It all depends on how big the Moon looks compared with the Sun. If it looks slightly larger and lines up well, it covers the whole disc: that is a total eclipse, like the one on 2 August 2027, to which NASA gives a magnitude of 1.079. If it is further away and looks smaller, it leaves a ring of Sun around it: that is an annular eclipse. If it is total along one part of its track and annular along another, it is a hybrid. And from outside the central path, any of them looks partial, with the Moon covering only part of the Sun.
The four types, according to NASA
| Type | Which part of the Moon’s shadow reaches the Earth | An example (NASA magnitude) |
|---|---|---|
| Total | the umbra, the darkest part | 2 August 2027 (1.079) |
| Annular | the antumbra, the extension of the umbra | 6 February 2027 (0.928) |
| Hybrid | the umbra on one stretch and the antumbra on another | 20 April 2023 (1.013) |
| Partial | only the penumbra, the pale part | the rest of Spain on 2 August 2027 |
For NASA, the magnitude of an annular eclipse is always less than 1, and that of a total eclipse equal to or greater than 1.
In a total eclipse, the umbra, the Moon’s cone of shadow, reaches the ground. Inside that path the Moon covers the whole disc and the corona becomes visible. On 2 August 2027 the path will be about 258 km wide at the maximum, with up to 6 min 23 s of totality, according to NASA.
In an annular eclipse, the Moon is too far away and its cone of shadow doesn’t reach the Earth; what reaches it is the extension of the cone, the antumbra. NASA explains it like this: being further away, the Moon looks smaller than the Sun and doesn’t cover it completely, so a ring of light is left around it. The one on 6 February 2027 will show the ring for up to 7 min 51 s in Chile, Argentina and the Atlantic; the year’s other eclipses are in the eclipses of 2027.
A hybrid eclipse is total along part of its track and annular along another, which is why NASA also calls them annular-total eclipses. According to the key to its catalogue, they happen when the tip of the Moon’s cone of shadow crosses the Earth’s surface in the central stretch of an annular eclipse’s track: because the Earth’s surface is curved, the shadow reaches the ground on some stretches and not on others. The most recent was on 20 April 2023, over Indonesia, Australia and Papua New Guinea, with magnitude 1.013 and 1 min 16 s at its maximum.
A partial eclipse is what you see when only the penumbra arrives: the Sun, the Moon and the Earth are not perfectly lined up and the Sun is left as a crescent. That is what anyone outside the path will see: in Madrid, on 2 August 2027, 86.1% of the Sun covered.
How many of each type there are
NASA’s five-millennium catalogue, from the year −1999 to 3000, lists 11,898 solar eclipses:
| Type | Eclipses | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Partial | 4,200 | 35.3% |
| Annular | 3,956 | 33.2% |
| Total | 3,173 | 26.7% |
| Hybrid | 569 | 4.8% |
Hybrids are the rarest: fewer than one in twenty. There are slightly more annular eclipses than total ones.
Why 2027’s is total
Because the Moon will look slightly larger than the Sun. NASA’s path table gives the ratio of their apparent diameters at each point on the central line: 1.060 at both ends and 1.079 at the maximum, always above 1. How the shadow forms is explained in our learn section, which also covers why one town gets totality and the next one doesn’t.
In Spain, our magnitude, which measures what fraction of the Sun’s diameter the Moon covers at each place, goes above 1 in the 105 municipalities with totality: from 1.0001 in Casarabonela to 1.03 in Ceuta. Outside the path it stays below 1, even if only just: 0.9994 in Almería, which stays at 99.9% with no totality. Why the IGN (Spain’s National Geographic Institute) gives 1.07 to every municipality with totality is explained in eclipse magnitude and obscuration.
The next eclipse to cross Spain is an annular one, on 26 January 2028, and the learn section covers it too.
Safety changes with the type
In a total eclipse, the filter comes off only during strict totality, from the last flash to the first, as the IGN and the AAS (American Astronomical Society) advise. In an annular or a partial eclipse there is no moment without a filter: the ring is still the Sun. Glasses must meet the EN ISO 12312-2 standard, and to check any pair there is our guide to certified eclipse glasses.
Sources: Glossary of Solar Eclipse Terms — NASA (umbra, antumbra and penumbra, and the four types of eclipse); Key to Catalog of Solar Eclipses — NASA (how a hybrid forms and magnitude as a ratio of diameters); Solar Eclipses: 2021 - 2030 — NASA (the 2023 hybrid, the eclipses of 2027 and the magnitude of annular and total eclipses); Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses — NASA (how many eclipses there are of each type); Types of Solar Eclipses — NASA Science (why the Moon sometimes doesn’t cover the whole Sun and what a partial eclipse looks like); Path of the Total Solar Eclipse of 2027 Aug 02 — NASA (diameter ratio, width and duration on the central line); IGN — eclipses.ign.es (in Spanish: safe viewing); eclipseando data (magnitudes and percentages from the skyfield + DE440s engine).
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.