Illustrated with AI-generated imagery and narration — the real thing arrives August 12. Sound on.
Total Solar Eclipse
For up to 2 minutes and 18 seconds, day becomes night along a path from the Arctic across Greenland and Iceland to northern Spain. Iceland's first totality since 1954. Mainland Spain's first since 1905.
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Greatest eclipse 17:47:06 UTC · 40 mi (65 km) west of Iceland · magnitude 1.039 ·
Day Becomes Night
Fifty-two seconds on what happens when the moon's shadow crosses the Atlantic — and what it looks like from orbit, from Greenland's ice, from a Spanish plaza, and from inside the dark.
The Path
The shadow runs east to west — unusual for an eclipse — beginning at sunrise over northern Siberia, skimming past the North Pole, crossing Greenland and Iceland, then sweeping down the Atlantic to make landfall in northern Spain about an hour before local sunset. Everyone inside the dark band gets totality; the rings around it show how deep a partial bite the rest of Europe, West Africa, and northeastern North America will see.
The official map, built from lunar terrain data — the path's edges wobble with the moon's real mountains and valleys. Map: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio (Ernie Wright, USRA).
From Where You Stand
Eclipses are local events. The same moment is a black sun over Reykjavík, a deep bite out of the evening sun in Paris, and an ordinary Wednesday in California. This is what August 12 looks like from your spot — computed in your browser, nothing sent anywhere.
Your location
computing…Reading the geometry…
City times are UTC; your card above uses your device's clock. Every number on this page is computed live by Astronomy Engine — nothing is hand-entered.
The Day, As It Happens
Afternoon UTC
First contact over the Arctic — the moon takes its first bite out of the sun at local sunrise in northern Siberia, and the partial eclipse begins spreading across the top of the world.
~17:15 UTC
The full shadow touches down and begins its run: over the pole's shoulder, then down across Greenland's ice sheet.
~17:48 UTC
Iceland goes dark. Reykjavík sits inside the band for about a minute of totality; the shadow's center passes just offshore, where darkness lasts the full 2m 18s.
17:47:06 UTC
Greatest eclipse — magnitude 1.039, 40 mi (65 km) west of Iceland's coast. Up to 2m 18s of totality.
~18:27 UTC
Landfall in Spain. The shadow crosses the north coast with the sun hanging low in the west, sweeps southeast, and exits past the Balearic Islands at dusk.
Two weeks later
On the night of August 27–28 the full moon slides through Earth's shadow — a partial lunar eclipse for the Americas, Europe, and Africa. The Moon room computes your local circumstances for that one too.
The Cloud Question
Decades of August satellite records say the smart money is on Spain's Ebro Valley; Iceland is a coin flip with a spectacular upside. The history sets the odds, and now the model runs get a vote too: below the climatology sits the live forecast for eclipse hour, refreshed every time you load this page.
The August odds — decades of satellite history
~75%
Ebro Valley, Spain
~65%
Spanish Meseta
~35%
Reykjavík area
~25%
East Greenland coast
Climatology: Jay Anderson, eclipsophile.com — the standard reference for eclipse weather. Percentages are approximate August means.
The forecast — cloud cover at maximum eclipse
Model forecast from Open-Meteo, fetched just now for each city's moment of maximum eclipse on August 12. Lower is better — and forecasts this far out are sketches, not promises. Check back; the picture sharpens daily.
Eclipse Day: This Page Goes Live
On August 12 this page stops counting down and starts showing — the sun as SDO sees it, live webcasts from inside the path, and the observatory's signature view: the moon's shadow itself, photographed from orbit as it crosses the Atlantic.
Where to watch
links verified August 4- timeanddate from near León, Spain · 17:30 UTC
- ESA Web TV Javalambre observatory, Teruel
- Exploratorium telescope view from Villalibado, Spain · 17:30 UTC
- NASASpaceflight YouTube coverage · 17:00 UTC
Totality runs roughly 17:45–18:35 UTC along the path — Iceland first, Spain about forty minutes later. Streams open an hour or so early for the partial phases.
The sun right now. SDO's 171 Å view, refreshed through the eclipse.
The shadow from space. GOES-East full disk — watch for the dark
smudge sliding across the North Atlantic. That's the umbra.
Live from the path
The four verified streams are listed above — pick one (or four). timeanddate's broadcast is the anchor coverage.
Webcasts. For everyone outside the path — which is most of us.
The live panels wake up on eclipse day. Afterward, this page becomes the permanent record — the shadow crossing as a replay, and the local-circumstances tool stays live for August 2, 2027, when the moon's shadow returns to cross Egypt.
Why This One Matters
Totality is the only time human eyes can see the corona — the sun's outer atmosphere, a million-degree halo shaped by the same magnetic field lines the Space Weather room tracks every day. This eclipse arrives near solar maximum, so expect a full, spiky crown rather than the trim streamers of a quiet sun. And it's a rare visit: the moon's shadow hasn't touched Iceland in 72 years, and mainland Spain has waited 121. If you're anywhere near the path on August 12 — go. Cloud odds and all, nothing on this site compares to standing inside the shadow.