Meteorological fall began in the northern hemisphere on Monday, Sept. 1, while astronomical fall begins on Sept. 22, 2025, at 2:19 p.m. eastern.
Eclipse season also begins this week, created by the 5º tilt of the Moon's orbit.
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If the Moon orbited Earth on the same plane as the Earth orbits the Sun, we'd have a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse each month. But we don't.
The shadow cast by the Moon during the new phase usually falls above or below the Earth, so no solar eclipse. The Earth's shadow is most often cast out into space, completely missing the full Moon, so no lunar eclipse.
When those phases coincide with the Moon's path crossing Earth's plane with the Sun, eclipses are possible. But this only happens during two (in rare circumstances three) eclipse seasons each year.
Unlike meteorological or astronomical fall, which lasts about 90 days, each eclipse season only lasts about 35 days. 2025's eclipse seasons are around the equinoxes, but that's more coincidence than calendrical. Also, unlike meteorological or astronomical seasons which align to our solar calendar, eclipse seasons shift a few weeks earlier each year because they are tied to the lunar calendar.
The final eclipse season of 2025 is passing North America. The total lunar eclipse on Sept. 7 will be visible from Eastern Europe and the Middle East. The partial solar eclipse on Sept. 21 will be visible only from New Zealand, Antarctica and parts of Australia.
The first eclipse season of 2026 arrives with a March 3 total lunar eclipse visible from our area. Totality will begin around 6 a.m. and will be visible for about 45 minutes until moonset (and sunrise on the opposite horizon).
The next solar eclipses with good visibility from Raleigh will be partial ones in January 2028 and 2029.
There will be a total solar eclipse in August 2026 which will be technically visible from eastern North Carolina, but with 2% or less of the Sun covered by the Moon, the show won't live up to the total eclipses in 2017 or 2024.