Guide for the Total Solar Eclipse of 2026 - Color Edition

by Fred Espenak

On Wednesday, August 12, 2026, a total eclipse of the Sun will be visible from the Northern Hemisphere. Although a partial eclipse will be seen from much of North America and Western Europe, the total phase in which the Moon completely covers the Sun (known as totality) will only be seen from within the narrow path of the Moon’s umbral shadow as it sweeps cross northern Russia, the Arctic, Greenland, Iceland, and Spain.

The Guide for the Total Solar Eclipse of 2026 contains a comprehensive series of 14 maps of the path of totality across Russia, Greenland, Iceland, Spain, and the western Mediterranean. The large scale (1 inch ≈ 22 miles) through Spain shows major roads, towns and cities, rivers, lakes, parks, and mountain ranges.

The path of totality on each map clearly identifies the northern and southern limits as well as the central line. The total eclipse can only be seen inside this path. Gray lines within the path mark the duration of the total eclipse in 30 second steps. This makes it easy to estimate the length of totality from any location in the eclipse path.

Circumstance tables for hundreds of cities provide times for each phase of the eclipse along with the eclipse magnitude, duration and the Sun's altitude. A detailed climatological study identifies areas along the eclipse path where the highest probability of favorable weather may be found. Finally, a brief summary is included for all total solar eclipses through 2040.

67 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 25, 2024

About the author

Fred Espenak was an American astrophysicist. He worked at the Goddard Space Flight Center and published extensively on eclipse predictions.