A total solar eclipse, the likes of which will never be seen again this century, is coming to the skies on August 2, 2027. This eclipse will be longer than any other in the past three decades. While it won’t be visible in North America, it may be the right time to plan a trip in hopes of witnessing the natural phenomenon.
Total darkness
The upcoming astronomical spectacle has been deemed the “eclipse of the century” because it is supposed to be the longest total solar eclipse until after 2100. At its peak, its totality will “last 6 minutes and 23 seconds, close to the maximum possible on Earth,” said Forbes. This is “long enough to see the sun’s corona,” which is “visible to the naked eye only during totality in exquisite detail.” Comparatively, the total solar eclipse in April 2024 lasted 4 minutes and 28 seconds at its peak.
During a total solar eclipse, the moon completely covers the sun, plunging the world into brief darkness. This happens because the sun is “about 400 times as big as the moon, but it’s also about 400 times farther away from Earth,” said the BBC. That makes them appear to be the same size in the sky. The long length of the 2027 eclipse is “due to a perfect cosmic alignment,” said Forbes. This means the moon will be “near its closest point to Earth (perigee) and the sun near its farthest (aphelion), making the moon appear large enough to block the entire disk of the sun for a longer-than-usual time.”
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The total solar eclipse is slated to begin in Morocco and southern Spain and “advance through Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, culminating in Yemen and the coast of Somalia,” said Wired. It will persist the longest in Egypt, specifically in Luxor and Aswan. Other parts of Europe, Asia and Africa will see a partial solar eclipse. Unfortunately, North America will largely not be able to see the eclipse, but a partial one may be visible from the northernmost parts.
Eyes on the skies
While 2027’s eclipse is prompting excitement, it is not the only upcoming eclipse of interest. An annular solar eclipse, which happens when the “moon can’t completely block the sun as it does during a total solar eclipse, and instead the sun’s fiery light surrounds the moon’s shadow, creating a ring of fire effect,” will occur over Antarctica on Feb. 17, 2026, said CNN. A “crescent-shaped partial solar eclipse will be visible in Antarctica, Africa and South America.”
Two lunar eclipses are also expected in 2026. A total lunar eclipse, which is when the moon passes through Earth’s shadow and makes it appear red, will “appear in the night sky for those in Asia, Australia, the Pacific Islands and the Americas on March 3,” while a “partial lunar eclipse will be visible for those in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Western Asia between August 27 to 28,” said CNN.
However, the next total solar eclipse is on Aug. 12, 2026, when a “path of totality will sweep across eastern Greenland, western Iceland and northern Spain, with 1-2 minutes of totality occurring late in the day,” said Forbes. For Spain, this “will be the first of two total solar eclipses in under a year.” Solar eclipses should not be viewed with the naked eye; they should be viewed either indirectly or with protective glasses.
