Eclipse Sweeps Europe
Millions of people across Europe watched as a total solar eclipse swept across Spain on Wednesday, briefly plunging parts of the country into darkness less than an hour before sunset.
Footage shows the Moon gradually swallowing the Sun before totality hits Leon, turning daylight into an eerie dusk. Crowds gathered with telescopes to watch the spectacle, while the eclipse was also seen from Villalibado, Valoria la Buena and Palma de Mallorca.
Clouds obscured views of totality in parts of Iceland, although observers still experienced the sudden darkness as the Moon’s shadow swept overhead.
Spain offered the eclipse’s biggest audience, with around 15 million people in the path of totality as the shadow crossed the country diagonally from the northern Atlantic coast towards the Mediterranean.
Rare Dark Sky Moment
Leon experienced around one minute and 44 seconds of totality, while other locations along the path watched the Sun disappear behind the Moon just minutes before sunset.
Footage also shows the partial eclipse from Stavanger and Kristiansand in Norway.
The path of totality crossed the east coast of Greenland, western Iceland, northern Russia and the North Atlantic before sweeping across northern Spain and a small corner of Portugal.
According to NASA, a partial eclipse was visible across parts of northern and northeastern North America, including Alaska, eastern Canada and parts of New England. West Africa also caught a partial eclipse as the Moon’s outer shadow moved across the region.
Unusual Eclipse Path
Unlike most eclipse paths, which generally travel from west to east, this one followed an unusual north-to-south route, according to NASA. It began over the high Arctic, where the midnight sun was still shining, before curving sharply towards Spain.
A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly between the Earth and Sun, completely blocking the view of the Sun. For those beneath the Moon’s central shadow, known as the umbra, the sky briefly darkens and the Sun’s normally hidden outer atmosphere, the corona, becomes visible.
The August 12 eclipse was the first total solar eclipse visible from mainland Europe since 1999, delivering fleeting moments of darkness before the Moon’s shadow disappeared over the Mediterranean at around 18:30 GMT.
NASA, via Viory.Video
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