The Total Solar Eclipse of 12 August 2026.
The narrow blue region is the Path of Totality of the eclipse (also known as the Umbra).
The Moon's umbra (shadow) travels from West to East (top to bottom on the map).
At the point of Greatest Eclipse (red star in the centre of the path), Totality is at local midday. The duration of Totality at greatest eclipse is 2 minute 18 seconds. This occured close to Iceland. On either side of that point, the duration of Totality is less. To the West (above) of the point of greatest eclipse, the eclipse is total before local noon; East (below) of this point, Totality is seen after local noon. The umbra is generally widest around the time of greatest eclipse as the Earth is bulging out towards the Moon in that point. This brings the Earth's surface closer to the Moon.
The area on either side of the path of Totality (in pale blue) is called the Penumbra and provides a partial eclipse, the magnitude decreasing with distance from the path of Totality. Beyond the partial region no eclipse is visible.
The Sub-solar Point is the location where the Sun is overhead at the time of greatest eclipse; in August this point is North of the equator in Central America.
The parts in red at the ends of the umbra are the regions where the eclipse occurs during sunrise (upper) or sunset (lower). In these regions, parts of the eclipse will occur below the horizon.
The Path of Totality began on the Northern coast of Siberia moving Northwards and passing close to the North Pole. It passed Southwards along the Eastern coast of Greenland and brushed the Western coast of Iceland (including the capital, Reykjavík). The Path of Totality then turned South East across the Atlantic Ocean (to the West of the British Isles) before crossing over central Spain (including the Baleric Islands). The umbra left the Earth in the Mediterrenean Sea North of Algeria.
The umbra took 1 hour 32 minutes to traverse its entire path.
27% of all solar eclipses are total.
The Path of Totality (the Moon's Umbra) is the area between the blue lines passing over parts of Greenland, Iceland, and Spain.
The Moon's shadow (umbra) took just under 1 hour to move across the region shown in the map.
The cities of Coruna (on the Atlantic coast), Leon, Valladolid, Burgos, Bilbao, Zaragoza and Valencia are all within the Path of Totality.
Madrid and Barcelona are both outside the Path of Totality on the Southern and Northern edges of it, respectively.
The section of the Path of Totality to the East (right) of the purple line had sunset before the end of the Partial Eclipse after Totality. The further East the observer was located, the sun set sooner after Totality.
The Moon's shadow (the Umbra) took just under 4 minutes to move across mainland Spain.
The two outer blue lines are the Path of Totality and the middle red line is the Centre Line in the centre of Spain.
The Path Width was 296km in this region and the duration of Totality on the Centre Line North of the capital Madrid (close to the village of Lerma) was 1m 45s.
The city of Burgos was the closest city to the Centre Line of the eclipse North of Madrid. Many observers used the capital as a base and commuted towards the Centre Line or observed from nearby towns.
Although the Path Width was 296km, the actual shape of the Umbra (the Moon's shadow) over Spain was cigar shaped. This is because the region is very close to the area where the umbra leaves the Earth and the umbra gets stretched as the Earth curves away beneath it.
The Major Axis (the longest axis of the shadow) was 793km while the Minor Axis (the shortest axis) was 110km. This means that the umbra was seven times as long as wide.
The image above shows the position of the umbra at the time of mid eclipse in Burgos.
The problem with this eclipse was the low altitude of the Sun at Totality, about 8 degrees. This required an observation point away from buildings with a clear Western horizon.
The family who owned the field welcomed us and brought out an umbella to keep off the Sun and Champaigne to celebrate the start of the eclipse.
| Date | 12 August 2026 |
| Location | Field in La Nogaleja near Burgos |
| Latitude | 42° 20' 18" N |
| Longitude | 3° 44' 27" W |
| Altitude | 862 m |
| Distance from Centre Line | 26.4 km |
| 1st Contact (UT + 2) | 19:33 |
| 2nd Contact | 20:28:27 |
| 3rd Contact | 20:30:11 |
| Sunset | 21:21 |
| 4th Contact (below horizon) | 21:22 |
| Duration of Totality | 1m 44s |
| Path Width | 298 km |
| Major Axis | 793 km |
| Minor Axis | 110 km |
| Direction of Shadow Approach | ~ 0° |
| Umbral Velocity | 2.596 km/s |
| Solar Altitude | 8° |
| Solar Azimuth | 283° |
| Position Angle: 2nd Contact | 108° |
| Position Angle: 3rd Contact | 308° |
| Gamma | 0.8977 |
| Diameter Ratio | 1.033 |
| Saros Details | 126 (48 / 72) 1280 years |
The Location, Latitude, Longitude and Altitude (in metres) are for the observation site next to Gruas Antonio Bellver Mansion near Burgos.
The Distance from Centre Line was established from Google Interactive maps provided by Xavier Jubier.
First Contact is the beginning of the eclipse when the first "bite" appears on the Sun's disk; it is the beginning of the partial phase. Second Contact is the beginning of totality. Third Contact is the end of totality. Fourth Contact is the end of the partial eclipse. The times are in local time which, for this eclipse, is UT (GMT) + 2.
