Where to watch the August 12, 2026 total solar eclipse
Totality crosses Greenland, Iceland, and Spain — Europe's first mainland total in over two decades. Here's who sees it, and how to plan.
On August 12, 2026, the Moon's shadow sweeps across the North Atlantic and into Europe, bringing a total solar eclipse to Greenland, western Iceland, and a band across northern and eastern Spain. It is the first total solar eclipse visible from mainland Europe since 1999, and the first from Spain since 1905 — a genuinely historic event for the continent.
A total solar eclipse is unlike anything else in the sky: a few minutes of daytime darkness, the Sun's corona blazing around a black disk, and a horizon lit like a 360° sunset. Here's where to be, and what to know before you go.
Who sees totality
The path of totality — the narrow track where the Moon completely covers the Sun — crosses eastern Greenland, sweeps over western Iceland, then makes landfall across northern and eastern Spain in the evening, with the Sun low in the west. Areas including parts of the Balearic Islands also fall close to the path.
A much wider region, including most of Europe, North Africa, and northeastern North America, sees a partial eclipse — the Sun bitten into a crescent, but never fully covered. Only inside the path of totality do you get the corona and true darkness.
- Total: eastern Greenland, western Iceland, northern & eastern Spain
- Partial: most of Europe, North Africa, and northeastern North America
- In Spain the eclipse happens near sunset — a low western horizon is essential
The low-Sun catch in Spain
Spain's view is dramatic but demanding: the eclipse occurs with the Sun low in the western sky, in some areas only a handful of degrees above the horizon. That makes for a spectacular, deeply colored event — but only if your western horizon is clear of mountains, buildings, and, ideally, cloud.
Choosing a spot with an open, low western horizon matters as much as being inside the path. Coastal sites and high ground looking west are prized for exactly this reason.
Check your exact local circumstances
Whether you're aiming for totality or watching the partial phases from home, the times and how much of the Sun is covered depend entirely on where you stand. A town just inside the edge of the path might get only seconds of totality; a town just outside gets none.
Stella's eclipse pages compute your local circumstances — eclipse type, percentage coverage, and contact times in your own local clock — from your location, so you know exactly what to expect before you commit to a spot.
Watch it safely
During the partial phases — and the entire event if you're outside the path of totality — you must use certified solar-eclipse glasses or a safe solar filter. Looking at even a sliver of the uneclipsed Sun without protection can cause permanent eye damage.
Only during the brief moments of totality, when the Sun's bright disk is completely covered, is it safe to look with the naked eye. The instant the bright photosphere returns, protection goes back on.
Stop guessing what tonight holds — Stella reads your sky and tells you when to go.
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