National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Goddard Space Flight Center

The longest duration for a total solar eclipse is 7.5 minutes.
A total solar eclipse is not noticable until the Sun is more than 90 percent covered by the Moon. At 99 percent coverage, daytime lighting resembles local twilight.
Eclipse shadows travel at 1,100 miles per hour at the equator and up to 5,000 miles per hour near the poles.
The width of the Moon's shadow is at most 170 miles wide.
The maximum number of solar eclipses (partial, annular, or total) is 5 per year.
There are at least 2 solar eclipses per year somewhere on the Earth.
A total eclipse can only happen during a new moon.
Total solar eclipses happen about once every year or two.
Nearly identical eclipses (total, annual, or partial) occur after 18 years and 11 days, or every 6,585.32 days (Saros Cycle).
From the Earth's surface, the Sun's corona ("crown") can ONLY be seen during a total eclipse.