The 2026 solar eclipse is the first total solar eclipse in continental Europe since the 21st century began. Basically, the European mainland will be reached only within the Iberian Peninsula, but with respect to it, this eclipse remains the most accessible totality by Europeans since 1999. In 2015, the total solar eclipse missed the continent as its path proceeded between the North Atlantic and the Norwegian Sea, and then through the Arctic Ocean. The only lands where people could experience the totality were the Faroe Islands and Svalbard, not to mention the isolated and uninhabited rock protrusion west of St. Kilda – Rockall, which belongs to the United Kingdom. There was another totality in 2006, which just missed the Greek islands (Crete, Rhodes), leaving them with obscuration of almost 99%, and passed over the Caucasus range, a controversial area in a geological sense, as it is considered part of the Asian mountain range.

Unlike the Great American Eclipse of 2024, this totality isn’t widely discussed as much, probably because the totality doesn’t reach many grounds over its path; however, we can find a couple of interesting links about this event:

https://eclipse2026.is/
https://eclipse262728.es/en/eclipse2026/
https://www.elgraneclipse.com/

And the general websites:
Michael Zeiler’s 2026 eclipse maps and information
Fred Espenak’s interactive 2026 solar eclipse map
Xavier Jubier’s interactive 2026 solar eclipse map
Yuk Tung Liu 2026 solar eclipse map

The longest duration of 2m18s occurs about 40km southwest of the western fiords, where the most extended duration on the ground is 2m13.2s. The eastern Mallorca will experience the shortest duration at the centerline – 1m 35.5s.
This website won’t cover only the section of totality, which has already been widely described in other services on other occasions. It will focus on the totality extension below the horizon within the central Russia and Mediterranean regions, as local people and astronomical institutions should be aware of the occasional, unprecedented, and unrepeatable celestial event!

THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THIS WEBSITE is to make people aware of uncommon observations, which can be performed during the 2026 solar eclipse, and especially its extension within the twilight zone.

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SELECT CHAPTER

1. General information
2. The eclipse geometry
3. The Moon’s shadow circumstances
4. The isolines oddity
5. The total phase
6. The partial phase
7. Eclipse event below the horizon
8. Accompanying optical events
9. Antitwilight sky projections
10. Sunset circumstances
11. Sky view
12. Perseids
13. Weather prospects
14. Light pollution
15. Observation case studies
16. Resources
17. Eclipse terminus project
18. Observation results
19. Summary
20. Acknowledgments

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1. GENERAL INFORMATION

The solar eclipse of August 12, 2026, belongs to Saros 126 and occurs between the eclipses of August 1, 2008, and August 23, 2044.
The Saros 126 includes a couple of interesting solar eclipses. First of all, from the perspective of my homeland, I would like to mention the total solar eclipse of June 30, 1954, which was the last one visible in Poland. The same eclipse, as well as the other one in the same saros, the total solar eclipse of July 22, 1990, resulted in the first professional publications about its influence on twilight.

The eclipse path begins at the eastern part of the Taymyr Peninsula in Russia. It proceeds over the Arctic Ocean, where it just misses the North Pole, and continues to Greenland, the World’s largest island. Then, the path continues over western Iceland and the North Atlantic towards the Bay of Biscay and the westernmost part of the Cantabrian Sea, where it enters the Iberian Peninsula. After that, the path proceeds across Spain and grazes the Portuguese border. On its further way, it encounters the Balearic Sea and the Balearic Islands. Finally, it finishes at the Mediterranean, west of the island of Sardinia and north of the Algerian Atlas Mountains.

2. THE ECLIPSE GEOMETRY

The maximum width of the eclipse path is 294km, which refers to the point at which the eclipse is visible at maximum height above the horizon. This height is just about 26,5°, which leads to the conclusion that the entire region of eclipse visibility is adjacent to the pole. As far as the first approach to the eclipse visibility is concerned, the 2026 total solar eclipse falls under type V (Meeus, 1997). In this type of solar eclipse, there is no central eclipse at noon (Meeus, 1997). As mentioned in this article, the umbral path can be seen only at one part of the day (morning or afternoon). In 2026, the entire line of the central eclipse should occur in the afternoon hours, which is illustrated in the image below (Pic. 4).

