Getty
The city of Tampa, Florida, was privy to a partial solar eclipse on August 21, 2017. Although Tampa was not in the “zone of totality” for what’s been called the Great American Solar Eclipse, many areas in the city were be able to see a good portion of the sun covered by the moon. The eclipse began at 1:17 p.m. and will end at 4:14 p.m, giving folks in Tampa a cool view for nearly three hours.
If you missed the 2017 solar eclipse, Florida will be able to see a partial annular eclipse on Saturday, October 14, 2023. An annular eclipse occurs when the moon is further away in its orbit from the earth, and thus appears smaller in the sky. In an annular eclipse, the whole of the moon does cross the sun’s path, but, since it appears smaller, it does not fully occlude the sun.
The 2023 annular eclipse will begin shortly before noon on October 14. Occlusion will start at approximately 11:50 a.m. Local time and will last approximately three hours and 12 minutes, ending around 3:02 p.m. Peak viewing in Tampa of the 2023 annular eclipse will be at 1:25 p.m. It will get continuously darker up until this time and then will get progressively lighter in the minutes that follow.
Another partial eclipse will be visible the following year on April 8, 2024. The 2024 eclipse is expected to begin at 1:43 p.m. in Tampa and will take place over the span of around two and a half hours, with peak visibility at 3 p.m. The 2024 eclipse will be over at 4:15 p.m.
Another annular eclipse will be visible in Tampa in January 2028, followed by a partial eclipse in January 2029 and one in November 2031. Tampa will be treated to two annular eclipses in 2038, with the first taking place on January 5 and the second occurring on July 2. If you are in the Tampa, Florida, area for these upcoming events, you’ll want to keep your solar eclipse glasses on-hand.
