On August 2, 2027, sky gazers across North Africa, Europe, and the Middle East will witness what astronomers are already calling "the eclipse of the century" — a total solar eclipse with a duration of totality that won't occur again on easily accessible land for the rest of the 21st century.

The maximum totality will last 6 minutes and 23 seconds, according to data from NASA. In contrast, the totality of the "Great American Eclipse" that crossed over much of the U.S. on Aug. 21, 2017, lasted just 2 minutes and 40 seconds.

The longest a totality can take, based on the distances between the Earth, moon and sun, is 7 minutes and 32 seconds.

The longest total solar eclipse in recent history was on July 11, 1991 across Hawaii, Mexico, Central America, and South America. The 1991 eclipse

See Full Page