A major part of the Northern Hemisphere from Iceland to Siberia will witness a solar eclipse this week, with full or partial viewing possible from the Arctic down to New England and the Iberian Peninsula.
It will begin on the afternoon of Aug. 12. NASA mapped the path of a total eclipse starting in Russia’s remote Arctic coast and tracing a southeasterly path across Greenland, parts of Iceland, the North Atlantic, and eventually Portugal and northern Spain.
“For a small, remote region in northern Russia, totality—when the Moon completely covers the Sun—will occur mid-day,” NASA said. “For Greenland and Iceland, the Sun will go dark in the late afternoon or early evening. In Spain and the very northwestern tip of Portugal, the Sun won’t be fully eclipsed until the late evening, shortly before sunset.”
The moon will fully eclipse the Sun for approximately two minutes, and people in or near that “path of totality” can view it with eye protection, such as eclipse glasses, and indirect viewing methods like a pinhole projector, NASA added.
A partial eclipse will be visible in Alaska and Northern Canada that day, with more northern areas of Eastern Canada and the United States getting better views in the afternoon. However, the most significant partial viewing opportunities will be across Europe.
“The eclipse will reach the U.K., Ireland, mainland Europe, and Africa in the evening,” NASA said. “Those in the U.S. and southern Canada will see only a small ‘bite’ taken out of the solar disk as the Moon appears to just clip the Sun. Those closer to the path of totality—across most of Europe and in northwestern Africa—will see most of the Sun get covered up.”
Iceland’s capital city, Reykjavik, will experience a total solar eclipse at 5:48 p.m. local time.
Then, the Spanish cities of Leon, Zaragoza, and Valencia will come under the total eclipse at 8:28 p.m., 8:29 p.m., and 8:32 p.m., local time, respectively.
A near-total eclipse exceeding 80 and 90 percent coverage will also be visible across most of Europe and the Mediterranean.
Barcelona and Madrid will see 99 percent coverage at 8:29 p.m. and 8:32 p.m., local time, respectively.
Lisbon, Portugal, will see 95 percent coverage at 7:36 p.m., local time.
Algiers, Algeria, will see 96 percent coverage at 7:33 p.m., local time, and Casablanca, Morocco, will see 87 percent coverage at 7:43 p.m., local time.
London will be under 91 percent coverage at 7:13 p.m., Dublin will see a 94 percent eclipse just before that at 7:10 p.m., and Paris and Milan will see 92 percent coverage at 8:17 p.m. and 8:20 p.m., respectively.
Across the continent, Stockholm will see 81 percent coverage at 7:56 p.m., while Oslo sees 83 percent by 7:57 p.m. Berlin and Vienna will see 85 percent at 8:08 p.m. and 8:10 p.m., respectively, and St. Petersburg, Russia, will see 79 percent by 8:51 p.m.
Krakow, Poland, will get a 64 percent eclipse by 7:56 p.m.
Across North America, however, the partial eclipse will be much less. The best views will be in St. John’s, Canada, which will see 53 percent coverage at 3:35 p.m., Fairbanks, Alaska, which will catch a 37 percent eclipse at 8:27 a.m., and Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, which will see 31 percent coverage at 3:00 p.m.
Bangor, Maine, will be under a 24 percent eclipse by 1:53 p.m., and Portland will see 19 percent at the same time. Boston will see a 16 percent eclipse by 1:55 p.m.
New York City will see a maximum of 9 percent coverage by 1:54 p.m. Washington, D.C., will only see 4 percent coverage at 1:53 p.m., and Philadelphia will see 7 percent by the same time.
