When is the next solar eclipse?
12 Aug 2026next total solar eclipse
The next total solar eclipse is on 12 August 2026, with the path of totality sweeping across Greenland, Iceland and northern Spain — the first total eclipse touching mainland Europe since 1999. The next one after that, on 2 August 2027, crosses Spain, North Africa and Egypt and lasts up to 6 minutes 23 seconds — the longest totality on land until 2114.
▶ See the Sun–Moon–Earth alignment
Why a total eclipse is a coincidence
A solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes directly between the Sun and Earth. Totality is possible only because of a cosmic fluke: the Sun is about 400 times wider than the Moon, but also about 400 times farther away, so the two appear almost exactly the same size in our sky. Eclipses don’t happen every new moon because the Moon’s orbit is tilted about 5° — most months its shadow misses Earth entirely.
The Moon is drifting away from Earth at about 3.8 cm a year. In roughly 600 million years it will be too far to ever cover the Sun completely — the last total solar eclipse will happen, and there will never be another.
The upcoming eclipses
12 Aug 2026 (total)
Greenland · Iceland · N. Spain
6 Feb 2027 (annular)
Chile · Argentina · Atlantic
2 Aug 2027 (total)
Spain · N. Africa · Egypt · longest
26 Jan 2028 (annular)
Ecuador · Peru · Brazil
22 Jul 2028 (total)
Australia · New Zealand
Moon–Sun size trick
both ≈ 0.5° across
Open the interactive view on eclipse day to see the Sun, Moon and Earth fall into line — the geometry that briefly turns day to night along one thin path on the planet.
Keep going
✓ Facts verified July 2026
Every figure on this page is a real, rounded value checked against primary sources. Found something out of date? See how we keep it accurate.