#the sun

There will be a partial solar eclipse in 2 days on Wednesday 12th of August. The first for 27 years in the UK!

It will begin around 18.17 BST peaking between 19.02 and 19.16 BST with over 90% coverage.

It will end around 20.06 BST which means we'll have about 2 hours to enjoy the celestial fun.

It will also be viewable across Europe and some will be lucky enough to see a total eclipse across the North of Spain.

The total eclipse will occur between 20.26 and 20.33 local time.

If you're in the area, don't look directly at it! It's only safe to do so during totality and that won't happen at all in the UK.

Get some eclipse glasses, if you can find any. Make sure they're ISO 12312-2 and CE certified and take breaks from looking at the sun even then.

Or make a pinhole projector. There are loads of tutorials on how to make one. I've linked an example but using a pin is probably better than a spaghetti noodle! Best to watch a few different ones.

(Video is old so ignore the old event dates in it)

But you could even view it through a colander.

It's going to be low in the sky so if you can, go to a good sunset watching spot.

The following link has more info on how best to view it and the specific timings for a bunch of different cities around the UK.

Let's hope for clear skies!

Image by Blake Estes, Total Solar Eclipse, Wyoming, 2017

2026 August 9

Contemplating the Sun

A light disk is visible on the lower left but the rest of the disk is eclipsed by a darker disk of the same apparent size. At the bottom of the image are the silhouettes of several people.

Image Credit & Copyright: Steven Gilbert

Explanation: Have you contemplated your home star recently? Featured here, a Sun partially eclipsed on the top left by the Moon is also seen eclipsed by earthlings contemplating the eclipse below. This spectacular menagerie of silhouettes was taken in 2012 from the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area near Page, Arizona, USA, where park rangers and astronomers expounded on the unusual event to interested gatherers. Also, faintly visible on the Sun's disk, just to the lower right of the dark Moon's disk, is a group of sunspots. A new solar eclipse will occur this week and give many people in northern North America, Europe, and northwestern Africa a new chance to contemplate a partially eclipsed Sun. A thin swath of Earth through Greenland and Spain will further experience a total solar eclipse. An open question is whether any meteors from the peaking Perseids will be visible during totality.

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)

NASA Official: Amber Straughn

A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,

NASA Science Activation

8/5/26