A rare 35-day eclipse season in August will bring a total solar eclipse and a partial lunar eclipse to Europe and beyond, coinciding with the Perseid meteor shower for an unforgettable display.
Astronomy fans are getting a neat little double feature next month as a 35-day eclipse season lines up two major sky events. First comes a total solar eclipse on 12 August, followed by a partial lunar eclipse overnight on 27-28 August, giving stargazers in Europe and beyond a chance to tick off both kinds of eclipse in the space of a fortnight.
According to NASA, the solar eclipse on 12 August will send the Moon across the face of the Sun, with the narrow path of totality stretching across parts of Greenland, Iceland, the Atlantic, northern Spain and a small corner of Portugal. Much of Europe will still see a partial eclipse, while visibility farther afield will depend on location and timing.
The lunar eclipse two weeks later is likely to be the easier one to catch for many people in the UK, where it should appear low in the western sky shortly before moonset at dawn on 28 August. Live Science says more than 96% of the Moon will pass into Earth’s shadow, which should produce the deep red colouring often described as a blood moon.
There is a bit of bonus celestial theatre too: 12 August is also the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, one of the year’s most reliable displays, with the potential for up to 100 meteors an hour in good conditions. The next eclipse season begins in early 2027, when an annular ring of fire solar eclipse and another lunar eclipse will follow, before a total solar eclipse over Spain and North Africa on 2 August 2027.
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