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On Aug. 12, 2026, a total solar eclipse will sweep across Greenland, Iceland, northern Russia, the Atlantic Ocean, Spain, and a small corner of Portugal.
Many other places in the Northern Hemisphere will experience a partial solar eclipse that day, including parts of the northern U.S. (from Alaska to North Carolina), most of Canada, much of Europe, and northwestern Africa.
For many along the western part of the eclipse path (in mainland Europe and Africa), the Sun will set while it’s still partially eclipsed, creating an opportunity to see a sunset eclipse.
A map shows where a solar eclipse will be visible on Aug. 12, 2026. The red band that crosses Greenland, Iceland, and Spain shows where a total solar eclipse can be seen. Yellow curves across the map show where a partial eclipse will be visible, and percentages indicate the maximum area of the Sun covered by the Moon during the eclipse along those lines. Learn more about the map.
NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio
Total solar eclipse
A total solar eclipse was seen in Dallas, Texas, on Monday, April 8, 2024.
NASA/Keegan Barber
When the Moon slips in front of the Sun, those in the center of the Moon’s shadow will experience a total solar eclipse.
For a small, remote region in northern Russia, totality — when the Moon completely covers the Sun — will occur mid-day. For Greenland and Iceland, the Sun will go dark in the late afternoon or early evening. In Spain and the very northwestern tip of Portugal, the Sun won’t be fully eclipsed until the late evening, shortly before sunset.
For most in the path of totality, the Sun will be fully eclipsed for less than two minutes. For anyone near the very center of the eclipse path in Greenland, Russia, or the North Atlantic, totality will last a little longer (but still less than two and a half minutes).
Only during those brief moments of totality, when the Moon completely blocks the Sun’s bright face, can viewers look directly at the eclipse without eye protection.
Before and after totality, everyone observing the Sun must use eye protection to view the partial phases of the eclipse, when the Moon is covering only part of the Sun’s disk. Observers can use solar viewing glasses (often called “eclipse glasses”), handheld solar viewers, or other safe solar filters that block out most of the Sun’s light and prevent eye damage. Eclipse watchers can also use an indirect viewing method to enjoy the partial phases of the eclipse, such as making as a pinhole projector to cast images of the Sun.
A partial solar eclipse emerges from behind the United States Capitol on June 10, 2021, as seen from Arlington, Virginia.
NASA/Bill Ingalls
For eclipse watchers inside the Moon’s shadow but outside the path of totality, the Moon will never completely block the Sun and the eclipse will be partial only. During a partial solar eclipse, it is never safe to look directly at the Sun without proper eye protection.
The Aug. 12 partial solar eclipse will begin as the day begins in northern Russia. In Alaska and northern Canada, the eclipse will start and end in the morning, while Canada’s eastern provinces will experience the eclipse in the afternoon. In the northern contiguous U.S., the partial eclipse will begin around midday, lingering into the midafternoon for those farther east. The eclipse will reach the U.K., Ireland, mainland Europe, and Africa in the evening.
Those in the U.S. and southern Canada will see only a small “bite” taken out of the solar disk as the Moon appears to just clip the Sun. Those closer to the path of totality — across most of Europe and in northwestern Africa — will see most of the Sun get covered up.
When watching a partial solar eclipse directly with your eyes, always look through safe solar viewing glasses (“eclipse glasses”) or a safe handheld solar viewer. Eclipse glasses are NOT regular sunglasses; regular sunglasses, no matter how dark, are not safe for viewing the Sun. Safe solar viewers are thousands of times darker and ought to comply with the ISO 12312-2 international standard.
Do NOT look at the Sun through a camera lens, telescope, binoculars, or any other optical device while wearing eclipse glasses or using a handheld solar viewer — the concentrated solar rays will burn through the filter and cause serious eye injury. A special-purpose solar filter must be attached to the front of any telescope, binoculars, camera lens, or other optics to observe the Sun safely.
If you don’t have eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer, you can use an indirect viewing method, which does not involve looking directly at the Sun. One way is to use a pinhole projector, which has a small opening (for example, a hole punched in an index card) and projects an image of the Sun onto a nearby surface. With the Sun at your back, you can then safely view the projected image. Do NOT look at the Sun through the pinhole! Leaves on trees act as natural pinholes, projecting the shape of the eclipse onto the surface beneath them.
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