COSMIC EVENT / AUGUST 12, 2026

Total Solar
Eclipse.

The Moon will blot out the Sun over the Arctic, Greenland, Iceland and Spain. Greatest eclipse occurs at 12 Aug 2026 · local time, with magnitude 1.0386 and up to 2m 18s of totality.

It's hereCHECK THE SKY
THE NUMBERS

Eclipse vitals.

1.0386Magnitude
2m 18sMax totality
294 kmPath width
Saros 126#48 of 72
LeoSun's constellation
17:47 UTCGreatest eclipse
THE PHYSICS

Why this happens.

01

Syzygy

A solar eclipse happens only at new moon, when the Moon slides directly between the Sun and Earth. Because the Moon's orbit is tilted about 5.1° to Earth's path around the Sun, this alignment, called a syzygy, only lines up precisely a few times a year, at the Moon's orbital nodes.

02

A cosmic coincidence

The Sun is about 400 times wider than the Moon, but also about 400 times farther away. That near-perfect ratio is why the Moon can appear almost exactly the same size as the Sun in our sky, which is the only reason total eclipses are possible at all.

03

Umbra & penumbra

The Moon casts two shadows. Inside the narrow, dark umbra the Sun is completely blocked: totality. Across the much wider, lighter penumbra, only part of the Sun is covered, producing a partial eclipse.

04

Why this one is generous

The Moon reaches perigee (its closest point to Earth) on August 10, just 2.2 days before the eclipse, so it appears larger than average. That pushes the eclipse magnitude to 1.0386, over-covering the Sun's disk, producing a wide 294 km path and up to 2m 18s of totality.

05

The Saros cycle

This eclipse is number 48 of 72 in Saros series 126, a family of eclipses that repeats roughly every 18 years, 11 days and 8 hours as the Sun, Moon and Earth return to nearly the same relative geometry.

06

Corona & safety

Only inside the path of totality does the Moon fully cover the Sun, revealing the pearly-white solar corona with the naked eye for a couple of minutes. Everywhere else, and during every partial phase, ISO 12312-2 certified eclipse glasses are required to view it safely.

Safety: Never look at the Sun without ISO 12312-2 certified eclipse glasses during any partial phase. Only inside the path of totality is it briefly safe to look directly at the fully-eclipsed Sun with the naked eye.
THE PATH

Where the shadow travels.

~17:01 UTC
Path begins

Siberia, Russia

A brief dawn total eclipse over remote Arctic Russia.

~17:20 UTC
Path of totality

Arctic Ocean

The Moon's umbra sweeps across open polar water.

~17:35 UTC
Path of totality

Greenland

Totality crosses the remote east coast near Ittoqqortoormiit.

~17:47 UTC · greatest eclipse
Path of totality

Iceland

Greatest eclipse of the whole event occurs just offshore. Reykjavik gets ~1 minute of totality.

~18:30 UTC
Path of totality

Northern Spain

The path crosses from A Coruña to the Balearic Islands near sunset. It's Spain's first total eclipse since the mainland event of 1912, and its first in 72 years.

~18:35 UTC
Path ends

Mediterranean Sea

The umbra lifts off Earth's surface at sunset.

YOUR SKY

Will you see it?

We detect your location automatically, from your device GPS if you allow it, or otherwise from your IP address, to work out whether the eclipse is visible where you are, and if so, at what time and in which direction to look.

We try precise device GPS first (with your permission); if that's unavailable we fall back to an approximate location from your IP address. Nothing is stored: the calculation runs entirely in your browser.

LOCAL CIRCUMSTANCES

City by city.

Total eclipse

Reykjavik

Iceland

Max 5:48 PM GMT
100% covered · 1m 01s totality

Total eclipse

Ísafjörður

Iceland

Max 5:44 PM GMT
100% covered · 1m 31s totality

Total eclipse

Station Nord

Greenland

Max 17:18 UTC UTC
100% covered · 0m 16s totality

Deep partial

Ittoqqortoormiit

Greenland

Max 16:37 UTC UTC (just outside the path of totality)
99.67% covered

Deep partial

Danmarkshavn

Greenland

Max 17:26 UTC UTC (just outside the path of totality)
99.12% covered

Total eclipse

A Coruña

Spain

Max 8:28 PM CEST
100% covered · 1m 17s totality

Total eclipse

Bilbao

Spain

Max 8:27 PM CEST
100% covered · 0m 31s totality

Total eclipse

Zaragoza

Spain

Max 8:29 PM CEST
100% covered · 1m 24s totality

Total eclipse

Valencia

Spain

Max 8:33 PM CEST
100% covered · 1m 00s totality

Total eclipse

Palma

Spain

Max 8:31 PM CEST
100% covered · 1m 36s totality

Deep partial

Madrid

Spain

Max 8:32 PM CEST (just outside the path of totality)
99.98% covered

Deep partial

Barcelona

Spain

Max 8:34 PM CEST (just outside the path of totality)
97% covered

Deep partial

Lisbon

Portugal

Max 7:36 PM WEST
94.52% covered

Deep partial

Dublin

Ireland

Max 7:10 PM IST
94% covered

Deep partial

London

United Kingdom

Max 7:12 PM BST (sun low near the west horizon)
91.42% covered

Deep partial

Paris

France

Max 8:17 PM CEST
92.12% covered

Deep partial

Casablanca

Morocco

Max 7:44 PM WEST
86.97% covered

Partial

Amsterdam

Netherlands

Max 8:11 PM CEST
88.26% covered

Partial

Berlin

Germany

Max 8:08 PM CEST (sun very low at sunset)
84.89% covered

Partial

Copenhagen

Denmark

Max 8:04 PM CEST
83.54% covered

Partial

Oslo

Norway

Max 7:57 PM CEST
83.07% covered

Partial

Stockholm

Sweden

Max 7:56 PM CEST (sets mid-eclipse)
81.02% covered

Slight partial

Rome

Italy

Max 8:12 PM CEST (sets mid-eclipse)
69.17% covered

Partial

Warsaw

Poland

Max 8:03 PM CEST (sets mid-eclipse)
81.72% covered

Slight partial

Bangor, ME

United States

Max 1:53 PM EDT (highest coverage in continental US)
24% covered

Slight partial

Boston

United States

Max 1:55 PM EDT
16% covered

Slight partial

New York

United States

Max 1:54 PM EDT
9% covered

Slight partial

Washington, D.C.

United States

Max 1:53 PM EDT
4% covered

Slight partial

Anchorage

United States

Max 8:21 AM AKDT
28% covered

Slight partial

Montreal

Canada

Max 1:45 PM EDT
18% covered

Not visible

New Delhi

India

Below the horizon or outside the penumbra (not visible)

Not visible

Mumbai

India

Not visible

Not visible

Singapore

Singapore

Not visible

Not visible

Sydney

Australia

Not visible

Not visible

Tokyo

Japan

Not visible

Not visible

São Paulo

Brazil

Not visible

Not visible

Cape Town

South Africa

Not visible

Not visible

Los Angeles

United States

Not visible

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