See Stunning Images of the Total Solar Eclipse From Nat Geo Photographers
National Geographic photographers were stationed from Iceland to Spain to document one of the year’s most anticipated celestial events.
On August 12, the moon’s shadow swept from Iceland to Spain, bringing Europe its first total solar eclipse since 1999—and mainland Spain its first in more than a century.
For a few minutes, the moon completely blocked the sun, revealing its corona and briefly turning day to darkness along the path of totality. That path began in northern Russia before crossing Greenland, Iceland and the Atlantic, then reaching Spain and a small corner of Portugal. Near Iceland, totality lasted as long as two minutes and 18 seconds.
Roughly 15 million people lived within the path, while hundreds of millions more across Europe, parts of North America and northwestern Africa saw at least a partial eclipse. Anyone who watched needed certified eclipse glasses or another proper solar filter whenever any part of the sun remained visible; only during totality was it safe to look directly at the eclipse without protection.
Spain got one of the most dramatic views. The eclipse began there around 5:30 p.m. UTC, or 7:30 p.m. local time, with totality sweeping across the country roughly an hour later. By then, the sun was already sitting low on the western horizon, giving photographers a chance to capture the darkened sun against the landscape rather than high overhead.
For National Geographic Explorer Rüdiger Ortiz-Álvarez, who watched from Burgos, Spain, the transformation was startlingly sudden. “It felt like a surreal moment—it went by so fast,” he says. “Suddenly it was black, a strange night, and the solar corona in the sky. It calls to something deep within us.”
That low angle was part of what made this eclipse unusual. The moon’s shadow skimmed across the northern part of the planet, keeping the eclipsed sun relatively low in the sky along much of the route. In far northern Greenland, totality even brought a brief spell of darkness to places that had seen almost continuous daylight through the summer.
The sudden darkness affected more than just the people watching. Ortiz-Álvarez noticed birds abruptly flying toward shelter, as though night had arrived unexpectedly. Researchers documented similar responses through citizen-science efforts such as Ecoeclipse, a Spanish project studying how the eclipse affected the acoustic behavior of birds and bats.
And the sky show didn’t end with the eclipse. The Perseid meteor shower peaked later that same night, and because a solar eclipse can only occur during a new moon, there was little moonlight to wash out the meteors. Under the right conditions, observers could even catch a bright Perseid during totality.
National Geographic photographers were stationed along the path to capture the eclipse as it unfolded. Here are some of the best images from across Europe—and the details that make each one worth a closer look.
Spain: A Total Eclipse at Sunset
Catalan photographer and National Geographic Explorer Wayra Ficapal had decided a year earlier that she wanted to experience the eclipse from Spain’s Ebro Delta, but she chose the exact location only a week beforehand. After realizing that the moon’s shadow would trace much of the Ebro River from northern Spain toward its mouth in the Mediterranean, she headed to the Illa de Gràcia bridge in Sant Jaume d’Enveja, hoping to photograph the eclipsed sun reflected in the water.
“I had read that experts advise not to look only at the eclipse, but to pay attention to your surroundings, the sky and the stars,” Ficapal says. “But during the minute and a half that it lasted, I couldn’t take my eyes off the Moon as it eclipsed the Sun. It was magical, like a scene from another planet. You feel that you are part of the cosmos.” As totality approached, she heard birds calling before they suddenly fell silent and felt the temperature drop sharply. When daylight returned, mosquitoes emerged in force.
For Ficapal, the experience was also deeply communal. “Experiencing a total eclipse is a collective experience that makes you realize that we are all part of something bigger.”
Italy: A Partial Spectacle
National Geographic Explorer Camilla Ferrari documented the August 12, 2026, eclipse from Santuario di Soviore (Soviore’s Sanctuary) in Monterosso, Liguria, Italy. While Italy sat outside the path of totality, viewers there could still watch the moon partially cover the sun. The La Spezia Amateur Astronomers Association of the Monte Viseggi Science Park organized a viewing event at the sanctuary, bringing together astronomy enthusiasts to experience the partial eclipse.
“I was just in awe,” Ferrari says. “It is so special to be able to witness events like these because they put in perspective our position in the cosmos, and the correlations that tie every element within it, in a sort of dance. It’s such a special feeling.”