A central solar eclipse can occur only in one part of the day, either in the morning or the afternoon, but never at noon. The segments G-H and N-S don’t intersect. The position of the umbral cone at point X means a deep partial, or at most non-central, eclipse on the Earth. The zone of partial solar eclipse, limited by the segment of M-R, can occur either before or after noon. The configuration such as this can arise in total, annular, or annular-total eclipses. Type V solar eclipse can take place only when the absolute value of γ is between 0.86 and 0.997 (Meeus, 1997). This is the minimum value of γ at which the distance between the solar eclipse and the subsolar point is the closest. For example, on August 12, 2026, the minimum γ value is 0.8977, which, at least in theory, should place the central line of the solar eclipse very close to the moment of noon or midnight, determined by the segment of N-S.  However, the 2026 total solar eclipse seems to prove that the absolute value of γ equal to 0.86 is not enough for the type V of solar eclipse occurrence. The best evidence of it can be found in the following illustrations below (Pic. 5 – 7)

Following a more detailed explanation of « how to read » the eclipse map (Meeus, 1997), three regions near the terminator line are noteworthy. The region 1 bound with ECFW shows the area in which the maximum eclipse is visible. In region 2(AEC), the Sun rises and sets between the maximum eclipse and the last contact. Region 3 (CBF) lies in the area where the Sun rises and sets between first contact and maximum. The lines AEW and AQM mark the last contact at sunset, whereas the arcs WFB and BTR indicate the first contact at sunrise. On the ECF arc, the maximum eclipse occurs at the horizon, around midday or midnight. The other two lines show the most incredible eclipse moment at sunrise (M’G’E) and sunset (FH’R’). The last two lines indicate the last contact at sunrise (M’QAE) and the first contact at sunset (FBTR).

This pattern is understood well, as it applies to the northern hemisphere, where the northernmost section of the terminator line lies south of the pole. For the same circumstances in the southern hemisphere, the illustration should be mirrored. In the case of the 2026 totality, there is another problem: the northernmost limit of the solar eclipse area lies beyond the north pole and is on the other side of the globe. In light of these circumstances, the image below indicates how to interpret the 2026 total solar eclipse map at the very beginning of the path in Russia (Pic. 7), where the central line is marked red and the limits of the path in blue. The path of totality misses out the North Pole slightly.

Imagine that you are looking at the beginning of this eclipse from above the North Pole. Now, you can see the real example of the pattern as mentioned earlier, but rotated upside down. This is an intentional illustration as a result of these eclipse circumstances. The geometry of the 2026 total solar eclipse isn’t obvious, as it begins around local midnight. There are three scenarios in which the solar eclipse can be observed at midnight. The 2026 totality applies the second case (Pic. 8), in which the entire path lies between the pole and the terminator on the opposite side of the globe.

As the Earth’s rotational axis is tilted for almost the entire year, the occurrence of a solar eclipse on the other side of the pole is quite plausible in the circumstances, at which the absolute γ value is close to 0.997 and as small as 0.86 (Meeus, 2007). There are nine eclipses such as this in the XXI century. In fact, the last two occurred in 2021, and admittedly, this is another rare situation, which will repeat only in 2712. It’s such a digression about how rare these eclipses are. The same applies to the latitude of the point, where the central eclipse occurs at midnight. In recent times, the lowest latitude was 70°N on June 6, 1891, which was the last central solar eclipse at midnight in the northern hemisphere before 2021.  In August 2026, the latitude of this point is 85°N, and it’s the previous occurrence like this in the northern hemisphere before 2079. The next central solar eclipse at midnight will be observed on December 15, 2039, as a part of the same saros as the 2021 total solar eclipse.
The illustrations below clearly explain how the central solar eclipse can be visible at midnight (Pic. 9).

As you can see, the pole’s tilt is the paramount importance. To have a central eclipse at local midnight, the central line must pass between the pole and the nearest limb of the Earth (Pic. 8). It doesn’t happen around equinoxes, when the pole is close to the limb. However, because the 2026 total solar eclipse occurs around mid-August, when the declination of the Sun is +14°48′, the event is technically possible from a latitude higher than 75°12’N (Pic. 9).

