For a school project a dozen facts are enough, as long as each one comes with its source. The basics: it is a total solar eclipse on Monday 2 August 2027; totality lasts at most 6 min 23 s, according to NASA; in Spain 105 municipalities in the south will see it, and Ceuta, the Spanish city on the North African coast, will have the longest, 4 min 48 s, according to the IGN (Spain’s National Geographic Institute). The shadow crosses southern Spain between 10:46 and 10:51 mainland Spanish time (CEST, UTC+2).
The fact sheet
| Fact | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Monday 2 August 2027 | NASA and the calendar |
| Type | total solar eclipse | NASA |
| Longest totality | 6 min 23 s, in Egypt, in the desert west of Sohag | NASA |
| Greatest eclipse | 10:06:37 UT, near Luxor (Egypt), with the Sun 81.7° high | NASA |
| Width of the path of totality | about 258 km at the maximum | NASA |
| The shadow on the Earth | from 08:26 to 11:48 UT, from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean | NASA |
| Length of the central line | about 13,900 km | eclipseando, from NASA’s points |
| Countries with totality | Morocco, Spain, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Somalia; also Gibraltar, Tunisia and the Halaib Triangle | NASA; the last three, eclipseando |
| Municipalities in Spain with totality | 105: Málaga 55, Cádiz 30, Granada 13, Almería 5, Ceuta and Melilla | IGN |
| Longest totality in Spain | Ceuta, 4 min 48 s | IGN |
| Totality in Spain | between 10:46 and 10:51, mainland Spanish time | eclipseando |
| The partial eclipse in Spain | from 09:40 (Ayamonte) to 12:15 (es Castell, Menorca), mainland Spanish time | eclipseando |
| Least coverage in Spain | 72.0% of the Sun, in Cariño (A Coruña) | eclipseando |
| Canary Islands | partial, 76.2% to 81.8%, from 08:32 to 10:46 Canary Islands time | eclipseando |
| Sun’s altitude at maximum | 34.5 to 47.6° on the mainland, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta and Melilla | eclipseando |
The why, in two paragraphs
A solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth. The Sun and the Moon look almost the same size in the sky, so when they line up well the Moon can cover the Sun completely. Its shadow has two parts: the umbra, the darkest, and the penumbra, the paler one. From where the umbra falls the eclipse is total; from the penumbra, partial. How it works, step by step, is summarised in our learn section.
The umbra is narrow: on 2 August 2027 it is about 258 km wide at the maximum, and as it moves it leaves a band on the map running from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. That’s why only the south of Spain gets totality and the rest of the country sees a partial eclipse: in Madrid 86.1% of the Sun is covered. Nor is there an eclipse every month, because the Moon’s orbit is tilted and it usually doesn’t pass exactly in front of the Sun.
Ten questions for the class
- Why is the eclipse of 2 August 2027 total and not annular? Hint: the Moon will look slightly larger than the Sun.
- What is the difference between the umbra and the penumbra?
- Why is 86.1% of the Sun covered in Madrid and 100% in Ceuta?
- Why does totality last 4 min 48 s in Ceuta but only 10 s in Casarabonela, when both are in the path?
- What time is the maximum in your town, and how much of the Sun will be covered? Look it up in Will I see it?.
- Why do you have to look through an EN ISO 12312-2 filter even when the Sun is 99% covered? The answer is in our guide to certified eclipse glasses.
- Which countries does the shadow cross, and in what order? Follow the map, the shadow’s journey and the countries in the path of totality.
- Why does the shadow travel at about 4,500 km/h over the Strait of Gibraltar and about 2,400 km/h in Egypt? We explain it in how fast the eclipse shadow travels.
- Why does the eclipse start at 08:32 in the Canary Islands and at 09:40 on the mainland?
- What is the solar corona, and why can it only be seen during totality? The explanation is in our learn section.
How to cite your sources
Put the source next to each fact, or in a list at the end, with the author or organisation, the page title, the address and the date you looked it up. For example:
- Espenak, F. “Path of the Total Solar Eclipse of 2027 Aug 02”. NASA. https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEpath/SEpath2001/SE2027Aug02Tpath.html
- Instituto Geográfico Nacional. “El eclipse total de Sol del 2 de agosto de 2027”. https://eclipses.ign.es/eclipse-total-sol-de-2-de-agosto-2027.html
- eclipseando. “School project on the 2 August 2027 eclipse”. https://eclipseando.com/en/blog/school-project-on-the-2027-eclipse/
If you copy a fact from this page, also cite the original source shown next to it, NASA or the IGN. And if the project includes watching the eclipse, the rule is the one set by the IGN and the AAS (American Astronomical Society): an EN ISO 12312-2 filter in all the partial phases, and no filter only during strict totality, from the last flash to the first.
Sources: Path of the Total Solar Eclipse of 2027 Aug 02 — NASA (greatest eclipse, maximum duration and the shadow point by point); Solar Eclipses: 2021 - 2030 — NASA (type, date and countries with totality); Glossary of Solar Eclipse Terms — NASA (umbra and penumbra); Types of Solar Eclipses — NASA Science (the Moon between the Sun and the Earth); Moon Phases — NASA Science (why there isn’t an eclipse every month); El eclipse total de Sol del 2 de agosto de 2027 — IGN (in Spanish: municipalities with totality and durations); eclipseando data (times, percentages and the Sun’s altitude from the skyfield + DE440s engine; the added countries and the length of the central line).
If you would like something to keep from the eclipse, the shop prints T-shirts, mugs and posters with the name of your town, the time of its maximum and its seconds of totality. See the merchandise →
Remember: never look at the Sun without proper eye protection (filters made to EN ISO 12312-2). The official reference for safe viewing in Spain is the IGN (in Spanish): eclipses.ign.es.