The 2027 total eclipse
What you will see during the 2027 eclipse
From Luxor, the moon takes a first bite out of the sun at 11:40. For more than an hour little seems to change, then in the last fifteen minutes the light turns thin and metallic and the air cools. At 13:02 the sun goes out: for 6m 20s the corona hangs almost overhead, Venus, Mercury and Jupiter appear in a dark blue sky, and every horizon glows like sunset. The sun returns at 13:08 and the eclipse ends at 14:26.
The sequence
Minute by minute from Luxor
- 111:40, first contact. Through eclipse glasses, a small notch appears on the sun's edge. Without glasses you will notice nothing at all.
- 2About 12:20. A third or so of the sun is covered. The light is still ordinary to the eye. Under palm trees and through gaps in a straw hat, the dappled spots of light on the ground turn into small crescents.
- 3About 12:47. Most of the sun is gone. The light goes silvery and flat, shadows look unusually sharp, and the heat eases noticeably.
- 4The last minute. The darkness comes from the west-north-west. Faint ripples called shadow bands may run across pale ground or a white deck; they do not appear at every eclipse.
- 513:02, second contact. The last of the sun breaks into beads of light along the moon's edge, then a single brilliant point: the diamond ring. Glasses off only once it has gone.
- 613:02 to 13:08, totality. 6m 20s of darkness. The pearl-white corona streams out around a black disc; pink prominences may show at its edge. Look up and very slightly to the south.
- 713:08, third contact. A bright bead reappears on the other side: the second diamond ring. Glasses back on at once.
- 814:26, fourth contact. The moon leaves the sun and the afternoon heat returns.
Planets at midday
Which planets you will see in totality
Venus, very close to the sun, is the first to look for, then Mercury and Jupiter. The brightest stars may show too.
| Planet | From the sun | Height above horizon | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Venus | 2.8° | 82° | Just under 3° from the sun, inside the glow of the outer corona. Venus is on the far side of the sun, so it shows as a bright point, not a crescent. |
| Mercury | 10° | 78° | About 10° to the west of the sun, roughly a hand's width at arm's length. |
| Jupiter | 22° | 67° | About 22° from the sun, towards the east, and bright. |
| Mars | 61° | 29° | Low in the east and faint. You may not pick it out. |
A fist held at arm's length covers about 10° of sky. Look for Venus first, almost touching the corona, then sweep a fist's width away for Mercury and two fists for Jupiter.
Do not just look up
What happens around you
Totality is not only the sun. The sky at the horizon stays bright in every direction, because you are looking out of the shadow to places still in sunlight, so you get a sunset glow all the way round. The temperature drops; birds settle as if for the evening; people around you will shout. In Luxor the shadow is moving from the west-north-west at about two-thirds of a kilometre a second, some 2,400 km an hour, so from the East Bank the darkness sweeps in over the West Bank hills.
Six minutes sounds long. Most people who have seen one say it feels like one. Decide beforehand what you want to look at, and spend at least a minute just watching rather than photographing. See photographing the eclipse if you want both.
Why the path matters
Why 99 per cent is not nearly the same
In Aswan about 99.8 per cent of the sun is covered, and it is a completely different event. The thin crescent left is still bright enough that the sky stays blue, the corona never appears, and glasses must stay on the whole time. Every effect described above belongs to totality alone. If you are outside the path, travel into it. See how far to go from Cairo, Hurghada or Sharm.
Asked often
What the eclipse looks like, answered
- How dark does it get during the 2027 eclipse in Luxor?
- About as dark as deep twilight, a little after sunset. You will see the brightest planets and perhaps a few stars, and every horizon glows orange.
- Will I see planets during the 2027 total eclipse?
- From Luxor, Venus will be just under 3 degrees from the sun, with Mercury about 10 degrees and Jupiter about 22 degrees away. Mars is low in the east and faint.
- When can I take my eclipse glasses off?
- Only during totality, from 13:02:03 to 13:08:23 in Luxor, once the diamond ring has gone. Put them back on as soon as the first bright bead of sun returns.
- Does it get cold during a total eclipse?
- It gets noticeably cooler in the last part of the partial phase and during totality. In Luxor in August it will still be hot, but the drop is easy to feel.
- What is the diamond ring?
- The last point of sunlight shining through a valley on the moon's edge just before totality, and the first one after it, which together with the faint corona looks like a ring with a diamond.
