This 1995 solar eclipse was visible in parts of Asia

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The Western Hemisphere's next total eclipse doesn't cast its shadow until 2017, but between now and then eclipse chasers have other opportunities to indulge in their passion. The last total eclipse of the millennium -- and Central Europe's first in 38 years -- comes up on August 11, 1999, when the moon's shadow skims the British Isles and crosses France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, the Black Sea, Turkey and parts of Asia.

Another total eclipse hits the Atlantic Ocean and Africa on June 21, 2001.

The last total eclipse to grace the world came in February 1998, cutting across the Caribbean and Central America. Thousands observed the eerie darkness from islands, cruise ships, and science stations.

An annular eclipse -- one in which the moon is too far from the earth to completely block the sun, leaving a glow around the dark shadow -- will be visible over most of Australia and southeast Asia on August 21 and 22, 1998. An earlier annular was visible from Texas to Maine on May 10, 1994.