Europe Witnesses First Total Solar Eclipse in Decades as Photographers Capture the Event

The moon’s shadow moved across Europe on Aug. 12, producing a total solar eclipse that began in northern Russia, passed over Greenland, Iceland and the Atlantic before reaching Spain and a small part of Portugal. Totality lasted up to two minutes and 18 seconds near Iceland, and the eclipse was visible as a partial event to millions more across Europe, North America and north-western Africa. Observers were advised to use certified eclipse glasses except during the brief period of totality when the sun could be viewed safely.

In Spain, the eclipse occurred around 5:30 p.m. UTC (7:30 p.m. local time) with the sun low on the horizon, allowing photographers to capture the darkened disc against the landscape. The low angle was a distinctive feature of this eclipse, which also caused a brief darkness in far-northern Greenland despite near-continuous summer daylight.

National Geographic deployed photographers along the path. Rüdiger Ortiz-Álvarez, stationed in Burgos, described the sudden transition to darkness and the appearance of the solar corona. Wayra Ficapal photographed the eclipse reflected in the Ebro Delta, noting the abrupt silence of birds and a sharp temperature drop. Babak Tafreshi and Amirreza Kamkar set up multiple cameras in Tarragona to document the event against historic Roman and medieval sites, emphasizing the shared human experience of the phenomenon.

In Italy, where only a partial eclipse was visible, explorer Camilla Ferrari reported a sense of perspective on humanity’s place in the cosmos while attending a viewing organized by a local amateur astronomy group.

The eclipse was followed later that night by the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, which benefited from the new-moon conditions that reduced lunar illumination.