The longest total eclipse of the century

A partial eclipse, even one covering 99% of the Sun's disk, is still daytime: the sliver of Sun left is still thousands of times brighter than the full Moon, so certified eclipse glasses (ISO 12312-2) have to stay on the whole time, no exceptions. Totality is different: for a few minutes the Moon covers the entire solar disk, and only then is it safe to look at the Sun with the naked eye.

Just before and after those minutes come the diamond ring and Baily's beads: the last rays of photosphere squeezing through valleys on the Moon's edge. Between the two you can see the solar corona — the silvery-white halo the Sun's glare normally hides — sometimes the pinkish chromosphere, and with luck bright planets and stars in broad daylight. The sky darkens, the temperature drops suddenly, and the horizon turns sunset colors in every direction.

The safety rule doesn't change by location or by year: the solar filter only comes off between the entry and exit diamond rings. Before and after that, even a step away from totality, it's still required.

During the 2026 eclipse the Sun was very low — between 1.7° and 12° above the horizon during totality — so a nearby hill, building or tree could block the event even where the geometric calculation said it was visible: of the 166 Spanish cities inside the path, only 149 ended up seeing it in full above the real horizon. In 2027 the problem is the opposite.

On August 2, 2027 the Sun will be between 37° and 41° above the horizon during totality in the Spanish cities within the path — well above any real terrain profile in the region — so terrain stops being the deciding factor. All 38 Spanish cities inside the path of totality see it in full above the real horizon: none is blocked by a mountain or a building.

What does decide it is being INSIDE the path. It's about 258 km wide — the NASA canon for this eclipse — and the edge is hard: a kilometer outside it and the eclipse is no longer total. It goes back to being a very deep partial, filter on the whole time, with none of what's described above: no corona, no diamond ring, no darkness.

Another 522 Spanish localities see a partial eclipse without reaching totality. And within the path, not every spot is equal: cities like Benalmádena sit near the top score (100 out of 100), while Roquetas de Mar, Adra, Torre del Mar and El Ejido range between 92 and 97 — full path, high Sun, and good historical August weather.

Our goal is to offer the most precise calculation you can find of whether an exact spot — yours — falls inside the path of totality, by how much margin, and for how long. A country-scale map of the path isn't enough: the edge is measured in hundreds of meters, not kilometers, and that difference is what separates totality from a very deep partial.

For every location we calculate the real horizon from terrain elevation models — not just the Sun's geometric position —, historical August cloud cover, and cloud cover along the exact line of sight to where the Sun will be, not just the cloud directly overhead. All of it rolls up into a score from 0 to 100.

You can save your location as a plan, with the exact timeline of contacts (C1 through C4) for that spot, and get an alert if the forecast changes as the day gets closer.

The total eclipse of August 12, 2026 has already happened. It was this eclipse's geometric opposite: a very low Sun, a wider path, and the terrain horizon deciding who saw it in full and who lost the last stretch to the skyline.

The next one, on January 26, 2028, is annular — not total. The Moon will be a bit farther from Earth and won't quite cover the Sun's disk: a ring of light stays visible the whole time, not a diamond ring followed by darkness. During an annular eclipse the solar filter is NEVER removed, at any point: some photosphere always remains visible, however thin the ring gets.

The point of maximum duration for the entire 2027 eclipse falls in Egypt (25.50°N, 33.17°E), at 10:06:40 UTC, with over six minutes of totality — the longest of the century. That figure is real, but it isn't Spain's: here totality lasts considerably less. The path is born in the Atlantic, crosses southern Spain, continues through North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, and ends in the Indian Ocean.