Blog · 2 August 2027
Eclipse blog
Answers to the questions people ask about the total solar eclipse of 2 August 2027: safety, photography, the shadow, the weather, travelling to the path of totality. With our own calculations and sources.
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Binoculars and telescopes at the eclipse: filter on the front, never on the eyepiece
With binoculars or a telescope, the solar filter goes over the front lens (and on the finder), never on the eyepiece, and never eclipse glasses behind it. Off only in totality: in Tarifa, from 10:45:11 and back on before 10:49:38.
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Can you drive during the eclipse? Yes, without looking at it or stopping on the hard shoulder
Yes, but without looking at it: no eclipse glasses at the wheel and no stopping on the hard shoulder, a serious offence with a €200 fine. In the path the light drops around 10:46-10:51; the DGT asks for dipped headlights and a staggered return.
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Can you fly a drone in the eclipse? What AESA asks of drones, light aircraft and paragliders
Drones: never over crowds, in the open category or in standard scenarios; flying during the eclipse is not night flying; and no eclipse glasses at the controls. In the path the light drops suddenly around 10:46-10:51.
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Can you watch the eclipse from a boat? Yes, and out in the Alboran Sea it lasts 4 min 54 s
In the Alboran Sea totality reaches 4 min 54 s, longer than in any Spanish municipality, and in the Strait of Gibraltar 4 min 47 s. Which ferry routes cross the path, why the ferry's speed changes nothing and what happens to your tripod.
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Can you watch the eclipse from home, through a window or from the car? Yes, with conditions
From home, yes, if you can see the Sun: in Madrid, at 10:51, it will be 39.8° up towards the east. Window glass and windscreens are not filters, so you need EN ISO 12312-2 glasses just as outdoors. And never while driving.
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Do you need eclipse glasses if it is cloudy? Yes: a cloud is not a filter
Yes. If you can see the Sun's disc through the clouds, you are looking at it, and the safety rules make no exception for clouds: EN ISO 12312-2 filter except in totality. Under cloud, totality still shows: it gets dark suddenly around 10:46-10:51.
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Does it get dark during the eclipse? Only in the path, for up to 4 min 48 s, and never completely
In the 105 southern Spanish towns with totality the sky darkens like twilight, between 10:45 and 10:52, for 10 s to 4 min 48 s depending on the place. Elsewhere, even at 99.9% as in Almería, the light stays like that of a cloudy day.
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Eclipse and power cuts: what a solar panel loses, and what Red Eléctrica and ENTSO-E said
In Madrid the eclipse will last 137 minutes and cover 41.7% of the solar disc on average, peaking at 86.1%. What Spain's Red Eléctrica and Europe's ENTSO-E said about earlier eclipses, and why the mid-morning eclipse of 2027 is different.
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Eclipse magnitude and obscuration: why the IGN gives Ceuta 1.07 and we give 1.03
Magnitude tells you how much of the Sun's diameter the Moon covers, and obscuration how much of its surface: in Madrid, 0.88 and 86.1%. Why Spain's IGN gives 1.07 to every town with totality, and why its times run a few seconds early.
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Film the eclipse with your phone: video, timelapse and a filter that comes off only in totality
Yes, you can film it: with a filter over the camera while the Sun is in the frame during the partial phases, and without it only in totality. The atmosphere beats a zoomed-in Sun. Plus how many photos a two hour twenty minute timelapse gives.
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How fast does the eclipse shadow travel? About 4,500 km/h over the Strait and 2,400 in Egypt
The Moon's shadow covers about 13,900 km in 3 h 22 min. Over the Strait of Gibraltar it moves at 4,400-4,600 km/h, near Luxor it slows to about 2,400 km/h, and where it meets and leaves the Earth it tops 18,000. Why, stretch by stretch.
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How much does the temperature drop in an eclipse? 2.8 °C on average and up to 6.8 °C in 2024
AEMET, Spain's weather agency, notes that drops of 2 to 5 °C have been documented in other total eclipses, but last summer it saw no clear drops at its stations. What was measured in the US, and why the mid-morning eclipse of 2027 is different.
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Is it the same as last summer's eclipse? No: mid-morning, in the south and up to 288 s
A year ago totality crossed the north with the Sun at 1.4-12.4° and lasted 110 s at most. On 2 August 2027 the path crosses the south, mid-morning, with the Sun at 24-48° and up to 4 min 48 s in Ceuta. What changes, city by city.
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Prescription glasses, contact lenses or cataract surgery? The eclipse rules are the same
Eclipse glasses go over your prescription glasses, contact lenses change nothing and a lens implant does not filter the Sun. In Tarifa, filter off only from 10:45:11 to 10:49:38; the rest of the eclipse, always EN ISO 12312-2 glasses.
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School project on the 2 August 2027 eclipse: the facts, each with its source
A fact sheet for a school project, with the source of each fact: Monday 2 August 2027, total solar eclipse, 6 min 23 s at most, 105 municipalities with totality in Spain and 4 min 48 s in Ceuta. With ten questions and how to cite.
