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A total solar eclipse, the first that mainland Europe has seen in nearly 30 years, is happening on Wednesday. The moon will swallow the sun whole, casting a shadow hundreds of thousands of miles long onto Earth and plunging part of our world into ephemeral darkness.<\/p>\n
The main event will begin at about 12:08 p.m. Eastern time in the northernmost part of Russia, and then loop around to pass over Greenland, Iceland and the Atlantic Ocean. It will cut across northern Spain and a tiny corner of Portugal before ending in the Mediterranean Sea. Elsewhere in Europe, northwestern Africa and parts of North America, the moon will obscure only a portion of the sun.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The most important thing to remember during a solar eclipse is that it\u2019s unsafe to stare directly at the sun until the moon has completely covered its surface, a phase known as totality. At all other times, you should watch the event using protective eye gear.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Here\u2019s what to know about Wednesday\u2019s total solar eclipse.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
A total solar eclipse arises when the moon slips between Earth and the sun, temporarily shielding the solar surface from our view. This leaves behind a black disk in the sky, surrounded by a wispy halo of the sun\u2019s outer atmosphere called the corona.<\/p>\n
Total solar eclipses are a cosmic coincidence. The moon is about 400 times smaller than the sun, but it is also about 400 times closer to Earth, which makes the two appear to be the same size in the sky.<\/p>\n
For a total solar eclipse to occur, the sun, the moon and Earth have to align perfectly in space. The lunar shadow caused by this alignment has an inner part called the umbra. People beneath the umbra, which traces out a relatively narrow path on Earth, experience totality. Those under the penumbra, or the outer part of the lunar shadow, will instead see a partial solar eclipse, during which the moon obscures only a portion of the sun\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n
Along the path of totality, the event will begin with a partial solar eclipse. The moon will take a bite out of the edge of the sun and slowly consume more of its surface. This phase will last about an hour.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Next comes the most dramatic part of the eclipse: totality, which lasts only a few moments. During totality, the sun\u2019s corona is visible and safe to look at with the naked eye.<\/p>\n
Then the sun will creep out from behind the moon, creating another partial eclipse that recedes as the moon slowly slips away from the sun until the world is back to its normal brightness.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The duration of an eclipse depends on the location it is viewed from. Altogether, the phases of this eclipse will last about two hours.<\/p>\n
As the eclipse approaches its maximum phase along the path of totality, the air on Earth will cool. The light will also dim, as if someone turned down the brightness at the wrong part of day. Shadows will sharpen, and images of crescents \u2014 tiny projections of the growing eclipse \u2014 will appear within them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
During totality, the sky darkens to a deep twilight and temperatures drop significantly. A 360-degree sunset appears on the horizon. Animals will also react: Researchers have documented that bees stop buzzing, birds stop singing and crickets begin chirping. Pets may express confusion, too. In addition to the sun\u2019s corona, bright stars and planets will become visible.<\/p>\n
Totality for this eclipse is short. According to NASA, most places will experience the effect for less than two minutes. The exact duration depends on location along the path of totality and how close you are to the path\u2019s centerline.<\/p>\n
The eclipse begins in the sparsely populated tundra of northern Russia, where the moon will start to conceal the sun around 12:08 p.m. on Wednesday. (Times listed in this section are Eastern.) Viewers in that region will be the first to see totality as early as 12:58 p.m.<\/p>\n
The moon\u2019s shadow will swoop over the Arctic Ocean, narrowly missing the North Pole. It reaches land at 1:13 p.m., cutting across a swath of northeastern Greenland and, around 1:43 p.m., arriving at the shore of western Iceland.<\/p>\n
Then the eclipse will journey across the Atlantic Ocean toward the Spanish coast. As early as 2:26 p.m., totality will be visible in Spain. The moon\u2019s shadow will sweep over the Balearic Islands \u2014 Majorca, Minorca and Ibiza \u2014 and the last people on land will experience totality around 2:33 p.m. People toward the end of the eclipse path will get the chance to see a partially obscured sun dip below the horizon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
In general, the best place to watch a total solar eclipse is along the path of totality. Overall, the path of totality for this eclipse is less than 200 miles wide, though the exact width varies by location.<\/p>\n
