A total solar eclipse will occur at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Wednesday, May 11, 2078, with a magnitude of 1.0701. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide.
The path of totality will begin over the Pacific Ocean near Caroline Island, Kiribati. From there, it will track northeast towards North America, making landfall on the Mexican coast. In Mexico, totality will be visible in the cities of Manzanillo, Guadalajara, Aguascalientes, Zacatecas, San Luis PotosÃ, Ciudad Victoria, and Matamoros, Tamaulipas. The path then briefly crosses into the United States in southern Texas, including McAllen and Brownsville before crossing the Gulf of Mexico. It then re-enters the United States, passing through Louisiana (including New Orleans and Baton Rouge), Mississippi (including Biloxi), Alabama (including Mobile and Montgomery), far northwestern Florida, Georgia (including Atlanta, Athens, and Augusta), South Carolina (including Columbia and Greenville), North Carolina (including Charlotte and Raleigh), and Virginia (including Virginia Beach). It then passes over the Atlantic Ocean and ends near the Canary Islands.[1]