In the afternoon on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, you can witness one of nature’s most spectacular sights from Iceland: A total solar eclipse.
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions.
Presented here is a handy table providing viewing information for selected locations in the westernmost part of Iceland where totality occurs, from Westfjords, through Snæfellsnes peninsula, Reykjavík area and Reykjanes peninsula. Simply read the table to see timings of key moments in the eclipse for your location.
It's a possibility but unlikely.
First, the sky doesn’t really get dark enough for (faint) aurorae to be spotted. Second, on average, the likeliest time to see aurora is around 23:00 (11 pm), near magnetic midnight.
However, the eclipse occurs when the Sun should be quite active. If it sent fast moving solar wind, a coronal mass ejection, towards the Earth two or three days in advance, it might cause a geomagnetic storm. If a geomagnetic storm occurs at the right and bright auroras happen, it might faintly visible. This would have been the case on March 24 2024 when a severe Kp-8 geomagnetic storm occurred in the afternoon.
Mid-August is the earliest start of the aurora season in Iceland. So if you stay few more days after the eclipse, you have a great chance of seeing the Northern Lights.
Visit Icelandatnight.is for aurora, cloud cover and space weather information for Iceland.
No. The view from outside the path of totality is far less dramatic. Simply put, nothing comes close to a 100% eclipse.
Even if 99% is a wonderful partial eclipse, it doesn’t come anywhere near to capturing the awe inspiring beauty of a total eclipse. The difference is literally night and day. There’s no such thing as 80% or 99% totality. Totality is only when 100% of the Sun is eclipsed.
Ever been at a concert with your favourite band or musician? The difference between a partial eclipse and a total solar eclipse is like being in the stadium or being home.
The image below shows 99.97% partial eclipse from Mt. Washington Observatory in New Hampshire, USA, on April 8. 2024.
It depends on how thick the clouds are.
High clouds don’t interfere with the view a whole lot, so you’ll see everything.
If patchy middle and low clouds are in the way, then you might be lucky to catch a view of totality through holes in the cloud cover.
If it’s completely overcast, then we’ll miss the best part of the show, the glorious solar corona. That will be disappointing - but what can you do? We don't control the weather.
It will get completely dark and you’ll experience something surreal that you’ve never experienced before: Day turning into sudden darkness for a minute or two, incredibly looking clouds, perhaps with rusty orange hues. That’s pretty cool too.
Yes.
Day does not turn into night (unless the sky is cloudy!) but more like 30 minutes after sunset. The sky is brighter than during full Moon, closer to what you experience during late twilight.
Unless it's completely overcast.
The image below by fellow eclipse chaser Tunç Tezel shows an all sky view during the total solar eclipse of July 2, 2019 in Chile. It shows well how dark it will get during totality.
It’s very hard to look at anything else but the eclipsed Sun during totality. If you’re tempted though, four planets might be visible in August 2026.
Venus shines brightly in the southwest (to the left of the Sun) and appears shortly before totality. You may spot Jupiter and Mercury in the west and perhaps Mars, very low in northwest.
Don’t feel bad if you miss them, the Sun is literally the star of the show.
During the eclipse, the Sun is in the constellation of Leo. A handful of the brighter stars might be spotted. Regulus, the brightest star in Leo, could be seen east (left) of the Sun and Castor and Pollux, brightest stars of Gemini, west of the Sun. DIrectly overhead, the stars the form the Big Dipper might also be visible.
The image below shows the view from Reykjavík.
When the final part of the Sun is becoming obscured, it appears as brilliant diamond on a ring in the sky. This dazzling burst of light disappears as soon as totality starts and the solar corona appears. The diamond ring re-appears when totality is over.
Unbelievably beautiful!
When to see: Immediately before and after totality. Eclipse glasses off!
More info: Sky & Telescope has a wonderful article by Fred Espenak on The Diamond ring.
Baily’s Beads appear when the razor thin crescent of the Sun breaks into arcs and beads. This happens as the last bits of sunlight shines through valleys at the rugged edge of the Moon.
Baily’s Beads draw their name from English astronomer Francis Baily. On May 15, 1836, Baily witnessed an annular eclipse in Scotland and made a detailed description of a string of beads visible at the start of annularity.
When to see: Final ten seconds before and after totality. Eclipse glasses off!
More info: Sky & Telescope has a wonderful article by Fred Espenak on Baily’s Beads.
A minute or so before totality wavy shadow bands can be spotted on light and uniform surfaces, such as sidewalks, walls of houses or even on the sides of vehicles.
Shadow bands happens the same reason stars twinkle at night, when heat waves in Earth’s atmosphere refract the thin crescent of sunlight. It’s waves in Earth’s turbulent atmosphere casting shadows.
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft monitors the outer part of the solar corona constantly. Check out the images on eclipse day.
To see if any prominences will be visible to the unaided eye, you can either use an H-alpha solar telescope on eclipse day or check out latest images from spacecraft like Solar Dynamics Observatory.
Below show the Sun's photosphere during the partial phase of the April 8, 2024 solar eclipse. The dark region near the centre is a sunspot.
Yes, as long as they’re number 14 which dim the Sun enough to view safely. Welders glass is not as good optically as solar eclipse glasses or solar viewers but are fine nonetheless.
Buying our solar eclipse goggles and viewers supports this website and everything we do for the eclipse in Iceland.
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Absolutely.
The east of Iceland gets the least eclipse, but still large enough partial that it will definitely be worth it to watch. You’ll see the light get a bit eery and you’ll need solar eclipse goggles the whole time.
The Perseid meteor shower peaks on the same date as the total eclipse, on August 12-13. Bright shooting stars might be visible during the eclipse, but unlikely.
A way better bet is to stay up late and go meteor hunting at the same time you go aurora chasing. Shortly after midnight in Iceland, the sky gets dark enough for brighter shooting stars and northern lights to be visible.
Wouldn't that be something? A total eclipse, northern lights and meteor shower all on the same day! At least a beautiful possibility.
