Total solar eclipse: when the day goes dark

How totality happens

By a remarkable coincidence the Sun is about 400 times wider than the Moon and also about 400 times farther away, so the two look almost the same size in our sky. When a New Moon lines up exactly and the Moon is on the nearer side of its orbit, its dark inner shadow, the umbra, touches Earth and sweeps across it as a narrow track.

Only people inside that track see totality. Outside it, in a much wider region, the Moon covers just part of the Sun and the eclipse is partial. The Moon's distance varies, which is why some eclipses are total and others leave a ring, as in an annular eclipse.

What you see during totality

• Partial phase. For about an hour the Moon eats into the Sun. Light turns strange and sharp, and shadows under trees show hundreds of tiny crescents.
• Just before totality. The temperature drops, birds quiet down and the last sliver breaks into bright beads of light.
• Totality. The sky darkens, bright planets and stars appear, and the pale corona, the Sun's outer atmosphere, glows around a black disc.
• The return. A single bead of light flashes at the edge and daylight comes back within seconds.

Three total eclipses ahead

On 12 August 2026 totality passes over Greenland, Iceland and northern Spain, lasting at most about 2 minutes 18 seconds, with a partial eclipse across most of Europe. On 2 August 2027 it crosses southern Spain and Gibraltar, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Somalia, and near Luxor the shadow lingers about 6 minutes 23 seconds, one of the longest of the century.

On 22 July 2028 totality sweeps over Australia, including Sydney, and the South Island of New Zealand. Other eclipse paths are listed by astronomy observatories, so check one if you want a specific location.

The one moment you can look

Eclipse glasses meeting the ISO 12312-2 standard must stay on throughout the partial phases. Only once the Sun is completely covered, and only for those few minutes, is it safe to look with your bare eyes. The moment the first bead of light returns, put the glasses back on. Binoculars, telescopes and cameras need a solar filter on the front even when you wear eclipse glasses. The full rules are on the safety page.

A few tips help: choose your spot early, make sure no building or hill will block the Sun at that time, and spend most of the precious minutes looking rather than photographing.

Myths and meanings

Cultures around the world described a creature devouring the Sun and beat drums to bring it back. These stories are folklore, and they remind us how startling totality is. Astrology treats such an eclipse as a strong symbolic reset, a tradition to read as inspiration and not as warning. The overview is on the eclipses hub.