One to remember

The Sun Went Dark Over Europe — And the Next Great Eclipse Is Already Coming

The August 12 total solar eclipse delivered a spectacular sunset show across Greenland, Iceland and Spain. But eclipse watchers won't have to wait long for the next one — and an even bigger event is coming in 2027.

For a few remarkable minutes on August 12, daylight disappeared along a narrow path stretching from the Arctic to the Mediterranean.

The total solar eclipse of August 12, 2026 swept across northern Russia, Greenland and Iceland before crossing the North Atlantic and reaching Spain and a small corner of Portugal. Elsewhere, much of Europe, Canada and portions of the north-eastern United States experienced at least a partial eclipse.

It was an especially dramatic event in Spain, where the eclipse arrived late in the day with the Sun already approaching the western horizon.

In the area around León in northwestern Spain, the partial eclipse began at approximately 7:32 p.m. local time. Totality arrived around 8:28 p.m. and lasted roughly two minutes before sunlight returned. The partial eclipse continued until around 9:22 p.m., just minutes before sunset.

That timing produced some spectacular scenes.

Our very own photographer Chris Leymarie captured the progression of the eclipse over a Castillo de la Raya in Spain. During totality, the normally invisible outer atmosphere of the Sun, the corona, became visible around the black silhouette of the Moon, along with a bright solar prominence extending beyond the lunar disk.

At the point of greatest duration along the eclipse path, totality lasted 2 minutes, 18.2 seconds. For most people inside the path, however, the fully eclipsed Sun remained dark for less than two minutes.

It was brief.

But the next one will be anything but.

An Even Bigger Total Solar Eclipse Arrives Next Year

The next total solar eclipse will occur on August 2, 2027, and for eclipse chasers, this is going to be a big one.

The path of totality will begin across southern Spain before crossing North Africa through portions of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. The shadow will then continue across the Red Sea into Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Much larger portions of Europe, Africa and the Middle East will see a partial eclipse.

What makes the 2027 eclipse particularly notable is its duration.

Near the point of greatest duration, the Sun will remain completely hidden for an incredible 6 minutes, 23.2 seconds.

For comparison, the longest possible total solar eclipses on Earth approach roughly seven and a half minutes. That means the 2027 eclipse will offer an unusually long period of totality — nearly three times longer than the maximum experienced during this year's eclipse.

For observers inside the path, that's more than six minutes of darkness in the middle of the day, with the solar corona visible overhead and the surrounding landscape temporarily taking on the appearance of twilight.

And there is an interesting connection between the 2027 eclipse and another major eclipse coming later this century.

When Does Totality Return to the United States?

Americans who remember the Great American Eclipse of April 8, 2024 are in for a considerably longer wait.

Technically, the next total solar eclipse visible from the contiguous United States occurs on August 23, 2044.

However, the path barely clips the country.

Totality will primarily be visible from Montana and North Dakota, with the eclipse continuing through northern Canada and Greenland. At greatest eclipse, totality will last approximately 2 minutes, 4 seconds.

Then comes the big one.

On August 12, 2045, a total solar eclipse will once again travel coast-to-coast across the lower 48 states. NASA's eclipse calculations show a maximum duration of approximately 6 minutes, 6 seconds, making it another exceptionally long total eclipse.

So if you're thinking of the next true successor to the massive nationwide eclipse events of 2017 and 2024, 2045 is the year to remember.

There's also a fascinating orbital connection: the 2027 and 2045 eclipses belong to the same Saros series — Saros 136. Solar eclipses in the same Saros repeat with similar geometry roughly every 18 years and 11 days as the Sun, Earth and Moon return to nearly the same relative alignment.

In other words, the enormous 2027 eclipse has a distant relative waiting for the United States in 2045.

Eclipse Season Isn't Over Yet

Fortunately, skywatchers don't need to wait until 2027 for the next eclipse.

On the night of August 27 into August 28, the Moon will pass through Earth's shadow during a deep partial lunar eclipse visible across much of North and South America as well as portions of Europe and Africa.

At maximum eclipse, approximately 93% of the Moon's diameter will be inside Earth's dark central shadow, known as the umbra. While the Moon will never become completely eclipsed, most of the lunar disk will dramatically darken and portions may take on the familiar rusty red or copper appearance associated with lunar eclipses.

And unlike a solar eclipse, no special eye protection is required to watch a lunar eclipse. The event is completely safe to view with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope.

So while the Moon's shadow has finished racing across Greenland, Iceland and Spain, the current stretch of eclipse activity isn't quite finished.

The Moon gets one more show before August is over.

Then the countdown begins to August 2, 2027 — when daylight disappears again, this time for more than six extraordinary minutes.