The 2 August 2027 eclipse in ‘Arab al ‘Atiyat al Bahriyah

The experience

What you will see in ‘Arab al ‘Atiyat al Bahriyah

At 11:35, the Moon will touch the edge of the solar disc and the partial phase will begin in ‘Arab al ‘Atiyat al Bahriyah. Over the next 81 minutes the bite will grow —always watched through eclipse glasses— and in the last minutes the midday light will drop noticeably, with sharper shadows and a strangely muted atmosphere.

At 12:56 come Baily’s beads and the diamond ring: the last ray of Sun shining over the Moon’s edge. Right after, totality: for 6 min 2 s, the solar corona will appear around the Moon’s black disc, the sky will darken like a deep twilight and the temperature will fall. Only then, with the Sun completely gone, do the glasses come off.

At 13:02, a second diamond ring will mark the end of totality: as soon as the first point of light appears, the glasses go back on. The waning partial phase will end at 14:21.

During totality, the Sun will be high: 80.4° above the horizon. There is no need to look for a clear horizon; it is enough that no nearby building blocks it. With the Sun almost overhead, looking up for so long is tiring: a mat or a reclining chair helps.