Mark your calendars for Aug. 2, 2027, when a total solar eclipse will grace the skies over North Africa, offering not only an almost guaranteed clear sky but also the longest totality of the 21st century. The beauty of a total solar eclipse is that it happens at all, not how long totality lasts. Anyone with the merest glimpse of the eclipsed sun on Apr. 8, 2024 will know that. Those clouded out will know that it's clear weather, not the duration of totality, which is the most critical aspect of eclipse-chasing.
Eclipse chasers hooked by the events of April 8, 2024, are already making plans for Aug. 2, 2027, when the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century will unfold across North Africa, enveloping an estimated 89 million people.
This celestial event promises to be a once-in-a-century celestial spectacle. This isn’t just your typical brief solar eclipse. Spanning a dramatic 9,462-mile path, the eclipse casts a narrow shadow across Earth, creating a vivid solar eclipse in North Africa that lasts up to 6 minutes and 23 seconds at its peak. This solar eclipse is going into the history books as the longest total solar eclipse visible from land between 1991 and 2114. In fact, this solar eclipse is so special that it is also being known as the “Great North African Eclipse.”
The 2009 eclipse maximum duration of 6 minutes and 39.5 seconds occurred on the Pacific Ocean, and the longest duration on land was on remote, uninhabited North Iwo Jima where visiting is not allowed without special permission. The maximum duration of this eclipse is 6 minutes and 23.2 seconds, occurring in the northeastern part of Egypt's New Valley Governorate.
The eclipsed Sun will be in mid-Cancer, a few degrees southeast of the Beehive Cluster (which will not be visible to the naked eye) and Venus (which will most definitely be seen if the sky is at all transparent). Mercury will be several degrees west of Venus. Venus will be hanging out with Jupiter in the (constellation) Gemini home of Pollux and Castor. Saturn will be many degrees west of the Sun. Mars will be many degrees farther east in Virgo.
Read also: South Africa Eclipse: Find out more
Over most of the continental areas in the path of totality, the Winter Hexagon will be visible, although on the Arabian Peninsula its westernmost stars -- Aldebaran and Rigel-will be low.
A total solar eclipse will occur at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Monday, August 2, 2027, with a magnitude of 1.079. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide.
Totality will commence over the eastern Atlantic Ocean and travel across the Strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco, and continue across parts of North Africa and the Middle East. Also, It will be visible in Central Asia, Indian Ocean Islands. It will be the first of three total solar eclipses that are observable in Tunisia in the 21st century, passing over the central part of the country. This is the second longest total solar eclipse in the 21st century, the longest being the eclipse prior to this one in Solar Saros 136, that of July 22, 2009. This is the second total eclipse in Spain within a year, after August 2026. An annular eclipse will appear in Spain in January 2028.
This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.
This eclipse is a member of a semester series. This eclipse is a part of Saros series 136, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on June 14, 1360. It contains annular eclipses from September 8, 1504 through November 12, 1594; hybrid eclipses from November 22, 1612 through January 17, 1703; and total eclipses from January 27, 1721 through May 13, 2496. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on July 30, 2622.
Read also: Chad Outfit Guide
Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth. The longest duration of annularity was produced by member 9 at 32 seconds on September 8, 1504, and the longest duration of totality was produced by member 34 at 7 minutes, 7.74 seconds on June 20, 1955.
The metonic series repeats eclipses every 19 years (6939.69 days), lasting about 5 cycles. Eclipses occur in nearly the same calendar date. In addition, the octon subseries repeats 1/5 of that or every 3.8 years (1387.94 days).
This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). This eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee).
Солнечное затмение через сварочную маску (как правильно смотреть, 2015.03.20)
Path of Totality
Beginning in the Atlantic Ocean, the approximately 160-mile (275-km) wide path of totality will make landfall around the Strait of Gibraltar, bringing totality to southern Spain, Gibraltar and Morocco. The 160-mile-wide (258-kilometer) moon's shadow will take 3 hours and 20 minutes to cross the planet.
Next will come Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, where the sun will be eclipsed at noon at its highest in the sky. After crossing the Red Sea, totality will be experienced in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, then Somalia, before an eclipsed sun will set southeast in the Indian Ocean southeast of the Chagos Islands.
Read also: Understanding Ethiopia's TFR
Touching down in the Atlantic Ocean, it will pass across southern Spain, northern Morocco, northern Algeria, northern Tunisia, northeast Libya, central Egypt, the northeastern tip of Sudan, southwest Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the northeastern tip of Somalia, departing just east of the Chagos Archipelago (a British Indian Ocean Territory) in the Indian Ocean.
On August 2, 2027, the solar eclipse’s path of totality will cross various parts of North Africa. The following are just a few North African cities with the best viewing locations for maximum totality.
- Tangier, Morocco - This area is directly beneath the central shadow and you can expect around 4 minutes of totality
- Oran, Algeria - You can expect over 5 minutes of totality
- Sfax, Tunisia - You can expect over 5 minutes of totality
- Benghazi, Libya - This area is along the centerline passage offering about 5 minutes of totality
- Luxor, Egypt - This area is near the point of greatest eclipse where you can expect near-maximum totality of over 6 minutes
Keep in mind that the major North African capital cities such as Algiers, Tunis and Cairo fall outside the path of totality. You will need to travel to the above mentioned key cities for the best solar eclipse viewing experience.
