A total

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...

will occur at the Moon's

descending node An orbital node is either of the two points where an orbit intersects a plane of reference to which it is inclined. A non-inclined orbit, which is contained in the reference plane, has no nodes. Planes of reference Common planes of referenc ...

of orbit on Wednesday, 12 August 2026, with a

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

of 1.0386. A

occurs when the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

passes between

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

and the

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 2.2 days after

perigee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values. Apsides perta ...

(on 10 August 2026 at 12:15 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter will be larger. The total eclipse will pass over the

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, northern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and very extreme northeastern

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. The points of greatest duration and greatest eclipse will be just off the western coast of Iceland by 65°10.3' N and 25°12.3' W, where the totality will last 2m 18.21s. A partial eclipse will cover more than 90% of the Sun in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

and

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

and to a lesser extent in most of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

and northern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. The total eclipse will pass over northern Spain from the Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean coast as well as the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

. The total eclipse will be visible from the cities of

A Coruña A Coruña (; ; also informally called just Coruña; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality in Galicia, Spain. It is Galicia's second largest city, behind Vigo. The city is the provincial capital of the province ...

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

, Palma and

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

, but both

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

will be just outside the path of totality. The last total eclipse in continental

occurred on 29 March 2006 and in continental part of

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

it occurred on 11 August 1999. It will be the first total solar eclipse visible in Iceland since 30 June 1954, also Solar Saros series 126 (descending node), and the only one to occur in the 21st century as the next one visible over Iceland will be in 2196. The last total solar eclipse in Spain happened on 30 August 1905 and followed a similar path across the country. The next total eclipse visible in Spain will happen less than a year later on 2 August 2027.

Circumstances

The eclipse path proceeds from North Siberia throughout the Arctic Region, Iceland, eastern Atlantic to Spain and the Mediterranean.

Solar eclipse and the aurora borealis

In the North Russia area where totality will begin at sunrise, the aurora borealis could also be visible up to the beginning of the nautical twilight, depending on the intensity of the auroral activity at that date. If an extremely high intensity geomagnetic storm takes place simultaneously, there might be chances of seeing the aurora simultaneously with the eclipsed Sun. In the east of

Taymyr Peninsula The Taymyr Peninsula ( ) is a peninsula in the Far North of Russia, in the Siberian Federal District, that forms the northernmost part of the mainland of Eurasia. Administratively it is part of the Krasnoyarsk Krai Federal subject of Russia. Ge ...

(north-east of

Krasnoyarsk Krai Krasnoyarsk Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a krai) of Russia located in Siberia. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Krasnoyarsk, the second-largest city in Siberia after ...

) the maximum of total phase will occur on August 13 at 0:00 local time during

midnight sun Midnight sun, also known as polar day, is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When midnight sun is see ...

Solar eclipse below the horizon

Due to the considerable eclipse gamma (more than 0.8), observers, where the totally eclipsed Sun is just below the horizon will have the chance to observe the lunar shadow in the high atmosphere, as well as shortened civil twilight and extended nautical twilight. The darkening of the twilight sky could improve the chances of observing the inner Zodiacal light.

Bright planets and stars visible during totality

Far northern

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

will be treated to a dawn eclipse. Mercury and

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

will be very low above the rising eclipsed Sun, but Mercury will be showing most of its sunlit side and Jupiter will have its usual brightness.

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

and

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...

will be more advantageously placed in the northeast and southeast respectively. Of the bright asterisms, the

Big Dipper The Big Dipper (American English, US, Canadian English, Canada) or the Plough (British English, UK, Hiberno-English, Ireland) is an asterism (astronomy), asterism consisting of seven bright stars of the constellation Ursa Major; six of them ar ...

will be very high in the north-northwest and the Summer Triangle will be high in the southwest.

Aldebaran Aldebaran () is a star in the zodiac constellation of Taurus. It has the Bayer designation α Tauri, which is Latinized to Alpha Tauri and abbreviated Alpha Tau or α Tau. Aldebaran varies in brightness from an apparent vis ...

Arcturus , - bgcolor="#FFFAFA" , Note (category: variability): , , H and K emission vary. Arcturus is a red giant star in the Northern celestial hemisphere, northern constellation of Boötes, and the brightest star in the constellation. It ha ...