Many places along the path are remote and difficult to travel to. In Greenland, most of totality will occur over a region with no permanent residents or infrastructure, and many people are opting to catch the event by sea. One popular site on land is Reykjavik, Iceland, which is near the edge of the eclipse path\u2019s centerline. Totality in Reykjavik will occur at 5:48 p.m. local time and last for only one minute.<\/p>\n
But skywatchers in Reykjavik and elsewhere in Iceland may have to contend with cloud cover that can block views of the eclipse. Several places in Spain are promising the possibility of clearer skies and warmer temperatures, including Valencia and Ibiza, for which totality occurs at 8:32 p.m. local time and also lasts about a minute. Quieter parts of the Spanish countryside, like Le\u00f3n and Burgos, are also expecting an influx of tourists for the event.<\/p>\n
Totality will not be visible from the United States. You can use a map like this one to explore what the eclipse will look like in different locations along and outside the path of totality.<\/p>\n
Viewers who are not along the path of totality but still fall under the outer part of the moon\u2019s shadow will get the chance to see a partial solar eclipse. But how perceptible it is depends on how far you are from path\u2019s centerline. The closer you are, the more dramatic it will be.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
In the United States, a partial eclipse will be most visible in Alaska and in the Northeast. Portions of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic also fall under the moon\u2019s shadow, but the eclipse in these parts will cover less than 10 percent of the sun\u2019s surface. The partial eclipse in Canada ranges from less than 5 percent to more than 90 percent coverage of the sun, increasing the farther north you go.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Nearly 79 percent of the sun will be obscured in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. Cities in mainland Europe where more than 90 percent of the sun will be covered include Lisbon, Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, Milan, London and Dublin. Along the coastline in northwest Africa, Algiers and Casablanca will also experience a deeply eclipsed sun.<\/p>\n
If you want to see the eclipse in full but are unable to make it to the path of totality, NASA and other organizations are providing live video streams. The New York Times will have journalists providing live coverage from Iceland, Spain, Britain and New York City.<\/p>\n
In general, you should not stare directly at the sun without special equipment to protect your eyes. Looking at the sun with the unaided eye, even for a few seconds, can cause permanent damage, including blurry vision or blind spots.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The only time it is safe to watch a solar eclipse without protective gear is during totality. Once the moon begins to recede from the surface of the sun, you should don your eye gear again to avoid injury.<\/p>\n
Inexpensive options for watching the eclipse include paper glasses or solar viewers. If you are using equipment purchased from a past solar eclipse, make sure to inspect it. Toss anything that has scratches or other signs of damage. According to NASA, it is not safe to look at the sun through optical devices such as binoculars, cameras or telescopes while using paper glasses or a viewer. To watch the eclipse this way, buy a special solar filter for your device.<\/p>\n
If it\u2019s too late to find protective eye gear, you can watch the eclipse indirectly with a homemade pinhole camera, which projects an image of the eclipse onto the ground or another solid surface that is safe to look at. Pinhole cameras can be made using cardstock, a cardboard box, a kitchen strainer or even your fingers.<\/p>\n
Totality is not a feature of all solar eclipses. When the sun, moon and Earth align imperfectly, only a partial solar eclipse occurs. Sometimes these three bodies align perfectly, but the moon is too far from us and appears too small to completely obscure the sun. This creates an annular solar eclipse, so-called because the outer part of the sun\u2019s disk remains visible. These are also known as \u201cring of fire\u201d eclipses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Earth can also cut between the moon and the sun to create a lunar eclipse, which can be either partial or total. Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are visible everywhere on the night side of Earth as long as the skies are clear. During a total lunar eclipse, the moon turns blood red.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The next two years are good ones for solar eclipses. Totality will descend upon North Africa, including parts of Morocco and Egypt, on Aug. 2, 2027. Another total solar eclipse will cut across Australia in mid-2028. Eclipse enthusiasts who travel the world chasing totality have already started planning for both.<\/p>\n
There are also two upcoming ring of fire eclipses: in February 2027 and January 2028. Both will pass over parts of South America and have long periods of annularity \u2014 the analog of totality for annular eclipses. Some regions along the eclipse\u2019s path in January 2028 will experience annularity for more than 10 minutes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n