Spain Iceland and Greenland will see total eclipse as Estonia sees partial
Wednesday 12th August 2026 on 08:45 in
Estonia
Spain, Iceland and Greenland will see a total solar eclipse on Wednesday, while Estonia will experience only a partial eclipse, ERR reported. The celestial event will also be available through live online broadcasts from Novaator.
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly between Earth and the Sun. Although the Moon is about 400 times smaller in diameter than the Sun, its much closer distance to Earth allows it to cover the star completely.
In Tallinn, the eclipse will begin at 8.02 p.m. and reach its maximum in Estonia at 8.53 p.m., when the Sun will resemble a narrow crescent. The event will last one hour and 18 minutes, ending at 9.19 p.m. as the Sun sets.
At the peak of the eclipse, the Sun will be only a few degrees above the western or northwestern horizon. Even low hills or distant wooded areas could block the view, so observers should find a location with an unobstructed western horizon.
NASA will begin its live broadcast at 8.15 p.m., showing images from cameras positioned along the eclipse path. Experts will explain the science behind the eclipse and how NASA gathers new information about the Sun.
The European Space Agency will begin its official broadcast at 8.30 p.m. Experts will discuss the scientific aspects of the eclipse and show live images from telescopes at the Javalambre astrophysics observatory near Teruel, Spain, which lies directly along the path of totality.
The Virtual Telescope Project will start its broadcast at 8.20 p.m. It will show live images from the organisation’s robotic telescopes in Manciano, Italy, where the eclipse will be partial, as well as from the area of totality in Spain. Several hours later, the project will broadcast the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, which will occur during the night of August 12 to 13.
In Estonia, the Moon will cover about 83 percent of the Sun’s disc at most. The eclipse should be viewed with special solar-filter glasses, a welding filter, or a silver-coloured CD without printed markings. A simple cardboard projector based on the camera obscura principle can also be used to project the Sun’s image onto paper or a wall.