Rare Total Solar Eclipse Set to Dazzle: Nearly a Billion People Could See It

At 15:34 GMT on August 12, 2026, the Moon's shadow will travel from the Arctic over Greenland, Iceland, and Spain, blocking the Sun for up to 2 minutes and 18 seconds. This will be the first total solar eclipse on the European continent since 1999, with about 15 million people, mainly in Spain, in the path of totality.

A partial eclipse will be visible across much of Western Europe, parts of Northwest Africa, and a small portion of the United States. In total, about 980 million people—nearly one-eighth of the world's population—will see the Sun at least partially obscured. That means the remaining seven-eighths will see a normal sky on Wednesday.

What Is an Eclipse?

An eclipse occurs when one celestial body moves into the shadow of another. During a solar eclipse, the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, blocking its light in one of four ways: partial, total, annular, or hybrid.

• Partial: The Moon covers only part of the Sun's edge.
• Total: The Moon completely covers the Sun, turning day into twilight and revealing the corona—the Sun's faint outer atmosphere.
• Annular: The Moon is too far from Earth to fully cover the Sun, leaving a bright ring.
• Hybrid: The rarest type, shifting from total to annular along its path.

The Sun is about 400 times wider than the Moon and about 400 times farther from Earth, so the two disks appear nearly the same size from Earth, making total eclipses possible.

How Often Do Eclipses Occur?

According to NASA, two to five solar eclipses occur each year, including all four types. Total eclipses are rarer, happening on average 66 times per century, or about once every one and a half years. Of all eclipses, about one-third are partial, one-third are annular, more than a quarter are total, and about 5% are hybrid.

Where to See the Total Eclipse

On August 12, about 15 million people in Spain, Iceland, parts of Greenland, Russia, and Portugal will be in the path of totality. In northern and eastern Spain—where viewing conditions are best—the cities of Leon, Valladolid, Zaragoza, Teruel, and Valencia all lie in this zone. Totality begins at about 18:27 GMT (20:27 local time) in western Spain and lasts up to 110 seconds, depending on location. Madrid and Barcelona are just outside the path, but observers there will still see the Sun more than 99% covered.

Partial Eclipse Across Many Regions

The partial eclipse will be far more widespread. Most of Europe will see a deep partial eclipse in the evening, with the Sun setting while still partly obscured in many places. In Paris, about 92% of the Sun will be covered, in London 91%, and in Berlin 85%.

For most European cities farther east, the Sun sets before the eclipse reaches its peak, meaning the deepest part never appears in the sky. North Africa faces a similar situation. Algiers will see about 98% of the Sun covered, and Casablanca about 87%, but in both cases the Sun sets before the eclipse ends.

In North America, since the eclipse occurs in the morning and early afternoon, there is no sunset problem, but the continent is far from the zone of totality and will see only a small partial eclipse. In Canada, St. John's in the northeast will see about 53% of the Sun covered, dropping to 18% in Montreal and 8% in Toronto.

In the U.S., Alaska gets the deepest eclipse at about 37%, while the rest sees only a shallow partial eclipse, from about 28% in northeastern Maine to 10% in New York and almost nothing in the Midwest.

Next Total Eclipse

The next total solar eclipse will occur on August 2, 2027, passing over southern Spain, North Africa, and Yemen. Interactive online tools can help viewers find out when the next eclipse will be visible from their city.