According to The Planets, there are three types of solar eclipses: partial solar eclipses, annular solar eclipses and total solar eclipses. On August 21, the lower United States witnessed a total solar eclipse, meaning that the silhouette of the moon completely covers the sun. The partial solar eclipse is when the moon does not line up perfectly with the sun. This only blocks some of the light. The annular solar eclipse is when when the moon and the sun are exactly in line, but either the Moon is further from Earth or the Earth is closer to the Sun. This results in the apparent size of the moon becoming smaller than that of the Sun, thus giving the sun a very bright ring, or annulus. The next eclipse is going to be a total eclipse, and this will occur on July 2, 2019 in the South Pacific Ocean and some of South America according to Time and Date.