One of the most compelling aspects of this eclipse, especially for travelers, is the strategic location of the 'greatest eclipse' point near Luxor, Egypt. Luxor, intersected by the Nile, is home to Ancient Egypt's most magnificent treasures, making it an ideal base for eclipse viewing. Attractions in Luxor include Luxor Temple, the Avenue of Sphinxes and Karnak Temple, while on the west side of the Nile is the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon.
Luxor Temple
Weather Conditions
“Some parts of the eclipse track - over Libya and western Egypt - have seen no August cloud on eclipse day whatsoever in the past 23 years,” writes Jay Anderson, a Canadian meteorologist and eclipse chaser, in a new climate analysis published this week. “Few eclipses come with a guarantee of cloud-free skies, but, in parts, the path of the 2027 total across North Africa comes very close. ” Anderson says that cloud cover for this eclipse is among the lowest he’s analyzed over the last 45 years.
If you're headed to Egypt, you can forget about meteorology. "There is no chance of cloud in eastern Libya and western Egypt," says Jay Anderson, a Canadian meteorologist who plans eclipse expeditions and whose climatological analysis of eclipse tracks on Eclipsophile is a must-read for eclipse chasers. "At Luxor, the frequency of cloud cover is 0.7% - at the very worst, you'll get a little bit of thin cirrus cloud wandering through on the jet stream - but what you do get there is dust." It's certainly possible that the totally eclipsed sun will be viewed through a haze of dust - but that will depend on winds on the day.
Cruise ships will also ply the Straits of Gibraltar between Spain and Africa and the coasts of southwestern Spain and northwestern Morocco, though here, the chance of a clear sky is far less, according to average August daytime cloud cover statistics. "There are interesting cloud patterns in the eastern Mediterranean that funnel through the Straits of Gibraltar," said Anderson. "Little low-pressure systems sit right in there almost like it's a little nook, so the area is reasonably cloudy compared to the rest of the path at about 30% cloud cover." Nor should you underestimate The Levanter, a cloud that hangs over the Rock of Gibraltar.
At the other end of the track, southeast of Luxor in Egypt, the chance cloud cover increases significantly into Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the Indian Ocean.
The problem with this total solar eclipse is not climate and clouds but temperature and, perhaps, dust storms. The moon’s shadow will bring a momentary drop in temperature, but in August it can reach 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42 degrees Celsius).
However, it will certainly be scorching hot. "The only blessing is because it's such a dry environment, the temperature will probably drop like a stone when the eclipse happens," says Anderson.
Another critical location for clear skies will be the southern Mediterranean Sea, with blue skies almost certain south of Italy and Malta, off the coast of Tunisia and Libya (where Tripoli will be sliced in half by the southern edge of the path).
Best Places To Go
For those who want to experience this celestial event but avoid Luxor’s crowds, several other noteworthy places will still offer impressive totality times:
- Cadiz, Spain: Totality will last only 2 minutes and 47 seconds, but this historic city will be an attractive proposition for those traveling from Europe, or who want to avoid Africa and the Middle East.
- Tangier, Morocco: This bustling coastal city, a gateway to Africa, will enjoy 4 minutes and 48 seconds of totality. It can be visited by ferry from southern Spain.
- Oran, Algeria: This coastal city, also reachable by ferry from Spain, will experience 5 minutes and 6 seconds of totality.
- Kerkennah Islands, Tunisia: Known for the ruins of Borj el Hissar, totality here will last 5 minutes and 42 seconds.
- Siwa Oasis, Egypt: Anderson found no cloud cover nor many dust storms in the historical record for this urban oasis near the Great Sand Sea in the Western Desert. Totality will last 5 minutes and 29 seconds.
- Luxor, Egypt: With totality close to the maximum at 6 minutes 22 seconds, the site of ancient Thebes features the Valley of the Kings, Karnak Temple. Luxor Temple and the Temple of Hatshepsut. Brace for thousands of tourists.
- Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: The port city on the Red Sea will witness 5 minutes and 54 seconds of totality.
Sunset in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Partial Solar Eclipse
A partial solar eclipse will be seen across Africa, the Middle East and Europe. Remember - a 99.999% partial solar eclipse is a 0% total solar eclipse!
Here's what will be seen from major cities and destinations in the partial eclipse zone, including some very (very) close to the edges of the path of totality.
Where to see a partial solar eclipse on Aug. 2, 2027
| Location | Percentage of sun eclipsed |
|---|---|
| Reykjavik, Iceland | 5% |
| Oslo, Norway | 14% |
| Berlin, Germany | 34% |
| Dublin, Ireland | 35% |
| London, U.K. | 42% |
| Paris, France | 52% |
| Madrid, Spain | 86% |
| Lisbon, Portugal | 93% |
| Rabat, Morocco | 98% |
| Marrakesh, Morocco | 89% |
| Algiers, Algeria | 99.90% |
| Tunis, Tunisia | 97% |
| Tripoli, Libya | 99.90% |
| Cairo, Egypt | 95% |
Future Eclipses
After August 2027 when is the next total solar eclipse?
After the total solar eclipse on Aug. 2, 2027, these are the dates and locations for the next total solar eclipses:
- July 22, 2028: Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, Australia, New Zealand
- Nov. 25, 2030: Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Lesotho and Australia
- March 20, 2034: Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and China
- Sept. 2, 2035: China, North Korea, Japan
- July 13, 2037: Australia and New Zealand
- Aug. 22, 2044: The next total solar eclipse is on Aug. (contiguous refers to the lower 48 states in North America, including the District of Columbia) will occur on Aug.
Where will you be for the “eclipse of the century?” If you missed the 2024 eclipse in North America due to poor weather, the 2027 eclipse is one not to miss.
Popular articles:
tags: #Africa