As a basic repercussion of this eclipse, another oddity comes out, which is the reversed umbra limitation. As the umbral cone moves across the Earth’s surface, it traces a long path called the totality (or annularity) zone, which is bounded by two curves: the northern limit (n) and the southern limit (s) of the path (Meeus, 1997). Should we assume that the northern limit corresponds to the north direction in space, thereby the northern side of the plane of the ecliptic, and vice versa. If in some cases the Moon’s shadow happens to fall « above » the north pole, that is, north of it as seen from space. In turn, the southern limit of the umbra is nearer to the pole than the northern limit, and thus lies geographically north of it! This north-south oddity is reflected by the Earth’s illumination zone defined by the aforementioned axial tilt.

The 2026 total solar eclipse begins at a latitude of approximately 75° north and reaches the maximum northern latitude of 87°53′, although the local midnight, marked as point M, occurs earlier (Pic. 12). The closest approach to the pole doesn’t mean that the eclipse occurs at local midnight and vice versa. The 2026 total solar eclipse is a good example here. Situation changes as the eclipse path proceeds towards the sunset. After reaching the maximum northern latitude, the eclipse path proceeds southwards. Then the north limit of the path is oriented eastwards and south-westwards. At the westernmost longitude of 28° west, the central line changes its orientation again, and from this moment, the North-South oddity doesn’t appear anymore. Finally, the eclipse ends at sunset in the western part of the Mediterranean Sea, at a latitude of 39° north.

3. THE ECLIPSE PATH AND MOON’S SHADOW CIRCUMSTANCES

In definition, for solar eclipse with the γ value larger than 1, the umbral cone projected on the Earth’s surface is never circular. The Moon’s shadow is round always when projected on the plain surface. Because the Earth’s is the sphere, the situation such as this can happen only when the total solar eclipse occurs exactly at zenith. Moreover, this moment is typical for only the very middle part of the eclipse path, because in other situations the γ value changes. All the γ values provided in all eclipse catalogs represent the moment of the greatest eclipse occurrence elsewhere on Earth, which usually happens in a halfway between the start and the end of the eclipse path. Usually, but not always, what depends on the position of subsolar point. For the case of 2026 there is no doubt about it, as the greatest eclipse occurs at altotude of 26° only. The umbrea shape is seriously oval.

 

4. THE ISOLINES ODDITY

5. THE TOTAL PHASE

5.1 Iceland

5.2 Spain

5.3 Portugal

 

6. THE PARTIAL PHASE

 

 

7. ECLIPSE EVENT BELOW THE HORIZON

7.1 Algeria

7.2 Tunisia

7.3 Italy

 

7.4 Malta

 

7.5 Other countries

 

 

8. ACCOMPANYING OPTICAL EVENTS

 

 

9. ANTITWILIGHT SKY PROJECTIONS

 

 

10. SUNSET CIRCUMSTANCES

11. SKY VIEW

 

 

 

12. PERSEIDS

13. WEATHER PROSPECTS

 

 

14. LIGHT POLLUTION

 

 

15. OBSERVATION CASE STUDIES

15.1

 

16. RESOURCES

 

17. ECLIPSE TERMINUS PROJECT

 

 

18. OBSERVATION RESULTS

 

 

19. SUMMARY

 

20. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

 

 

References:

1. Abell G.O.,  Kearns C.E., 1954, The effect of the solar eclipse of June 30 upon the morning twilight at Palomar Observatory, (in:) Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, vol. 66, no. 392, p.233
2. Geyer EH.,  Hoffmann M., Volland H., 1994, Influence of a solar eclipse on twilight, (in:) Applied Optics, vol.33 (21), p.4614-4619.
3. Meeus J., 1997, Mathematical Astronomy Morsels I, Willmann-Bell
4. Meeus J., 2007, Mathematical Astronomy Morsels I, Willmann-Bell

Links:

1. https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsaros/SEsaros126.html
2. https://www.solar-eclipse.info/en/saros/detail/126/

Wiki:

1. Solar_Saros_126