Madrid 29 (Europa Press) –
The partial solar eclipse was observed on the morning of this Saturday across Spain, including both the Peninsula and the Canary Islands, for a duration exceeding three hours, from 10 am to 1 pm, with the peak occurring around 11:40 am, reaching a magnitude of 0.32, according to the National Astronomical Observatory.
The eclipse began to be visible in the Canary Islands at 10:22 am (09:22 local time), with the moon partially obscuring the sun. The moment of maximum coverage in the archipelago was noted at 11:04 am (10:04 local time), as per the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands.
Viewing conditions, reliant on Saturday’s weather, were quite favourable, as a clear sky facilitated appreciation of this phenomenon over the weekend.
A few minutes before 10:40 am, the eclipse became visible in various locations on the Peninsula, such as Huelva and Cádiz, and by around 11:00 am, it was sighted in Madrid. Post this time, the moon commenced covering the sun over Barcelona and had already impacted all Spanish provinces, with Girona being the final province to witness this celestial event.
Approaching midday, at approximately 11:40 am, the eclipse reached its zenith in numerous regions of the Peninsula, while, in the Canary Islands, the sun began to regain its typical shape at about 10:56 local time.
Nearly half an hour later, at 12:22 pm local time, normalcy returned to the western Andalusian coast as the sun regained its full glory. Guipúzcoa was the last province to experience the end of the eclipse at around 12:41 pm.
This occurrence, which results from the moon positioning itself between the Sun and the Earth, achieved a maximum magnitude exceeding 0.4 at the northwestern tip of the Peninsula, surpassed 0.3 in the Canary Islands and western regions of the Peninsula, and exceeded 0.2 in the eastern Peninsula and the Balearic Islands.
Clouds do not hinder the eclipse viewing in Galicia
Galicia emerged as one of the prime locations in the Iberian Peninsula for witnessing this unprecedented solar eclipse visible from the Iberian Peninsula in over a century, despite the presence of some clouds. In this northwestern region, up to 43% of the solar disc was masked by the Moon, surpassing any other area in Spain and Portugal around 11:48 am.
The longest duration of total eclipse (one minute and 40 seconds) took place within a corridor that encompassed Oviedo, León, Palencia, Burgos, Soria, and parts of southern Aragon. Totality, albeit for a shorter duration, was observed in adjoining areas. From Madrid and Barcelona, the eclipse did not reach complete obscuration, although the darkening of the solar disc exceeded 90 percent, even in the southwestern parts of the peninsula.
The eclipse was also visible from the northern Atlantic Ocean, portions of the Arctic, northwest Africa, the majority of Europe, the eastern fringe of America, northwest Russia, and Greenland. The overall duration of the event was 213 minutes (just under 4 hours).
Over the next few years, two total solar eclipses are scheduled to be visible in Spain on August 12, 2026, and August 2 the following year, followed by an annular eclipse on January 26, 2028.
