Other Planets Got Total Solar Eclipses Too? NASA Shares Surya Grahan From Jupiter and Mars [WATCH]

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Do other planets in the Solar System experience solar eclipses? Well...they do, especially the ones with orbiting natural satellites. Some of these eclipses on the other-worldly planets have also been captured by probes and scopes based both on the Earth and in space. The eclipse depends upon the light-emitting source (the sun) and the proximity of the object blocking the same from the planet circumnavigating its course. For Earth, our natural satellite, the moon (aa Chanda Mama), is relatively closer at 238,855 miles (384,400 kilometers). FYI, that is about 30 earths placed between the two. During Perigee, which is the closest point from Earth, the moon is 226,000 miles (363,300 km) away. During the farthest point from Earth, i.e., apogee, the moon orbits about 251,000 miles (405,500 km) farther. The moon's proximity makes for spectacular annular and total solar eclipses on earth. What about other planets?

Solar Eclipses on Jupiter

Jupiter has 115 officially recognized moons as of August 2026; the largest of them is Ganymede (bigger than Mercury!). Callisto (which is the third largest moon in the solar system), Io (also the most volcanically active), and Europa (which is about the size of Earth's moon). Eclipses on Jupiter are primarily caused by these four larger moons, also known as the Galilean moons. The eclipses cast by their shadows can be observed from Earth-based satellites as well. While these satellites cause occultation of the Sun, the other moons of the Jovian giant are seen as transits.

NASA recently shared an eclipse cast by Io on Jupiter's dense atmosphere, which was captured by the Juno probe on September 11, 2019, during its 22nd close flyby. The image cataloged PIA23437 and dubbed 'Moon Shadow' shows the Ionian shadow that's about 2,200 miles (3,600 kilometers) wide.

Solar Eclipses On Mars

Our padosi Mars also undergoes eclipses courtesy of its two moons, Phobos and Deimos. Their proximity to the red planet and their diminutive size mean the eclipses are annular (not total solar eclipses) and usually considered as transits. Phobos, which is 157 times smaller than our moon, orbits Mars in 7 hours 39 minutes, which means the martian moon can create two eclipses on the planet every single day! Future astronauts to Mars are gonna have a great leisure watching the Martian sky. One of the best Phobos transit captures by NASA’s Perseverance rover is from 2022. The Martian probe captured the phenomenon from its Mastcam-Z on April 2, 2022.

See Also: Total Solar Eclipse 2026 Live Stream: Time in IST & Where to Watch the Rare Surya Grahan

See Also: Eclipse of the Century: The Next Total Solar Eclipse in 2027 Will Be the Longest

Cover: NASA