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/
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.
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 way. On its further way, it encounters the Balearic Sea and the Balearic Islands. Finally, it finishes at the Mediterranean, west of the Sardinia island 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.
References:
- 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
- Geyer EH., Hoffmann M., Volland H., 1994, Influence of a solar eclipse on twilight, (in:) Applied Optics, vol.33 (21), p.4614-4619.
Links:
- https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsaros/SEsaros126.html
- https://www.solar-eclipse.info/en/saros/detail/126/
Wiki: