Why does this place get the most Total Solar Eclipses?
A deep dive into total solar eclipses featuring NASA observations during Spain's 2026 eclipse, explaining why the Northern Hemisphere experiences more total eclipses, the physics of eclipse phenomena like shadow bands and Bailey's beads, and the historical discovery of helium through eclipse observations.
Summary
The video follows creators visiting Spain to observe a total solar eclipse while collaborating with NASA scientists and balloon launch teams. The hosts investigate several eclipse mysteries: why the Northern Hemisphere receives approximately 15% more total solar eclipses than the Southern Hemisphere, why the sun appears white during totality versus yellowish during partial phases, and what causes shadow bands on the ground.
The explanation for hemispheric differences stems from orbital mechanics: Earth's elliptical orbit makes the sun appear 7% smaller in July than January, increasing total eclipse probability. July coincides with Northern Hemisphere summer when that region tilts toward the sun. The Southern Hemisphere will conversely receive more total eclipses in approximately 9,500 years due to Earth's axial precession.
The video explains eclipse frequency patterns through eclipse seasons—34-day windows occurring roughly every six months when the moon's orbital nodes align with the Earth-Sun plane. Since new moons occur every 29.5 days, at least one always falls within each eclipse season, guaranteeing minimum two solar eclipses annually, with up to five possible when accounting for partial eclipses and seasonal drift.
The sun appears white during totality simply because solar filters used during partial phases create the yellowish appearance; without filters during totality, observers see the sun's actual white light. Shadow band mystery remains partially unsolved, though the leading theory involves atmospheric refraction of light through varying temperature and density layers, potentially amplified by the moon's topography creating multiple point sources of light interference.
Historically, the 1868 total eclipse enabled French astronomer Jules Janssen to discover helium through spectral analysis of solar prominences, later confirmed by Norman Lockyer. A similar method led to the false discovery of 'coronium,' later identified as iron stripped of 13 electrons by extreme heat. NASA's modern eclipse missions use balloons and aircraft to study the sun's corona with greater stability than ground observations allow.
Key Insights
- The Northern Hemisphere receives about 15% more total solar eclipses than the Southern Hemisphere because Earth's elliptical orbit makes the sun 7% smaller in July, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the sun during summer
- Eclipse seasons occur every six months when the moon's orbital nodes align with the Earth-Sun plane, creating 34-day windows where solar eclipses become possible, and since new moons happen every 29.5 days, at least one new moon must fall within each season, guaranteeing minimum two solar eclipses per year
- The sun appears yellowish during partial eclipse phases due to the common reddish-orange filters used in photography, but during totality it appears white because it is bright enough to observe directly without filters, revealing the sun's actual white light
- Shadow bands form due to atmospheric refraction as narrow beams of light pass through multiple layers of air with varying temperatures and densities, similar to the effect that makes starlight twinkle, with additional amplification from the moon's topography creating multiple point sources of light interference
- The 1868 total solar eclipse allowed French astronomer Jules Janssen to discover helium by analyzing the spectral lines of solar prominences, while a similar method led to the false discovery of 'coronium,' later revealed to be iron with 13 electrons stripped away by extreme solar heat
Topics
Transcript
[0:00] In just a couple of seconds Spain is about to get its first total solar eclipse in over 100 years. And we're here with NASA to film it from space. But we almost didn't do this video because it turns out there are a great couple videos on solar eclipses on YouTube, and we just thought we couldn't add anything. But then we started looking. [laughs] Oh my God, that's insane! And it turns out... Oh, I can't, I just gotta go watch this. That's insane. So, Henry, Emilia and I still had [0:31] some unanswered questions like, why is the Northern Hemisphere getting more total eclipses than the southern hemisphere? Why does the sun suddenly turn white only…
Full transcript available for MurmurCast members
Sign Up to AccessMore from Veritasium
We're trying something new...
Veritasium launches a new channel called Ingenious focused on social science stories. The first video explores how Malcolm McLean's shipping container invention revolutionized global commerce, starting with his observation of inefficient cargo loading in 1954 and leading to the creation of the SS Ideal X in partnership with engineer Keith Tantinger.
What happens to these balloons when you open the valve?
A demonstration shows that when a valve opens between a large and small balloon, the large balloon gets bigger while the small one gets smaller—counterintuitively because the smaller balloon actually has higher pressure. This occurs because polymer chains in rubber are tangled when the balloon is small and unexpanded, making it stiffer, but relax as the balloon inflates, resulting in lower pressure in larger balloons.
The Insane Real Engineering of the Nazis' Enigma
This video explains how the Enigma encryption machine worked, why it was initially unbreakable, and how British codebreakers at Bletchley Park—led by Alan Turing—developed the Bombe machine to systematically crack Nazi messages by exploiting mathematical principles and human operator errors. The breakthrough intelligence shortened World War II by an estimated two years.
How An Orbit Can Heat A Moon
Europa's eccentric orbit around Jupiter, caused by orbital resonance with Io and Ganymede, results in constant tidal flexing that generates internal heat through friction. This tidal heating mechanism is strong enough to keep Europa's subsurface ocean liquid, with the effect being even more pronounced closer to Jupiter, explaining Io's extreme volcanic activity.
How do submarines know where they are?
Submarines cannot use GPS underwater because radio waves are absorbed by seawater. Instead, they navigate using sonar mapping, fiber optic gyroscopes to determine orientation, and accelerometers to measure movement and distance traveled.