Will Earth be completely plunged into darkness for 6 minutes on 2 August?

The viral claim is false. A rare 6-minute total solar eclipse will occur on August 2, 2027, not 2025. Darkness will only affect regions in the eclipse’s path, not the entire world, claims experts.

New Delhi: A rumor is going viral and being circulated on social media, in which it is being claimed that on August 2, the entire earth will be covered in darkness for 6 minutes because a rare complete solar eclipse will occur on that day. Many people have become worried, believing this news to be true, and are wondering whether the whole world will really be plunged into darkness for a few minutes.

However, the reality is different from this. According to astronomers and experts, there is going to be no solar eclipse on August 2 this year, i.e., 2025. This information is completely wrong and misleading. Actually, the solar eclipse that is being talked about will occur two years from now, on August 2, 2027. This eclipse is definitely special, because on that day the Moon will completely cover the Sun for about 6 minutes and 23 seconds, due to which darkness may prevail during the day in some places.

This solar eclipse is very special from the scientific point of view because it is considered to be the longest full solar eclipse of the 21st century. Earlier, such a long darkness was seen in America, Mexico, and Canada on 8 April 2024, when the Moon covered the Sun for about 4 minutes and 28 seconds.

Another important fact is that a solar eclipse always occurs on the new moon day, because only then can the Moon and the Sun come in the same line. But there is no new moon on 2 August 2025, so it is not possible to have a solar eclipse on that day.

If we talk about the year 2025, then this year there will be a total of two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses. Of these, the first solar eclipse and lunar eclipse have already occurred. Now the next solar eclipse will be on 21-22 September 2025, which will be a partial solar eclipse. It will not be visible in India but will be visible in New Zealand, Fiji, Antarctica, and parts of Australia.

To sum up, there will be no total solar eclipse on August 2, 2025, and there will be no 6 minutes of darkness across the world. This is just a rumor. The actual rare eclipse will take place on August 2, 2027, which has already been marked by astronomers.