For the first time in more than 100 years, a total solar eclipse is coming to mainland Spain. Daytime darkness will descend on August 12 across the Iberian Peninsula close to sunset, plus slivers of Greenland and Iceland, as the sun, moon and Earth align.
Starting near the North Pole before tracking south, totality will last up to two minutes and 18 seconds. It will take one and a half hours for the moon's shadow to race along the 5,130-mile course, most of it over the Atlantic. Maximum totality will occur off Iceland's west coast, and by the time it reaches Spain, totality will have dwindled to a minute or so.
A partial eclipse will be visible as far away as Alaska and Siberia, enveloping Canada, the northern US, and much of Europe and West Africa. The closer to totality's course, the more the sun will vanish behind the moon – 94% coverage in Dublin and 83% in Oslo, Norway.
Special eclipse glasses are crucial, even if only a morsel of sun is showing. The day also begins with six planets forming an arc before dawn and ends with the Perseid meteor shower peaking after nightfall.
The European Space Agency will host a live webcast from Spain's Astrophysical Observatory of Javalambre and a public celebration in Leon. NASA will provide its own coverage, as will the Virtual Telescope Project.