Solar eclipse of August 2, 2027

A total solar eclipse, nicknamed the Eclipse of the Century, will occur at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Monday, August 2, 2027, with a magnitude of 1.079. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 2.5 hours before perigee (on August 2, 2027, at 7:25 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter will be larger.

Path

Totality will commence over the eastern Atlantic Ocean and travel across the Strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco, and continue across parts of North Africa and the Middle East. Also, It will be visible in Central Asia, Indian Ocean Islands. Major cities and locations under the path of totality will include:

• Cadiz and Málaga, in southern Spain
• Gibraltar
• Tangier, Morocco
• Oran, Algeria
• Sfax, Tunisia
• Benghazi, Libya
• Luxor in central Egypt
• Jeddah and Mecca in southwest Saudi Arabia
• Sana'a in western Yemen
• The tip of the Horn of Africa in extreme northeast Somalia
• Islands in the British Indian Ocean Territory

The maximum duration of totality will be observed in Egypt, approximately 37 miles (60 km) southeast of Luxor, and will last 6 minutes and 22 seconds.

A partial solar eclipse will be visible from the extreme east tip of Maine, United States, far eastern Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces in Canada, southern Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Great Britain, nearly the entirety of the European continent, all but the southern quarter of Africa, the Middle East, and from South and Southeast Asia.

It will be the first of three total solar eclipses that are observable in Tunisia in the 21st century, passing over the central part of the country. It will be the second total eclipse in Spain within a year, after August 2026. An annular eclipse will appear in Spain in January 2028. A national eclipse committee has been established to coordinate eclipse-related activities.

Duration

This is the second longest total solar eclipse in the 21st century, the longest being the eclipse prior to this one in Solar Saros 136, that of July 22, 2009. The 2009 eclipse maximum duration of 6 minutes and 39.5 seconds occurred on the Pacific Ocean, and the longest duration on land was on remote, uninhabited North Iwo Jima, where visiting is not allowed without special permission. The maximum duration of this eclipse is 6 minutes and 23.2 seconds, occurring in the northeastern part of Egypt's New Valley Governorate. The location of the greatest eclipse is about 250 kilometres (160 mi) southeast in Red Sea Governorate, with a slightly shorter duration. This is the longest total solar eclipse on easily accessible land in the 21st century; a longer one will not occur until June 3, 2114.

Images

Animated path

Eclipse timing

Places experiencing total eclipse

Places experiencing partial eclipse

Eclipse details

Shown below are two tables displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. The first table outlines times at which the Moon's penumbra or umbra attains the specific parameter, and the second table describes various other parameters pertaining to this eclipse.

Characteristics

Bright stars and planets visible during totality

The eclipsed Sun will be in mid-Cancer, a few degrees southeast of the Beehive Cluster (which will not be visible to the naked eye) and Venus (which will most definitely be seen if the sky is at all transparent). Mercury will be several degrees west of Venus. Venus will be hanging out with Jupiter in the (constellation) Gemini home of Pollux and Castor. Saturn will be many degrees west of the Sun. Mars will be many degrees farther east in Virgo. Over most of the continental areas in the path of totality, the Winter Hexagon will be visible, although on the Arabian Peninsula its westernmost stars -- Aldebaran and Rigel—will be low. In the British Indian Ocean Territory the Winter Hexagon stars will either have disappeared below the western horizon or will be very low, but Alpha Centauri, Beta Centauri and the Southern Cross will be well up in the south.

Eclipse path intersections

The path of the August 2, 2027 eclipse will be crossed by the path of another solar eclipse less than 7 years later, on March 20, 2034, at a location on the southeastern coast of Egypt. This is similar to the intersection in the paths of the August 2017 and April 2024 total solar eclipses in the United States, over southern Illinois, and in Turkey during the August 1999 and March 2006 solar eclipses; the intersections within these pairs of total eclipses also occurred about 7 years apart. This phenomenon is considered to be unusual, since the average interval for any given spot on Earth to observe a total solar eclipse is about once every 375 years. The intersection patterns are caused by the dynamics of the Saros cycle.

Impact

Economy and tourism

The August 2027 total solar eclipse is expected to draw large numbers of tourists and become the most photographed astronomical event in history. In December 2025, about a year and a half before the eclipse, regions in southern Spain and Morocco were already reporting early hotel sell-outs, and travel operators predicted a multi-million-euro surge in tourism. An estimated 89 million people live in the path of totality, at least double the 44 million people who lived within the path of totality of the April 2024 solar eclipse in North America. One source estimated that over 200 million people could attempt to watch the August 2027 solar eclipse.

Eclipse season

This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight. The first and last eclipse in this sequence is separated by one synodic month.

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 2027

• An annular solar eclipse on February 6.
• A penumbral lunar eclipse on February 20.
• A penumbral lunar eclipse on July 18.
• A total solar eclipse on August 2.
• A penumbral lunar eclipse on August 17.

Metonic

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 14, 2023
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 21, 2031

Tzolkinex

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 21, 2020
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of September 12, 2034

Half-Saros

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of July 27, 2018
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of August 7, 2036

Tritos

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 1, 2016
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 2, 2038

Solar Saros 136

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 22, 2009
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 12, 2045

Inex

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 22, 1998
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 12, 2056

Triad

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 1, 1940
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 3, 2114

Solar eclipses of 2026–2029

This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.

The partial solar eclipses on June 12, 2029 and December 5, 2029 occur in the next lunar year eclipse set.

Saros 136

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 136, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on June 14, 1360. It contains annular eclipses from September 8, 1504 through November 12, 1594; hybrid eclipses from November 22, 1612 through January 17, 1703; and total eclipses from January 27, 1721 through May 13, 2496. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on July 30, 2622. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.

The longest duration of annularity was produced by member 9 at 32 seconds on September 8, 1504, and the longest duration of totality was produced by member 34 at 7 minutes, 7.74 seconds on June 20, 1955. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.

Metonic series

The metonic series repeats eclipses every 19 years (6939.69 days), lasting about 5 cycles. Eclipses occur in nearly the same calendar date. In addition, the octon subseries repeats 1/5 of that or every 3.8 years (1387.94 days). All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's descending node.

Tritos series

This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

Inex series

This eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

See also

• List of solar eclipses in the 21st century
• Solar eclipse of August 11, 1999
• Solar eclipse of July 22, 2009
• Solar eclipse of April 8, 2024
• Solar eclipse of July 22, 2028
• Solar eclipse of March 20, 2034

External links

• Jay Anderson (1 August 2025). . Eclipsophile.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)