Capella Capella is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Auriga. It has the Bayer designation α Aurigae, which is Latinisation of names, Latinised to Alpha Aurigae and abbreviated Alpha Aur or α Aur. Capella is the lis ...

and Pollux are other first-magnitude stars which may be seen, although they will be low. In

the eclipse will be a mid-afternoon event occurring about 4 hours before sunset, it will start in Reykjavik at around 2:04 PM, with the total eclipse occurring at 3:15 PM.

may be a challenge to find, because it will be low in the west. Mercury and

will be well positioned west of the Sun and

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

will be many degrees to its east. Of 1st-magnitude stars from west to east,

and Pollux will be at decent elevations west of the Sun;

Regulus Regulus is the brightest object in the constellation Leo (constellation), Leo and one of the List of brightest stars, brightest stars in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation designated α Leonis, which is Latinisation of names, ...

, Spica (due south),

Vega Vega is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lyra. It has the Bayer designation α Lyrae, which is Latinised to Alpha Lyrae and abbreviated Alpha Lyr or α Lyr. This star is relatively close at only from the Sun, and ...

and Deneb are candidates for easy sighting to the Sun's east.

Procyon Procyon () is the brightest star in the constellation of Canis Minor and usually the list of brightest stars, eighth-brightest star in the night sky, with an apparent visual magnitude of 0.34. It has the Bayer designation α Canis Min ...

will be about to set, while

Altair Altair is the brightest star in the constellation of Aquila (constellation), Aquila and the list of brightest stars, twelfth-brightest star in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation Alpha Aquilae, which is Latinisation of name ...

will be low on the opposite side. In

the eclipse will occur about 1 hour before sunset. Mercury and

, west of the eclipsed Sun, will therefore be very low below it.

will be brilliant well up in the southwest, with Spica to its east.

will be high in the south, and the Summer Triangle will be well up in the east. Lower in the south,

Antares Antares is the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius. It has the Bayer designation α Scorpii, which is Latinisation of names, Latinised to Alpha Scorpii. Often referred to as "the heart of the scorpion", Antares is flanked by ...

will be minutes away from transit.

Images

Animated path

Details of the totality in some places or cities

Eclipse details

Shown below are two tables displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. The first table outlines times at which the moon's penumbra or umbra attains the specific parameter, and the second table describes various other parameters pertaining to this eclipse.

Eclipse season

This eclipse is part of an

eclipse season An eclipse season is a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Eclipse seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of the Orbit of the Moon, Moon's orbital plane (orbital inclination, tilted five degrees to the ecliptic, Earth ...

, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a

fortnight A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term , meaning "" (or "fourteen days", since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights). Astronomy and tides In astronomy, a ''lunar fortnight'' is hal ...

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 2026

* An annular solar eclipse on 17 February * A total lunar eclipse on March 3. * A total solar eclipse on August 12. * A partial lunar eclipse on August 28.

Metonic

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 25, 2022 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 1, 2030

Tzolkinex

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 2, 2019 * Followed by:

Solar eclipse of September 23, 2033 A partial solar eclipse will occur at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Friday, September 23, 2033, with a magnitude of 0.689. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image ...

Half-Saros

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of 7 August 2017 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of 19 August 2035

Tritos

* Preceded by:

Solar eclipse of September 13, 2015 A partial solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's Lunar node, ascending node of orbit on Sunday, September 13, 2015, with a Magnitude of eclipse, magnitude of 0.7875. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby tota ...

* Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 13, 2037

Solar Saros 126

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 1, 2008 * Followed by:

Solar eclipse of August 23, 2044 A total solar eclipse will occur at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Monday, August 22 and Tuesday, August 23, 2044, with a magnitude of 1.0364. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or p ...

Inex

* Preceded by:

Solar eclipse of September 2, 1997 A partial solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit between Monday, September 1 and Tuesday, September 2, 1997, with a magnitude of 0.8988. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally o ...

* Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 24, 2055

Triad

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 12, 1939 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 13, 2113

Solar eclipses of 2026–2029

Saros 126

Metonic series

Tritos series

Inex series

References

External links

* http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEplot/SEplot2001/SE2026Aug12T.GIF * https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEpath/SEpath2001/SE2026Aug12Tpath.html * https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/2026-august-12 * https://nationaleclipse.com/maps/main/2026-total-solar-eclipse-maps.html {{Portal bar, Stars, Outer space, Physics, Science 2026 in science 2026 8 12 2026 8 12 2026 8 12