Featured event
🌑 Total Solar Eclipse
August 12, 2026
The first total solar eclipse over mainland Europe since 1999, and the only one visible from Iceland this century. Use the tools below to find out exactly what this eclipse will look like from anywhere in the world — down to your local minute.
Universal eclipse time & path checker
Search any city, state, or country worldwide. We convert the greatest eclipse instant (Wed, 12 Aug 2026 17:46:00 GMT) into your selected location's local time zone and check whether that location falls inside the path of totality.
Path-of-totality check uses a simplified geographic envelope of the real ground track. For precise local circumstances (exact contact times, altitude, and obscuration), seeNASA's official 2026 eclipse map.
A stylized animation compressing an eclipse's partial-to-totality-to-partial progression into a short, looping sequence — not real telescope footage.
Find your country: 2026 eclipse viewing pages
City-by-city times, coverage percentages, and viewing tips for every country in and around the path. Each page is a self-contained guide for people searching by their own country or city.
Check any city or country worldwide
Type any location on Earth — Los Angeles, Tokyo, Nairobi, Auckland — and get a real Yes/No answer for the August 12, 2026 eclipse, with the reason and local timing.
Find your city — August 12, 2026 eclipse
~100 cities across 15 countries on the path. Country not listed?
Global city & country searchInside the path of totality
Deep partial eclipse
Partial eclipse
🌌 What Is an Eclipse?
At its core, an eclipse is a matter of geometry: it happens when three celestial bodies briefly line up so closely that one blocks light from reaching, or reflecting off, another. Astronomers call this near-perfect straight-line alignment a syzygy — a real term used for any such three-body alignment, not unique to eclipses alone.
A solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes directly between the Sun and Earth, casting a real, physical shadow onto Earth's surface — a narrow, dark inner umbra where the Sun is completely blocked, and a wider, lighter penumbra where it's only partially covered. A lunar eclipse works the other way around: Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon, and Earth's own shadow gives the Moon a deep reddish-copper "blood moon" glow as sunlight bends through our atmosphere.
🔬 Why Eclipses Are Scientifically Important
During the total solar eclipse of May 29, 1919, astronomer Arthur Eddington led an expedition that measured starlight bending near the darkened Sun exactly as Einstein's General Theory of Relativity predicted — a real, historic test only possible during totality, when the Sun's glare doesn't overwhelm the faint starlight passing close to it.
Total solar eclipses also let solar physicists study the Sun's outer atmosphere, the corona, which is normally far too faint to see against the Sun's overwhelming brightness — the Moon acts as a natural occulting disk for the brief minutes of totality.
📊 The Four Types of Eclipses
🌑 Total
The Moon completely covers the Sun's disk, revealing the corona to observers inside the path of totality.
💍 Annular
The Moon is near apogee and appears too small to fully cover the Sun, leaving the "Ring of Fire."
🌗 Partial
Only the penumbra passes over a location, so the Moon covers just part of the Sun's disk there.
🔄 Hybrid
A rare eclipse that shifts between annular and total along its path as Earth's curvature changes the Moon's apparent distance.
Frequently asked questions
Where will the August 12, 2026 total solar eclipse be visible?
Totality on August 12, 2026 crosses the Arctic, eastern Greenland, western Iceland, the Atlantic, and northern Spain, with a small northeastern corner of Portugal also inside the path. A much wider partial eclipse will be visible across most of Europe, western Africa, and the eastern edge of North America near sunset.
Will the 2026 eclipse be visible from the United States?
The continental United States is outside the path of totality. Only a partial eclipse will be visible from Alaska, Atlantic Canada, and parts of New England (including Boston and New York) near sunset — the Sun will appear with a small bite taken out of it.
How long will totality last on August 12, 2026?
The maximum duration of totality is about 2 minutes and 18 seconds, occurring near Iceland. Duration decreases toward the ends of the path in Greenland and Spain.
Do I still need eclipse glasses if I'm outside the path of totality?
Yes. Outside the narrow path of totality the Sun is never fully covered, so ISO 12312-2 certified eclipse glasses (or a certified solar filter) are required at all times to view any part of the eclipse safely.
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