Space explained
Total solar eclipse 2026: a golden corona from the Arctic to Spain
The 12 August 2026 eclipse crossed the Arctic to Spain, showing a rare golden corona at sunset and giving NASA jets and balloons a window on the Sun.
In brief
The total solar eclipse of 12 August 2026, visible from the Arctic to Spain, produced spectacular views of the solar corona, including an unusual golden tone in Spain. It was also a research window: NASA flew WB-57 jets and launched atmospheric balloons to study the corona and how the atmosphere reacts.
Key points
- The total eclipse of 12 August 2026 crossed the Arctic and Spain, giving an unusually long observing corridor.
- The corona took on an unusual golden colour in Spain, caused by the low Sun and by smoke from nearby wildfires.
- NASA used WB-57 jets and atmospheric balloons to study the corona and its effect on Earth's atmosphere.
- Total eclipses remain the best opportunity to study the corona and the atmosphere's response to sudden darkness.
- Observers caught the diamond ring effect and plasma prominences with the naked eye.
- The next significant total eclipse is on 2 August 2027, crossing southern Europe and North Africa.
Total solar eclipses change how a day feels, and they are also a rare research window. The eclipse of 12 August 2026 held the attention of observers and scientists alike, revealing unusual detail about the solar corona and about Earth’s own atmosphere. Its path ran from the Arctic to Spain. That geometry made a range of observations possible that a shorter track would not have allowed.
A path across half the world
On 12 August the Moon’s shadow began in the Arctic Ocean and crossed Greenland, Iceland, the Atlantic, Portugal and northern Spain. One of the first images was captured at 17:33:26 UTC at Rype Fjord, in Greenland, where observers caught a fleeting diamond ring, the flash that appears when sunlight filters through lunar valleys, along with the corona itself.
Observations from Spain added the most interesting detail. For the country it was the first total solar eclipse on this scale since 1905. In León the partial phase began at 19:32 local time and ended at 21:22, with totality lasting about two minutes from 20:28, shortly before sunset. Further east in Spain the Sun set before the eclipse had finished.
The corona, and why it turned gold
From Zaragoza the event was captured in two images, one above the Basilica del Pilar and one reflected in the river Ebro. During those moments a spectacular loop of plasma appeared, a solar prominence extending into the corona. Plasma is super-heated gas, ionised hydrogen and helium, flowing along the Sun’s magnetic fields. Prominences can measure many times the width of Earth and are sometimes visible to the naked eye during an eclipse.
The corona, the Sun’s outer atmosphere, was the undisputed star, shining once the solar disc was covered. It normally appears pearly white.
At Benavente, in Spain, an unusually golden colour was noted. That tone was the result of a combination of factors. The eclipse happened at sunset, with the Sun close to the horizon; at that angle sunlight passes through much more of Earth’s atmosphere, which scatters the blue end of the spectrum. On top of that, an unusual quantity of smoke in the air from nearby wildfires acted as an additional filter, scattering the blue further and intensifying the golden colour.
Worth noticing: a glowing hydrogen prominence kept its original bright pink and did not take on the golden tone. The colour shift was in the path the light travelled, not in the source.
What the eclipse was used for
Eclipses are valuable scientific opportunities. Researchers study the corona to understand why its temperature is millions of degrees higher than the solar surface below it. On 12 August NASA teams positioned themselves in Iceland and chased the Moon’s shadow with WB-57 jets, aircraft specialised for research. The aim was to image the corona in visible and infrared light, gathering data that ground observers cannot obtain in the few minutes available.
The eclipse also allowed the atmosphere’s reaction to a sudden interruption of sunlight to be studied.
The Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project, supported by NASA, launched atmospheric balloons before, during and after the eclipse to measure changes in Earth’s atmosphere.
Those measurements sit alongside what witnesses reported: a sudden drop in temperature, birds falling silent, insects chirping out of sequence, and a shared sense of astonishment.
The event offered something outside the path of totality too. The rest of Europe and parts of Africa, Canada and the United States saw a partial eclipse, and citizens contributed by recording wildlife responses, photographing the corona and monitoring temperature and cloud. The next total eclipse is on 2 August 2027, crossing southern Spain, North Africa, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
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