Other Planets Got Total Solar Eclipses Too? NASA Shares Surya Grahan From Jupiter and Mars [WATCH]

Do different planets within the Photo voltaic System expertise solar eclipses? Nicely…they do, particularly those with orbiting pure satellites. A few of these eclipses on the other-worldly planets have additionally been captured by probes and scopes primarily based each on the Earth and in area. The eclipse relies upon upon the light-emitting supply (the solar) and the proximity of the item blocking the identical from the planet circumnavigating its course. For Earth, our natural satellite, the moon (aa Chanda Mama), is relatively closer at 238,855 miles (384,400 kilometers). FYI, that’s about 30 earths positioned between the 2. Throughout Perigee, which is the closest level from Earth, the moon is 226,000 miles (363,300 km) away. In the course of the farthest level from Earth, i.e., apogee, the moon orbits about 251,000 miles (405,500 km) farther. The moon’s proximity makes for spectacular annular and total solar eclipses on earth. What about different planets?

Photo voltaic Eclipses on Jupiter

Jupiter has 115 formally acknowledged moons as of August 2026; the most important of them is Ganymede (larger than Mercury!). Callisto (which is the third largest moon within the photo voltaic system), Io (additionally probably the most volcanically energetic), and Europa (which is in regards to the dimension of Earth’s moon). Eclipses on Jupiter are primarily attributable to these 4 bigger moons, often known as the Galilean moons. The eclipses forged by their shadows could be noticed from Earth-based satellites as nicely. Whereas these satellites trigger occultation of the Solar, the opposite moons of the Jovian big are seen as transits.

NASA just lately shared an eclipse forged by Io on Jupiter’s dense ambiance, which was captured by the Juno probe on September 11, 2019, throughout its twenty second shut flyby. The picture cataloged PIA23437 and dubbed ‘Moon Shadow‘ exhibits the Ionian shadow that is about 2,200 miles (3,600 kilometers) large.

Earth is ready for a solar eclipse on Aug. 12th (stream it live at https://t.co/d6szYZ44nB). Different planets have eclipses, too! This view got here from our Juno spacecraft at Jupiter in 2019. For those who appeared up from inside this shadow forged by the moon Io you’d see a complete photo voltaic eclipse. pic.twitter.com/25j9iJKMUe

— NASA Photo voltaic System (@NASASolarSystem) August 11, 2026

Photo voltaic Eclipses On Mars

Our padosi Mars additionally undergoes eclipses courtesy of its two moons, Phobos and Deimos. Their proximity to the crimson planet and their diminutive dimension imply the eclipses are annular (not complete photo voltaic eclipses) and often thought of as transits. Phobos, which is 157 instances smaller than our moon, orbits Mars in 7 hours 39 minutes, which implies the martian moon can create two eclipses on the planet each single day! Future astronauts to Mars are gonna have an ideal leisure watching the Martian sky. Probably the greatest Phobos transit captures by NASA’s Perseverance rover is from 2022. The Martian probe captured the phenomenon from its Mastcam-Z on April 2, 2022.

On Earth, solar eclipses happen when the Moon passes in front of the Sun as seen from the ground. On Mars, sometimes one of its moons does the same thing…but they’re too small to fully cover the Sun’s disc. Perseverance captured this look at Phobos transiting the Sun in 2024. pic.twitter.com/qgP2ehN4cr

— NASA Mars (@NASAMars) August 11, 2026