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The 105 Spanish towns with totality in 2027: the full list, with their seconds and times
On 2 August 2027, 105 municipalities will see totality: 55 in Málaga, 30 in Cádiz, 13 in Granada, 5 in Almería, plus Ceuta and Melilla. Each with its own page, its IGN duration and its time of maximum, and the ones that only just miss out.
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The 2027 eclipse in Egypt: 6 min 23 s of totality in Luxor, with the Sun almost overhead
Luxor will get 6 min 23 s of totality on 2 August 2027, from 13:02:05 to 13:08:28 Egyptian time, one hour ahead of Spain. Of 5,786 Egyptian localities, 1,211 get totality; Cairo, Aswan and Hurghada miss out. Heat, papers and travel advice.
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The 2027 eclipse in the Balearics: Formentera reaches 93.2% and Palma 89.3%, more than Madrid
In the Balearic Islands the eclipse of 2 August 2027 will be partial: from 86.9% of the Sun covered on Menorca to 93.2% on Formentera, with maximum between 10:56 and 11:01. Palma reaches 89.3%, more than Madrid (86.1%). Island by island, with times.
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The 2027 eclipse in the Canary Islands: 76.2% to 81.8% of the Sun covered, no totality
In the Canary Islands the eclipse of 2 August 2027 will be partial: from 76.2% of the Sun covered on Gran Canaria to 81.8% on La Palma, with maximum between 09:32 and 09:37 Canary time. Island by island, each capital's times and the glasses you need.
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The 2027 eclipse in Tunisia: 5 min 41 s of totality in Sfax and 4 min 44 s on Djerba
Sfax will get 5 min 41 s of totality on 2 August 2027, from 10:08:49 to 10:14:30 Tunisian time (UTC+1); Houmt Souk, on Djerba, 4 min 44 s, and Gabès 4 min 09 s. Tunis and Monastir miss out. Cloud, heat and travel papers.
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The eclipses of 2027: two solar and three lunar, and no lunar eclipse on 2 August
According to NASA, 2027 brings the annular eclipse of 6 February (Chile, Argentina and the Atlantic), the total eclipse of 2 August and three penumbral lunar eclipses. What you can see from Spain, and why there can't be a lunar eclipse on 2 August.
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The last eclipses in Spain before these: the 1959 total in the Canaries and the 2005 annular
Before last summer's eclipse, the last total eclipse visible in Spain was on 2 October 1959, and only from the Canary Islands; the last annular, on 3 October 2005, with a 4 min 11 s ring over Madrid. What was seen, where, and how people lived it.
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Total, annular, partial and hybrid eclipses: how they differ and why 2027's is total
Total if the Moon covers the whole Sun; annular if it looks smaller and leaves a ring; hybrid if it switches from one to the other along the way. With NASA's magnitude (1.079 on 2 August 2027) and your town's: in Ceuta, 1.03.
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Watching the eclipse in Tangier: 4 min 52 s of totality, with clocks two hours behind Tarifa
Tangier will get 4 min 52 s of totality on 2 August 2027, from 08:44:44 to 08:49:36 Moroccan time (GMT), two hours behind Tarifa. How to cross, which papers you need and which part of the city has less cloud.
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What Spanish town councils should prepare for the 2027 eclipse: figures, venue, glasses and heat
The 105 towns with totality will get it between 10:46 and 10:51 on a Monday in August. What to prepare: your figures and the free widget, a venue with no cars on the hard shoulder, EN ISO 12312-2 glasses, shade, water and no drones over the crowd.
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What to bring to the eclipse: the checklist for an August morning in the southern Spanish sun
EN ISO 12312-2 glasses, a cap, water, sun cream, shade and the time for your spot: in Tarifa the eclipse runs from 09:40:56 to 12:00:35, about two hours and twenty minutes, with the Sun rising from 25° to 53°. The full list, phone filter included.
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When exactly do I take my eclipse glasses off in totality? The times, town by town
Take them off when the last flash disappears and put them back on when the first one appears. In Tarifa, 10:45:11 to 10:49:38; in Málaga, 10:48:08 to 10:49:51: the later C2 and the earlier C3 of our times and the IGN's.
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Which countries will see the 2027 total eclipse? Ten countries and Gibraltar, with durations
Totality on 2 August 2027 crosses Spain, Gibraltar, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Somalia, from 08:26 to 11:48 UTC. Local time, duration and the Sun's altitude in one city per country, plus travel advice.
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Why is it called the 'eclipse of the century'? 6 min 23 s, the century's second-longest totality
Totality on 2 August 2027 will reach 6 min 23 s in Egypt: the second-longest of the 21st century, behind 2009 (6 min 39 s). What is true in the nickname, what isn't, and how long it lasts in Spain: 4 min 48 s in Ceuta.
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Will the 2027 eclipse be seen in Latin America? No: it's either night-time or no eclipse at all
The 2 August 2027 eclipse won't be visible anywhere in Latin America: in Mexico and Central America it passes at around three in the morning, with the Sun about 40° below the horizon, and in the Southern Cone there is no eclipse at all. How to follow it live.
More articles, in Spanish: the Spanish blog.
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