With the 2034 total solar eclipse cords than 60 days away, it made us curious about the question, “Do solar eclipses happen on other planets in the solar system?” Moreover, what type of eclipses could be experienced. Of course there aren’t currently humans on these planets to experience these eclipse, but it’s fun to think about!

Mercury and Venus

The closest 2 planets to the sun sometimes transit the sun for those on planets like Earth! However, with no moons, these planets cannot have solar eclipses.

Mars

Marsh is a unique situation, as it does currently have 2 moons, and they do orbit in situations to allow for there to be eclipses. However, as the Curiosity Rover found out, eclipses do happen but the moons of Mars are too small to totally eclipse the sun. Therefore, there are only annular solar eclipses for those on Mars.

The 4 gas giants of the solar system, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, all have multiple moons some of which are capable of creating solar eclipses. Therefore, it is possible to see a solar eclipse on these planets if one was orbiting the planet, as not having a surface makes it impossible to see from the surface.

Jupiter

Only four moons are large enough to create totality: Io, Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto. But three can pass between Jupiter and the Sun at the same time. A triple eclipse happens on the gas giant once or twice every 10 years.

Saturn

7 of Saturn’s 61 known moons are large enough and close enough to Saturn to fully eclipse the sun as seen from Saturn’s cloud tops. Because they orbit in Saturn’s equatorial plane and Saturn’s equator is tilted by 26.7 degrees solar eclipses by these moons are much rarer than they otherwise could be. 

Uranus

Of the 27 current moons, 12 are capable of aligning properly to create a total solar eclipse. However, as a result of the moons orbiting in the equatorial plane, which is rotated 90 degrees, eclipses only happen when the proper alignment happens 2 times in the 84 year orbital period around the sun.

Neptune

Of Neptune’s 14 known moons, 7 can produce total solar eclipses. However, Neptune’s axial tilt of 28 degrees and its long year, of 165 Earth years, makes the occurrence of these eclipses quite rare.

Let us know in the comments if there’s anything we missed or would like to add! Make sure to check out our other 2024 solar eclipse resources and other articles! We’re on social media as well, so give us a like and follow there!