The Duration of the eclipse at the observation site was 1 minutes 44 seconds. This was 1s shorter than the duration at the centre line further South.
The Path Width is the width of the path of totality. The umbra itself was an elongated oval in shape. The Major Axis is the longest axis of the umbra; the Minor Axis is the shorter axis. The umbra at the observation site was 793 km long and 110 km wide and had a path width of 298 km.
The Direction of the Shadow indicates that the umbra approached the observation site from the North.
The Umbral Velocity is the speed of the Moon's shadow (2,582 metres per second) at the observation site. This, and the size and shape of the umbra, determines the duration of the total eclipse.
The Sun's Altitude is measured from the horizon; the Azimuth is the direction of the Sun measured clockwise from North. The figures are for mid-eclipse. The figures mean that the Sun was low and close to the horizon to the North of West.
The Position Angles indicate the exact position of the Sun's disk where the Moon covers and uncovers the Sun at the beginning and end of Totality. These figures determine the position of any diamond rings or Bailey's beads at the beginning and end of Totality.
Gamma determines how the Moon's shadow, if extended, would pass through the Earth.
A Gamma of zero implies that the shadow would pass through the exact centre of the Earth. A Gamma of greater than 1 misses the Earth and no total eclipse would occur. A positive Gamma passes North of the Earth's centre; a negative Gamma passes South of the Earth's centre. The value of Gamma for this eclipse is 0.8977. This means that the shadow passes close to the Northern regions of the Earth. This, combined with the fact that in August, the North Pole is tilted slightly towards the Sun, produces an eclipse in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly at high latitudes.
The Diameter Ratio determines how much bigger the Moon's apparent diameter is than the Sun's. In this case, the Moon's diameter is 1.033 that of the Sun's. A total eclipse can only occur if this figure is greater than 1. The Moon would then appear larger than the Sun and could cover it completely. If this figure was less than one, a total eclipse could not occur because the Moon would appear smaller than the Sun.
For this eclipse the value of the Diameter Ratio means that the Moon appears nearly 3.3% larger than the Sun. This figure gives us a Totality that is not too long.
The Saros is a collection of eclipses belonging to a series. Each member of the series is followed by a similar eclipse approximately 18 years, 10 / 11 days and 8 hours later.
The eight hours has an interesting effect. Each eclipse is about 120 degrees West of its predecessor because 8 hours is a third of 24 hours.
This eclipse is a member of Saros number 126. It is the 48th eclipse out of a total of 72 in the series.
The series began on 10 March 1179 with a small Partial eclipse (5.4%) in the Southern polar regions. This was followed by 7 more partial eclipses each of increasing magnitude as the Moon's shadow moved closer to the Earth.
On 4 June 1323 the series produced the first of 28 Annular (ring shaped) eclipses. This is because the Moon was not close enought to the Earth to cover the Moon completely and a ring of sunlight was left at maximum. This eclipse had a annular duration of 5m 59s. The eclipse was in the Southern Hemisphere. Each subsequent eclipse in the series moved Northward and lengthened as the Moon moved further away. The third annular in the series (26 June 1359) had the longest annular duration (6m 30s) with the Moon at its furthest for an eclipse in the series. The remaining annular eclipses continued moving Northwards and getting shorter as the Moon was now moving closer to the Earth.
The annular eclipse of 1 March 1756 was 2m 24s long and was the first eclipse in the series to take place in the Northern Hemisphere.
The eclipse of 14 April 1828 was the first of three Hybrid eclipses. In a hybrid eclipse, the Moon is only just close enough to the Earth to cover the Sun in those parts of the Earth bulging up towards the Sun. At the edges of the eclipse, the Earth curves away and the Moon is too far to cover the Sun completely giving a ring shaped (annular) eclipse. Totality in a hybrid eclipse is always relatively short. The first hybrid eclipse of the series had a maximum duration of 18 seconds; the final one was 1m 25s on 6 May 1864.
On 17 May 1882 saros 126 produced its first completely Total eclipse. This had a maximum duration of 1m 50s. This was the first of 10 total eclipses in the series. All were in the Northern Hemisphere and each successive eclipse is further North than the previous one. Each eclipse got longer as the Moon continmued moving closer to the Earth on the eclipse date.
Eclipse number 45 of saros 126 was the longest totality (2m 36s on 10 July 1972). Kryss saw this eclipse as a sunset partial in London.
The remaining total eclipses of the series decrese in length as the Moon was now moving away from the Earth at eclipse time.
Kryss and Talaat saw the eclipse of 1 August 2008 (Number 47 in this Saros series) in Siberia. The next eclipse in this series (23 August 2044) will be the final total in the series and will be visible in Alaska.
The series will end with 23 partial eclipses in the Northern polar regions, each successive eclipse of smaller magnitude. The final eclipse will be a 2.1% partial on 3 May 2459.
Saros 126 will produce 72 eclipses consisting of 31 partials, 28 annulars, 3 hybrids and 10 totals. The series lasts for 1280 years.
At any one time dozens of Saros series are in progress. Other eclipses will belong to different series.
