 44° up at greatest |
| Sunday, July 26, 2037 Total lunar eclipse | Total The whole eclipse is above San José's horizon, from first contact to last. | 11:29 PM CST greatest eclipse Totality 10:39 PM – 12:19 AM | 61° up at greatest 1h 40m total |
| Wednesday, January 20, 2038 Total lunar eclipse | Total The whole eclipse is above San José's horizon, from first contact to last. | 11:02 PM CST greatest eclipse Totality 10:23 PM – 11:41 PM | 75° up at greatest 1h 18m total |
| Sunday, January 9, 2039 Total lunar eclipse | Total The eclipse begins below the horizon — the moon rises over San José at about 5:27 PM, already in the penumbral shading. Everything before that happens while the moon is down. | 7:27 PM CST greatest eclipse Totality 6:50 PM – 8:04 PM | 28° up at greatest 1h 14m total |
| Friday, May 25, 2040 Total lunar eclipse | Total The eclipse begins below the horizon — the moon rises over San José at about 5:49 PM, already in the penumbral shading. Everything before that happens while the moon is down. | 7:45 PM CST greatest eclipse Totality 7:04 PM – 8:26 PM | 26° up at greatest 1h 22m total |
Reading the table. Greatest eclipse is one instant worldwide, printed on San José's clock — the zone abbreviation is resolved for that date, so it changes across the window wherever the clocks do. From San José 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 — 1 of the 34 solar eclipses catalogued between 2024 and 2040 bring the moon's shadow over San José: April 8, 2024. 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, March 29, 2025: the shadow's footprint does cover San José at greatest eclipse, but the sun is below the horizon here at that moment — so anything San José 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 San José | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday, April 8, 2024 Total solar eclipse | 12:17 PM CST worldwide instant | 80° above the horizon | 2,708 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 San José, 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 San José — whether the moon or sun is above the horizon, how high it stands, what the horizon cuts off — is computed for 9.9281°, -84.0907° and converted to America/Costa_Rica. 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 San José 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 San José'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 San José has on its skyline.
Where this page stops. A solar eclipse row says that the moon's shadow reaches San José 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 San José before or after that instant — so the single solar date 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 San José, 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 San José?
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 22 lunar eclipses between 2024 and 2040 that are above San José's horizon, with contact times already converted to America/Costa_Rica. 8 of them are total from here.
Will a solar eclipse be visible from San José?
Yes — 1 of the 34 solar eclipses catalogued between 2024 and 2040 bring the moon's shadow over San José: April 8, 2024. 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, March 29, 2025: the shadow's footprint does cover San José at greatest eclipse, but the sun is below the horizon here at that moment — so anything San José 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 San José?
Every time on this page is San José 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 San José 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 San José catches 22 of the 32 lunar eclipses in the window, and only 1 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 San José at all.