Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Sometimes the Moon moves in front of the Sun. This is called a solar eclipse.
On August 12, 2026, a big solar eclipse will happen. The sky will get dark in the middle of the day.
People in Iceland and Spain will be able to see it. This has not happened in Europe for a very long time.
The dark sky will last for about two minutes. Many people will travel to Spain just to see it.
- Moon
- the large object that orbits Earth and can be seen in the sky
- Sun
- the star at the center of our solar system that gives us light and heat
- eclipse
- an event when one object in space blocks the light of another
- dark
- having little or no light
- sky
- the space above the Earth that we see when we look up
- happen
- to take place or occur
- travel
- to go from one place to another
- watch
- to look at something carefully
Level 2 — Elementary
A total solar eclipse will occur on August 12, 2026, when the Moon completely blocks the Sun, briefly turning day into night across a narrow strip of the Earth.
The path of totality, the area where the eclipse will be total rather than partial, will cross eastern Greenland, western Iceland, and roughly 40 percent of Spain. This will be the first total solar eclipse visible from continental Europe since 1999.
The path is about 190 miles wide. Cities in northern Spain, including Bilbao, Santander, Zaragoza, and Valencia, will experience full totality, while the rest of Europe will see only a partial eclipse.
Totality, the period when the Sun is completely covered, will last up to two minutes and 18 seconds at its longest point. Many eclipse chasers are expected to travel to Spain specifically to witness the rare event.
- totality
- the period during a total eclipse when the Sun is fully covered
- occur
- to happen or take place
- block
- to prevent something from passing through
- strip
- a long, narrow piece or area
- continental
- relating to a continent, a large landmass
- partial
- not complete, only part of something
- witness
- to see something happen firsthand
- chaser
- a person who actively travels to observe or experience an event
Level 3 — Intermediate
A total solar eclipse will sweep across the North Atlantic on August 12, 2026, tracing a narrow corridor of totality from far northern Siberia near the pole, south across Greenland and Iceland, before terminating over northern Spain and the northeastern corner of Portugal.
The event carries particular significance for European skywatchers, since it marks the first total solar eclipse visible from continental Europe since the widely observed eclipse of 1999, a gap of more than a quarter century.
Spanning roughly 190 miles in width, the path of totality will cover an estimated 40 percent of Spanish territory, encompassing major cities including Bilbao, Santander, Valladolid, Burgos, Zaragoza, and Valencia, where residents and visitors will experience up to two minutes and 18 seconds of complete darkness at midday.
Regions outside the direct path, including the rest of Europe, North America, and Africa, will witness only a partial eclipse, in which the Moon obscures merely a portion of the solar disk, underscoring why so many dedicated eclipse chasers are converging specifically on Spain.
- corridor
- a narrow passage or strip of land connecting two areas
- terminate
- to come to an end
- significance
- the quality of being important or meaningful
- skywatcher
- a person who observes celestial events in the sky
- span
- to extend across a distance or area
- encompass
- to include a range of things within a certain scope
- obscure
- to make something difficult to see or hidden
- converge
- to come together from different directions toward one point
Level 4 — Advanced
A total solar eclipse will trace a slender corridor of totality across the North Atlantic on August 12, 2026, originating in the far reaches of northern Siberia near the pole and sweeping southward across Greenland and Iceland before culminating over the northern half of Spain and the northeastern tip of Portugal, an event of considerable consequence for European observers starved of such spectacles since 1999.
That quarter century drought lends the occasion outsized significance: whereas partial eclipses recur with relative frequency across any given region, a path of totality intersecting continental European soil is a genuinely rare alignment, one that has drawn planning and anticipation from skywatchers years in advance.
Spanning approximately 190 miles at its widest, the path will encompass an estimated 40 percent of Spanish territory, sweeping through major population centers including Bilbao, Santander, Valladolid, Burgos, Zaragoza, and Valencia, where observers will experience up to two minutes and 18 seconds of complete solar obscuration at the moment of maximum eclipse.
Beyond the corridor itself, the remainder of Europe, together with portions of North America and Africa, will witness only a partial eclipse, a comparatively modest phenomenon in which the lunar disk merely nicks the solar circumference, a distinction that accounts for the considerable logistical migration of dedicated eclipse chasers toward Spain in the weeks preceding the event.
- slender
- narrow or thin in width
- originate
- to begin or arise from a particular point
- culminate
- to reach a final or climactic point
- consequence
- importance or significance, especially in outcome
- alignment
- an arrangement of objects in a particular position relative to each other
- obscuration
- the act or state of being blocked from view
- circumference
- the outer boundary or edge of a circular object
- logistical
- relating to the detailed coordination of a complex operation
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