Total solar eclipse dazzles observers on August 12, 2026

August 12, 2026, total solar eclipse

The second solar eclipse of 2026 will be a total solar eclipse on Wednesday, August 12, 2026. The total solar eclipse will sweep across the Arctic, Greenland, Iceland, and Spain. And it’ll be visible as a partial eclipse from much of western Europe and North America.

Below are the times of the total solar eclipse phases on August 12, 2026:

Partial eclipse begins: at 15:34:11 UTC on August 12.
Total eclipse begins: at 17:02:06 UTC on August 12.
Greatest eclipse: at 17:45:53 UTC on August 12.
Total eclipse ends: at 18:30:09 UTC on August 12.
Partial eclipse ends: at 19:57:56 UTC on August 12.
Note: The instant of greatest eclipse – when the axis of the moon’s shadow cone passes closest to Earth’s center – takes place at 17:45:53 UTC. It’s a relatively shirt total eclipse with a maximum duration of totality lasting over two minutes (depending on your location).

Animations and seeing the eclipse from your location

Watch an animation of the path of the annular solar eclipse at timeanddate.com

Watch an animation of the path of the annular eclipse at in-the-sky.org

Another animation of the eclipse at eclipsewise.com

Information for your location timeanddate.com

Path of totality

The path of totality begins at 17:00 UTC along the Arctic coastline. It races north and passes near the North Pole at 17:06 UTC where it has 1 minute and 54 seconds of totality.

Next it races to Greenland hitting the coastline at 17:15 UTC with 2 minutes 6 seconds of totality. Greatest eclipse – 2 minutes 18 seconds – occurs at 17:45:57 UTC near the Denmark Strait. It continues on to Ireland, Portugal and Spain. Areas in northern Spain are just inside the path of totality and will see 20 seconds of totality. It continues on over Spain to the Mediterranean coast where it finally reaches its last landfall the Balearic Islands and the eclipse ends at 18:34:05 UTC.

The eclipse path lasted over 92 minutes and covered 5,157 miles (8,300 kilometers) – or just 0.47% – of the Earth.

Remember to convert UTC to your time. Note the different between UTC and UT1. You can visit timeanddate.com to get an exact timing of the eclipse from your location. The number one rule for solar eclipse observing is to make sure you protect your eyes by using an appropriate filter.

And maybe you’ll spot a Perseid meteor!

If you are in the path of totality, there’s a chance you will get to see a Perseid meteor shooting across the sky! That’s because the Perseid meteor shower peaks on the day after the total solar eclipse. But even if you’re not in the path of totality, it’s a great year to watch the Perseid meteor shower in a dark sky, because the night will be moonless, coinciding with the new moon phase.

Moon, constellation, Saros

Greatest eclipse takes place a little over one day after the moon reaches perigee, its closest point to Earth for the month. During the August 12, 2026, eclipse, the sun is located in the direction of the constellation Leo.

This eclipse has a magnitude of 1.0386.

The Saros catalog describes the periodicity of eclipses. The eclipse belongs to Saros 126. It is number 48 of 72 eclipses in the series. All eclipses in this series occur at the moon’s descending node. The moon moves northward with respect to the node with each succeeding eclipse in the series.

Next eclipse and eclipse seasons

This total solar eclipse is followed in two weeks by a partial lunar eclipse on August 27-28.

These eclipses all take place during a single eclipse season.

An eclipse season is an approximate 35-day period during which it’s inevitable for at least two (and possibly three) eclipses to take place. The first eclipse season of 2026 had two eclipses: An annular solar eclipse on February 17 and a total lunar eclipse on March 2-3.

Bottom line: On August 12, 2026, a total solar eclipse will be visible parts of Arctic, Greenland, Iceland, and Spain. And it’ll be visible as a partial eclipse from much of western Europe and North America.